[lukeyboy]

Help me UKB...

I need to buy a 70m rope for a long trip, which is durable (main priority), not too heavy (second priority) and not cost the earth (third priority). What would people recommend from personal experience?

I've been looking at the Petzl contact 9.8mm, which seems to fit the bill pretty well. Does anyone have any feedback on how this rope fares?

[ghisino]

petzl ropes are made by edelrid.
at a glance they seem a good compromise.
I'm pretty sure that their gym ropes are more robust than the beal equivalent (a gym where i sometimes work is running a test).

generally speaking stay away from beal if durability is your main priority.

similarly, stay away from ropes that seem to be extremely soft/maniable and/or with very low impact force, as there seems to be some tradeoff between these characteristics and durability.

thick and thightly woven sheats are usually correlated with a more durable rope, that will unfortunately be less dynamic. (eg some mammut)

triaxial construction (some millet and roca ropes) also seems to add durability as these ropes seem to be less "flattened" by carabiners and belay devices, so they wear more evenly across their whole circumference.

[moose]

My Sterling velocity 9.8mm has stood up to lots of use - 3 weeks of holidays and over a year of working routes at Malham and Kilnsey - lots of sieges and falling off on RP.  Just chopped off the ends this week but the bulk of the rope still seems in fine fettle.  Friends with the same rope (or the "rasta" variation) have been similarly impressed - not the cheapest but you occasionally see 70m on offer for around £150. 

The 9.8 mm Edelrid python seems a pretty sturdy budget option.  My 80m one has had a fair few years of holiday use and still going strong - but as it's been used for on-sighting / quick RPs, it hasn't been fallen on a great deal - so caveat emptor.

Worst rope by far was a 9.5 mm Mammut that required chopping at both ends after two weekends of falling off the top moves of Raindogs. 

[bendavison]

I'd second the Sterling Velocity 9.8, though I haven't used many ropes so can't compare. Its taken a beating: ~6 months of climbing over an 18 month period and I've just chopped the ends for a second time. That included quite a lot of time hanging around on it working out routes for redpoint rather than just for onsight, and was often shared. Plus I don't think I change ends nearly often enough!

I've heard good things about Mammut ropes, and lots of bad things about Beal ropes (about a 9.1mm though).

[danm]

Don't believe or rely on the stated diameter - manufacturers are allowed a degree of tolerance when giving the diameter which makes it fairly useless for comparing different ropes thickness. Better to compare the weight per metre, which gives a much better guide to how much material is in the rope. Then check the sheath %. In general, a rope with a higher mass/metre and higher sheath % will last longer than one with less. Most gym rope scores highly on both of these factors.

Finally, a tightly woven sheath usually means a harder wearing but more difficult to manage rope. I've got a Mammut 9.5 which is bombproof but a total arse to use because it's so stiff it always locks up the cam of the Grigri when paying out slack (despite being theoretically too skinny to use with a Grigri 1)

[jwi]

The Joker 9.1 Ben is talking about is dangerously stretchy but takes a fair bit of abuse. I am very happy with the Sterling 9.2mm and cannot really imagine myself getting a much fatter rope anymore

[abarro81]

Sterling are the best I've used, but generally not cheap. The 9.2 handles brilliantly

[Paul B]

The Joker 9.1 Ben is talking about is dangerously stretchy but takes a fair bit of abuse.

Mind didn't, it was pants.

Sterling are the best I've used, but generally not cheap. The 9.2 handles brilliantly

My Sterling ION 2 was incredible (9.4mm). It handled brilliantly throughout its long life.

There's another thread dealing with ropes that might be worth wading through?

[lukeyboy]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I've found the sterling velocity 9.8 70m for £150, and gone for it   

[SA Chris]

Hope you made a good choice on that all important decision - what colour:

[lukeyboy]

Hope you made a good choice on that all important decision - what colour:

The choice was 'silver' (grey) or very bright yellow.... no brainer!