....it's time to buy a rope...what should I get?

I started climbing on Forestry Pro. I love the this stuff but, it is quite heavy. I was new to climbing so the 7300lbs. MBS was a confidence booster.

Since getting comfortable with climbing, I switched to Tachyon with a bee-line XT-hitch. I love the Tachyon and that would get my vote for your new rope.

Hey Jim -- I'd just gotten my 120-foot Bandit last fall when you where here, so I was telling people that I'd give them my impression of it after about a hundred climbs. I now love Bandit because it's reasonably lightweight, it's only 11mm so it packs nicely, it holds the knots very, very well when used with a traditional Blake's hitch, it only has a slight bit of stretch and I haven't had any milking problems. I would most likely buy it again.

Jim, what are your requirements?

I'm probably going to 150' Bandit next time around. I love Tachyon but it's too fat for my Grigri 2!
-AJ

Hey BKS...I've been climbing on a Forestry Pro...excellent starting rope...heavy as you say...

Let's see...requirements...light...dimensionally stable and appropriately sized for grigri-1 plus ascenders....150 feet...unique coloration(my biggest criteria on climbing systems: non-repeating colors)....less stretch than the Fly...the feel of Poison Ivy...Are there ropes that spin less than others on descents?

Bill...could the Bandit be your future group climb rope?

What's Tachyon like for Grigri-1 and ascenders?

I have a 60 foot piece of Tachyon (11mm) that I climb on every single day. It is probably my favorite rope. I use it with my Grigi -1 , my ascenders and with the Rig. I love it!

Hey Jim -- Swamp Fox and I plan to stick with the heavy 1/2-inch Safety Blue (or a similar 16-strand) for our group climbs because it'll stand up to a huge amount of punishment and will last longer than most other ropes (we typically get about seven-plus years with Safety Blue) -- and, it's bigger diameter seems to feel good to novices who're already a little unsure about this here climbing' stuff anyway...! We wash them two or three times a year with the (drum roll, please, and have your credit cards handy) new and improved "Rogue Super Turbo Rope Washer" that was personally designed and built by none other than Swamp Fox.

The Bandit, however, is my current rope of choice for personal climbing -- and so far it's been my all-time favorite. As you know, both brother Joe and I can abuse a rope pretty seriously in some of the backcountry, swamp and rainforest stuff we do, so I'm not expecting the current Bandit rope to last for more than about three years before replacement.

Tachyon meets the "light and dimensionally stable" criteria. For example it's lighter per foot than Bandit, but is larger diameter and holds the round shape better than any arb rope out there. It has a super smooth cover out of the box and needs breaking in (roughing up) before you'll be perfectly happy with trad Blakes performance. It's designed more for use with e-2-e hitches and smooth running in hardware. Agree that it's fine in a Grigri 1 and ascenders.

NE Ropes Fly is still my favorite facilitating rope, the fattest 11mm out there and super friendly rope (soft in the hand), holds a Blakes well.

Bandit is all-round better as a rope that can do it all out of the box: trad Blakes, SRT, smooth running in devices, works well with various kinds of split tails etc. A little skinny for general facilitating use, perfectly ok though if you put grippy gloves on your climbers.
-AJ

Hmm... bearing in mind I'm not a super rope engineering geek... I don't think there's any difference from one rope to another. I believe it's all about how much or how little twist your gear/hitches/technique put into your rope.

All I know is I've been burned big time not paying attention to how much twist was in my Tachyon before cinching an SRT TIP. Same thing trying to take a high DRT pitch out of the top of a white pine. Ended up having a very arduous climb alternating a lanyard and sling to get up and free the rope. Lessons learned, always verify the legs of the rope are relaxed/untwisted before cinching or bringing doubled rope down.
-AJ

Hello Jimk, I have been using YALE - BLAZE that Nick recommended and he spliced one end, it is very nice, very light weight and works well with all gear (grigri, etc) price is reasonable and the durabilty so far is fine (3 years+) and still in good shape. Very bright colors ( (Orange/red/black mix) so that may be a problem since you don't like to call attention and blend in but other than that I like it very well.

http://www.wesspur.com/rope/blaze-rope.html

This rope has a breaking strength of 5,600 lb.
Yale Blaze has become one of our most popular light-weight arborist lines. Blaze is a 24 strand 11mm (7/16”) spliceable braid that is very easy to see in the tree and handles great. ($109.00 for 150 feet)

Hope this helps.

About Twisting: If you flake the rope into your bag rather than coiling it there will be no much twisting the next time you climb. IMHO

Excuse my ignorance but I thought Blaze and Bandit were the same rope just in different colors?

I've been tossing around the idea for new 150' myself and have it narrowed down to either Blaze (which I have in a 15ft lanyard now and love) Or N.E. Tachyon.

Dan

No ignorance on your part, you are correct.
-AJ

Im enjoying this thread as I still "need" (want in non-gearhead language) to get round to buying a new rope.

Ive used blaze/bandit on my lanyard and find it a little bit thin to grip sometimes. Next rope will probably be Poison Ivy or Tachyon...

Do you guys have yale imori out there yet? 12mm very soft arb rope... We don't seem to have bandit here which is a shame. Im getting sick of having such bright ropes on stealth climbs in the woods. Might have to go back to my slimey old XTC-12.

Seems like Ohio climbers are into the Imori, it's the opposite of what usually works well in hardware, super textured, but I haven't climbed on it. It just looked all wrong but it may be all right.

The bright green Tachyon is the perfect color for the spring woods, matches the new leaves.
-AJ

Yea I think Imori will pick a lot.. I thought the same of my XTC 16 strands and they seem to be ok if you are careful. Not ideal though. Limey tachyon for a limey it is then... Now where is my piggy bank???