[cheque]

I need to buy a new, longer static rope for filming off and it's occurred to me that I know almost nothing about them and that UKB is full of people who probably do! It'll be used heavily and I'll be jugging it a lot and dangling over the sea for hours on it so I'm keen to get the one that's most suited for the task.

Can anyone fill me in on the following (and anything I haven't considered that I should) please?

What's the deal with static and semi-static? Is there even a difference?

What's this "soak it in water first" business? I certainly didn't do it with my existing one.

Is there any particular brand/ type that's better than the others for what I need? I'm wary of skimping as the one I have is pretty "wiry" handling, due, I'm pretty sure, to the mate I went halves with insisting we get the cheapest that Hitch 'n' Hike had.

[SamT]

Loads of knowledge on UKcaving.com so might be worth a search/post there.

Spanset Gold seems to be flavour of the month.

The rope shrinks up to 10% as it goes through wet/dry cycles - thus if you buy a 100m rope, then after several wet/dry cycles (more applicable to cavers obviously) it will end up 90m long, which if get to the bottom of a deep dark hole and realise your 100m rope is 10m too short, is a pain in the bum.

Repeated abs will make most statics a bit "wiry" but you're right - the cheaper ones go stiff sooner (phnar).


see
http://ukcaving.com/board/index.php?topic=18526.0
and
http://ukcaving.com/board/index.php?topic=16274.0

[danm]

What you're after is called low stretch rope which is sometimes called semi-static. It's designed for abseiling, caving and rope access and has some stretch to account for small falls/slumps onto the rope, or a rebelay failing. General purpose ropes will be labelled EN1891 A, specialist ones (e.g lightweight, rescue rope etc) tend to be type B which has lower requirements.

Soaking in water helps condition the rope, which shrinks the length whilst making the sheath tighten onto the core - it'll happen anyway over time but doing it at the beginning helps the rope last longer. All low stretch ropes except quite specialist rescue ropes tend to be stiff and wiry compared to climbing ropes, but JB probably can suggest the better ones for handling.

As usual, the thicker the better for durability but you've also got to carry the bugger - personally I'd go for 10mm and use rope protectors (you can make your own from hosepipe).

[JackAus]

We tend to use Elderid static ropes for work (rope access).

http://www.edelrid.de/en/work-safety/ropes/

Always 11mm but can't for the life of me remember if its the Performance or the Super Safety II. I should know, I grabbed a brand new 200m today......

Have also used Tendon and Bluewater ropes in the past for work.

[Johnny Brown]

Cheque. You'll need to collect from Sheff, but we sell it and seeing as it is for a very good cause I'll do you a very good deal...

[Johnny Brown]

Can give you some advice on set-ups too. Most important piece of kit is a seat. I tend to use a second rope for positioning, to stop spinning, and to help you commit to abbing off stuff like St John's head.

[Duncan campbell]

As a lover of sea cliffs and after the Kuality of your last film I can't wait to see this Cheque!

Can we have lots of footage of folk going for it in places like the leap, pentire, Big G, etc!?!? Also some footage of Bosi's great zawn and crevasse jump would be well good to watch... just make sure whoever you film doesn't break their foot like a certain idiot (me) I know...

Hope you manage to get loads of sea cliff climbing in too whilst you bezz around filming these things!

Sea cliffs are so good!

[Wood FT]

Go overkill on the rope protectors, it's one less thing to think about while you're hanging above the cold heartless sea.

Get the seat and stop-ur-spin beta off JB, nearly lost my legs filming Barrows once and I would've got much better footage in Mallorca but I couldn't stop spinning in the wind 

As a lover of sea cliffs and after the Kuality of your last film I can't wait to see this Cheque!

Agreed, the look on someone's face as they do their first exposed sea cliff. That's it, right there.

[andy_e]

Agreed, the look on someone's face as they do their first exposed sea cliff. That's it, right there.

I might volunteer for this...

[lagerstarfish]

having a chest harness on can help - not just with jugging, but with holding stuff (drills, camera) in positions that would sap your core if your upper body wasn't supported

[Lopez]

 On my first day ever climbing in Verdon, i discovered a whole new world of pain and discomfort while belaying in those non-stances while half hanging off the harness.

 After a rather memorable drinking session in the evening, i somehow found myself abseiling down on my second day ever in Verdon with one of these hanging off my back, rigged, and ready to deploy.

I still haven't come across a more comfortable belay/work seat, so you may want to give it a thought.



P.S. We did return the chair to the bar on the last day

P.P.S. JB's offer is as good as it gets, but don't let him sell you one of those DMM ropes... 

[Paul B]

I'm not overly fond of the (new?) coloured static/low-stretch ropes. It just seems like a mistake waiting to happen?

I've found a skyhook and an adjustable daisy pretty handy for stopping the spin. Keep any zips on bags together and down at one side (rather than the top) as these open when you jumar-out.

[petejh]

Agreed the DMM Patron low-stretch's aren't durable in the slightest. I regularly bin our DMM ropes after 12 months (usually covered in paint). They are cheap though. The Beal Industrie is very good/durable/expensive. A long cliptick or better still a homemade double (Y) extendable stick with skyhooks on the ends that you can fix to you and then place against the rock is good for getting angles and stopping spinning.

Getting a 'Petzl Pantin' (named after Simon) heel ascender makes life going up ropes much quicker and less taxing on the arms - even with handjammer/pulley/grigri setup it still takes it out of you if you do loads.

[Adam Lincoln]

I regularly bin our DMM ropes after 12 months (usually covered in paint).

Sooner if Gyn Jones has been near them 

[petejh]

Mr 20% wastage?

[Doylo]

Funny seeing Glyn Jones name on ukb

[Adam Lincoln]

Mr 20% wastage?

If he carries on in the fab maint game, buy shares in international!

[cheque]

Cheers everyone! 

Didn't Glyn Jones engineer the Led Zeppelin albums? 

Can give you some advice on set-ups

I'd be a fool to turn this down. See you Wednesday evening?

Go overkill on the rope protectors, it's one less thing to think about while you're hanging above the cold heartless sea.

Get the seat and stop-ur-spin beta off JB, nearly lost my legs filming Barrows once

I got a seat (I went for the Black Diamond over the white plastic patio chair) after a similar parasthesia experience and I love it. Also got a couple of rope protectors but I'll be getting more. Mine are the fabric-n-velcro type but I think I'll try the hosepipe type too- they look easier to pull down the rope with you.

A long cliptick or better still a homemade double (Y) extendable stick with skyhooks on the ends that you can fix to you and then place against the rock is good for getting angles and stopping spinning.

Getting a 'Petzl Pantin' (named after Simon) heel ascender makes life going up ropes much quicker and less taxing on the arms - even with handjammer/pulley/grigri setup it still takes it out of you if you do loads.

Good knowledge. I use a handjammer/pulley/grigri setup currently, with a homemade footloop attached to the jammer. Looks like the Pantin replaces the footloop?

Spinning is something I need to learn to sort for sure. I've used the rope and bolts to stop it on sport routes before but that's obviously childs play compared to multipitch trad seacliffs!

Keep any zips on bags together and down at one side (rather than the top) as these open when you jumar-out.

This is awesome advice. Camera insurance is something I need to sort before I start shooting too!

I might volunteer for this...

just make sure whoever you film doesn't break their foot like a certain idiot (me) I know...

Do you fancy being in it Duncan? I need people with your psyche for sure.

[ghisino]

Throughout my  three canyoning seasons i've been using a black edelrid rope labelled "pro stat" i think. Very durable.
Good experience with a tendon rope too.

Beal, as usual, seems to favor handling over durability.

Apart from rope protectors, don't forget to "fractionner" your rope when you go over an edge : Place a piece right below it and tie a clove hitch so that your rope isn't tensioned,over the edge. This might even make rope protectors unnecessary.

[psychomansam]

Getting a 'Petzl Pantin' (named after Simon) heel ascender makes life going up ropes much quicker and less taxing on the arms - even with handjammer/pulley/grigri setup it still takes it out of you if you do loads.

Good knowledge. I use a handjammer/pulley/grigri setup currently, with a homemade footloop attached to the jammer. Looks like the Pantin replaces the footloop?
[/quote]

No. Keep the footloop, and use the Pantin on one leg, footloop on the other. More control, better posture, more efficient etc. The Pantin is an extra independent jammer, but it's designed to flick off* so don't ever treat it as PPE.

*There is a simple technique to this, but while traversing awkward pitches underground, I learnt to expect it to get knocked off the rope just where it would be handy to get you through a vertical squeeze, conversely getting stuck onto the rope when you accidentally lift your leg too high, knee-barring yourself into a constriction. But they're actually fecking awesome. I despise having to go up without one.