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tisar
Sep 24, 2004, 2:20 PM
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I recently bought me a 9.6 mm rope by millet (see profile/gear for details). As we went out climbing for the first time I noticed that there was a spot where the rope was a little thicker. It also seemed that some of the inner fibers peeked through the sheath though it was in perfect condition.
Didn't bother that much for safety as I asked some people at the crag and they all assured me that it would be safe enough to do some easy stuff (it looked as if some of the fibres got tangled up a little in production process). We did some climbing on it without any problems or noticable incidents. Though I wouldn't have done hard leading or multipitch on it.
After getting back home I returned the rope to the dealer who sent it back to millet for further inspection. Haven't heard anything yet but will tell you if I get some info.
My question: Has anyone seen (or heard of) something like that before? I thought that manufacturers would (at least eye-) check every rope so a failure like that should have shown up before it's going to be sold. At least I will do that before taking one home again...
- Daniel
* edited to reduce bad english *
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overlord
Sep 24, 2004, 3:44 PM
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i have never experienced this, but there was another post about a similar problem (the sheath was frayed a bit, cant rememebr the manufacturer) one or two weeks ago.
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tisar
Sep 24, 2004, 5:18 PM
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If you mean this thread then it's not comparable to what I had. There wasn't a loop or so coming out from the sheath but only some single "hairs" of white. You could hardly see them and they wouldn't have bothered me at all.
What made me nervous was the point of having a spot which was remarkably thicker - like a quarter to half of a milimeter. (Should have taken a photo...)
Thanks though for answering!
- Daniel
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coldclimb
Sep 24, 2004, 5:36 PM
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Some ropes are made thick like that on the ends and I believe at times in the middle (not positive there), to make them more durable at points of wear. Was it just one tiny little spot, or was it possibly close to one end? I can't see on Millet's site that they do this, but I could be missing something.
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tisar
Sep 24, 2004, 5:42 PM
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It was just a little spot and obviously not on purpose. Somewhere close to the middle of the rope and about a cm wide.
- Daniel
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over_the_hill
Sep 24, 2004, 5:46 PM
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I once worked in a climbing retail shop. A customer came in one day and said that he felt that there was something wrong with kevlar cord he bought. As we look at the suspect area, we could see a very clear "hourglass" shape in the cord. We took back the cord, gave the customer new cord, and all was good. Later on that night, we sliced open the sheath in the suspect area to see what was going on. To our HORROR, we discovered that there was no cord at all in the hourglass area, only a piece of tape joining the end of one line to the start of another!! They had joined the two lines to braid the sheath in production, but it was later missed by quality control. If this person had actually used this line, it would have failed for sure!! Every time I buy cord or climbing line, I make sure that it is all smooth with no production glitches. I am sure that this is not the only time this has ever happened.
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overlord
Sep 24, 2004, 5:48 PM
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yes, that was the thread i was refering to.
anyway, you did right in returning the rope. new rope should be flawless.
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pylonhead
Sep 24, 2004, 6:25 PM
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In reply to: I once worked in a climbing retail shop. A customer came in one day and said that he felt that there was something wrong with kevlar cord he bought. As we look at the suspect area, we could see a very clear "hourglass" shape in the cord. We took back the cord, gave the customer new cord, and all was good. Later on that night, we sliced open the sheath in the suspect area to see what was going on. To our HORROR, we discovered that there was no cord at all in the hourglass area, only a piece of tape joining the end of one line to the start of another!! They had joined the two lines to braid the sheath in production, but it was later missed by quality control. If this person had actually used this line, it would have failed for sure!!
Holy crap!
In reply to: Every time I buy cord or climbing line, I make sure that it is all smooth with no production glitches. I am sure that this is not the only time this has ever happened.
You just made a believer out of me.
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the_climber
Sep 24, 2004, 6:49 PM
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Having also worked in climbing shops over the years, I have heard of some stories to the extent of the "cord" incident writen above (likely the same story told a different way over and over), however I have never experianced something to that extent myself.
I think that a lesson we can all learn from this is the re-enforcement of what one of my climbing mentors told me as I was first learning to climb: Always inspect your gear regardless of the fact that it may be new.
Just as you inspect your gear after an outing, ie. running through the whole length of you rope, inspecting wired nutts, ice tools,... inspect gear such as ropes when you buy them after you get home, or better yet at the gear shop if you are able to.
Even if you have taken gear home after buying it and there is a 'Manufacturing' defect the climbing shop should take it back (if they won't, then it is a shop not worth buying from... then deal directly with the Rep for the specific brand of gear.)
Just my $0.02
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awsclimber
Sep 24, 2004, 7:26 PM
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What was the company?
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