Can we at least agree that all chalk bags are the same?

It's even funner when they're your friends and you can rub their noses in it constantly.

You do need to be careful not to piss them off to much or they might not belay for you anymore.

caughtinside

you are pushing on page 5 and I bet by the end of the year, this will pass page 11

Learn how sheath tension affects handling and durability. Learn why a Z-only sheath is cheaper but it's a bad tradeoff.

Nope

He's mEATbanzed, he can't read this, nor post... otherwise I'm sure we'd be on 11 by now.

is he banned from RC gear ?

Yup, but he told me to tell you he said hi, and that he's wearing his helmet.

What, they wrote him a ticket for trolling ?

Heh.

It's true. I've been climbing for 6 years now, just enough to spout off about my ignorance.

And what I have discovered is that all ropes are THE SAME.

There are only a couple differences. bi-color, diameter and length. Oh yeah, and dry.

What I'm saying is that brand doesn't matter. # of falls doesn't matter. Impact force is a # made up by the travelocity roaming Gnome, denouncer of travel myths. I don't want to hear about elongation, because they all stretch. If they're skinny, they stretch more.

People have their favorite brands. Mammut seems to be the most common favorite brand. It also seems to be the most expensive. Big surprise! I've used mammuts. Nothing special!

I've currently got 4 ropes in active duty, and they're all the same. Sure, I have a favorite, but it's cause its pretty. and skinny. And light. And I climbed with it in Thailand, got some fond memories. But it isn't better than any of my other ropes.

People talk about the 'hand' of a rope. Personally, I couldn't care less. I've used stiff ropes. I've used noodle ropes. My favorites are somewhere in between these extremes, but really I don't care.

I've heard it claimed that some ropes twist easier than other ropes. This is more bullshit. You rigged an anchor wrong, deal with it. I've done it and jacked some ropes. It's fixable.

Anyway, that is my conclusion after years of emprical study and anecdotal research. I buy the cheapest ropes I can find. A good belay is the important thing.

Another know it all n00b idiot! I love this frikkin site, with all the n00bs who have been climbing ten minutes and think they know shit about shit.

All ropes the same? Give me a break. Maxims are CHOSS. Edelrids are CHOSS. Stiff, heavy, fuzzy, pain to belay with. Beals are nice but wear out way too fast.

There are only a couple brands of rope that are worth the money, Mammut and Sterling. Any real climber already knows this or figured it out pretty quickly.

You gumbys and your discount ropes. You get what you pay for.

Another know it all n00b idiot! I love this frikkin site, with all the n00bs who have been climbing ten minutes and think they know shit about shit.

All ropes the same? Give me a break. Maxims are CHOSS. Edelrids are CHOSS. Stiff, heavy, fuzzy, pain to belay with. Beals are nice but wear out way too fast.

There are only a couple brands of rope that are worth the money, Mammut and Sterling. Any real climber already knows this or figured it out pretty quickly.

You gumbys and your discount ropes. You get what you pay for.

I've onsighted 5.10 trad in approach shoes.

Sorry, fellas, but unless you climb in approach shoes all the time, you're proving my point.

Do you climb in the same pair of shoes all the time?

Obviously approach shoes won't work well with thin cracks. But it is more a question of bulk than fit.

The same with routes with very techy footwork. Its not that they won't stick to those tiny edges. You just can't see where the hell they are under all that shoe.
[image]http://www.climbeasterncanada.com/images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif[/image]

....

Currently I've got 20 ropes in the 10-10.5mm size range. Representing 9 models from 7 different manufacturers. That figure goes up to 24 ropes of 10 different models if you include the retired ropes and will go up to 26 ropes of 11 different models once the ropes I've got on pre-order arrive.

My thoughts on this thread are as follows;

Its largely a troll desperate for attention. What the OP is actually trying to say is that in his personal opinion cost is the most important factor in his rope selection. He repeatedly acknowledges the existance of other differences between ropes but then dismisses them as irrelevant.

I do agree with the sentiment that its very hard for the climber 'on-the-street' to form any sort of informed opinion about the relative merits of different ropes.

My experience in my "buy (at least) two of every 10.5mm-ish rope on the market and treat them all equally" experiment tells me that there are significant differences between ropes, enough that at I'd probably spend up to 35% more on my personal rope, but only because I know what I know from hands on experience.

The experiment continues, but I'm now to the point of having to buy ropes from the states and ship them to Australia to get different models.

Well you take gearwhoring to a whole nother lever sir! What are your rope preferences and why?

Fortunately for my bank balance its not mine, I'm quartermaster for a small university rockclimbing club. We just figured that being independant from the usual commercial influences that we might as well run the experiment. I know what ropes have performed well so far, but it wouldn't be fair to cast judgement for perhaps another nine to twelve months once everything has got some kilometrage under its belt. I tried emailing climbing magazine to see if they wanted an article on the results but never got a reply.