Met a guy at a gear swap in Denver who changed my mind about buying used climbing ropes

I always refused to buy used ropes no matter what. He showed me his logbook with 12 falls recorded on a rope he'd used for two seasons and explained how to check for core shots. Has anyone else had good luck with used climbing gear?

3 comments

3 Comments

holly7097d ago

I read this article in Climbing Magazine a few months back where they actually tested used ropes with like 50+ falls on them and they still held like 80% of their original strength. Obviously not saying you should go buy a rope thats been whipped on a hundred times, but it made me feel better about considering it lol. For checking core shots, the trick I heard from a gear shop guy in Moab is to bend the rope into a tight U shape and run it through your fingers slowly - if you feel any flat spots or weird lumps, thats bad news. The logbook thing is key though, I wouldnt touch a used rope without one because people could be selling you a death wish. My buddy bought a used rope from some dude on Craigslist with zero history and it had a hidden core shot that almost got him killed on a 5.9 slab, so yeah be careful but its not all scary.

hannah_wells7d ago

Yeah that U shape trick is solid, I've used it on my own ropes when they start feeling a little sketchy. But here's what I've always wondered about that article in Climbing Magazine: did they test ropes that were stored properly or just thrown in a hot car trunk for a season? Because I feel like UV and heat damage matter way more than the number of falls sometimes. Like my buddy leaves his rope in his truck bed all summer and I swear it feels like a different material by fall. Also, how do you even tell if a used rope was stored in a closet versus baked in an attic, I feel like that's the real gamble.

grant1557d ago

Wait, I read a thread on Mountain Project last week where some old school climber was saying he's only ever bought used ropes and he's never decked. How exactly do you check for a core shot though, just by feel or is there a trick to it? I'm still not sure I'd trust my life to a used rope no matter how good the logbook looks.