Choosing a Climbing Line and Splice Questions

[yepper]

So I'm learning to climb at work and in the market for my own line. Right now I would be using it for DdRT with a prusik cord and hitch climber pulley. I'm interested in branching out to SRT in the future but still have a lot to learn before venturing that way, so would love a line that works for both purposes but doubled rope is the bigger priority right now. Since I haven't handled a lot of different ropes yet I don't exactly know what I'm looking for. The description for Samson Arbormaster reads like a good general purpose line but I'm interested in any other recommendations for the type of climbing I'm doing.

My other question is about spliced eyes, which I understand are required to safely use the hitch climber pulley. I see Wesspur offers either hand or Viking splices. Aside from price what is the practical difference between these styles? Also am I correct that the tight splice vs. a 5" is correct for the hitch climber? Thanks.

 

[Hoowasat]

I only have Samson Arbormaster climbing ropes and use them for both DRT & SRT. You will probably hear some guys say there are better ropes for SRT, and they're most likely correct, but I'm happy with the Arbormaster for both methods. I do have a splice eye on one of my climbing ropes and I highly recommend it. My next climbing rope (another Arbormaster) will be purchased with a spliced eye. The major difference between the loop ends is that one type is manually spliced ... interwoven back onto/into itself ... whereas all the other names (like Viking) are merely sewn loops. I have no problem with a sewn loop, but I prefer the compactness of a spliced loop. All of my eye-to-eye cords have sewn loops.

 

[Del_]

I like New England Vi Vee Safety Blue as my main climbing line. I bought a six hundred ft. spool some years ago and still have new.

 

[treebilly]

Yales 11.7 lines are great for double duty. They are a semi static 24 strand. I used the blue moon and PI for the hitch climber set up before buying a hitch hiker. I used it ddrt for a bit before going to srt.

 

[CanopyGorilla]

I like almost anything Yale makes, but Imory is probably my favorite. I recommend a hitch hiker. I use it for both Ddrt and srt. The prussik pully is a hair smother for strictly ddrt but the hitch hiker is better for both. My climbing style I usually switch between the two on any given climb. I want to buy an akimbo.

 

[CanopyGorilla]

My second favorite Yale rope is 16 strand "Stein Hedera".

 

[CanopyGorilla]

I like Yale..... for rock climbing I like sterling, but for trees it's yale.

 

[yepper]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, settled on Samson Arbormaster and found a neat PDF that explained the loop size question. Having Christmas and a birthday in the same month timed rather well with the budding of my climbing career.. Saved Santa 20% too with that Wesspur black Friday sale!

 

[Hoowasat]

... found a neat PDF that explained the loop size question.

Good luck with your selection. I wouldn't mind seeing that PDF you mentioned. Can you post a link to it? FWIW, the one spliced eye I have is a tight eye ... just big enough to fit a carabiner through it. When I order my next Arbormaster rope, I intend on getting another tight eye

 

[yepper]

http://www.neropes.com/Resources/arborist.pdf There it is. 90% a product guide for New England Ropes, but has lots of random paragraphs with useful 101 info such as the loop sizing.

 

[treesmith]

Good luck with your selection. I wouldn't mind seeing that PDF you mentioned. Can you post a link to it? FWIW, the one spliced eye I have is a tight eye ... just big enough to fit a carabiner through it. When I order my next Arbormaster rope, I intend on getting another tight eye

Me too, tight eyes are nice, stops everything flopping around or rotating