What to do with bits of climbing rope?

[Nibbles]

Hi everybody! New member, just registered after reading for a while.

I have 60 meters/200' of 11.5 mm Tachyon that has spliced eyes in both ends. I'm going to cut one end off, but then I couldn't quite decide how long to make that bit and what to use it for. So, any suggestions and clever ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Bonus question: What do you with bits of damaged or decommissioned climbing rope?

 

[Bango Skank]

I’d probably cut it to end up with a 120’ + climbing line and a shorty climbing line, they’re pretty useful. Or cut a positioning lanyard and have a longer climbing line.

As for retired ropes, it’s not a horrible idea to put them in the trash. Maybe a tag line or utility tie down. Saw someone weave a cool little rug before, probably a fun project, and a very durable rug.

Are you cutting it because the cover is milking and you got a bunch of baggy spots in the jacket that can’t be milked off now? A lot of these 24 strand double braid climbing lines do that when they’re new, and can only really use them with one spliced end.

 

[michael j]

Dog leads, horse tack, porch swing. There's lots of things.

 

[Nibbles]

I’d probably cut it to end up with a 120’ + climbing line and a shorty climbing line, they’re pretty useful. Or cut a positioning lanyard and have a longer climbing line.

As for retired ropes, it’s not a horrible idea to put them in the trash. Maybe a tag line or utility tie down. Saw someone weave a cool little rug before, probably a fun project, and a very durable rug.

Are you cutting it because the cover is milking and you got a bunch of baggy spots in the jacket that can’t be milked off now? A lot of these 24 strand double braid climbing lines do that when they’re new, and can only really use them with one spliced end.

I'm doing it primarily to use it with a Zigzag. Ended up buying with both ends spliced since that was the only option in stock locally.

As for the possible future jacket problems that you mentioned, does that mean I should not whip the ends after cutting? My plan was to cut with hot knife and whip. Should I just maybe cut and tape instead?

Thanks for the other suggestions.

 

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

Rope swings for the kids, rope to tie down loads on trailers, rope for ridge lines while camping

Climbing line is usually too thick and not 'ideal' for those situations, but I don't like throwing away perfectly good sections of good rope...so they get used for random things.

 

[Tedster2]

As long as the application doesn't require dynamic falls(rock climbing) I've used em for just about anything. Has the rope been washed? I would wash mine regularly since wyoming sand stone can eat through one pretty quick. After that, it becomes a static rope for roofing Victorian houses. The little bit of stretch was perfect for the Chesapeake Bay girl when she got big enough to start breaking the airplane cable.

 

[trains]

how big are the trees your climbing, do you need 60mts? if you do, take the eye off one end, and let the rope smooth out, if not needing 60mts, make up a nice lanyard out of one end of it.

 

[anlrolfe]

Lanyards, leaders and leashes would be easy and useful. You may be able to even turn a buck or two.
Make a rope net or rope bridge for play equipment
Donate to a Scout Troop?
Cut them into 6-8ft length for scouts to practice tying knots.

 

[Bango Skank]

As for the possible future jacket problems that you mentioned, does that mean I should not whip the ends after cutting? My plan was to cut with hot knife and whip. Should I just maybe cut and tape instead?

You can milk the cover by anchoring the spliced end somewhere, and pulling/ sliding a prusik down the whole length of it, try to put your weight into it and do it a few times, after that you’d probably be good to whip the end. Or like you said, you can tape/ melt the end and let it milk through normal use for a while, then whip it later when the cover is done stretching out, and you’ve cut off the excess cover off.

 

[Nibbles]

how big are the trees your climbing, do you need 60mts? if you do, take the eye off one end, and let the rope smooth out, if not needing 60mts, make up a nice lanyard out of one end of it.

About 22-25 meters on average I would say, with some up to 30. Doing double rope at the moment so I really don't won't to cut the main rope too short, but I also don't want to waste a spliced eye. So I'm basically trying to figure out what's the minimum usable length for the short one. I already have a steel core flipline and a Petzl Zillon 5.5 meters so I'm not really sure I need an extra lanyard. I could of course just cut one spliced eye off and throw it away, but that just feels too wasteful to me, especially since the Teufelberger splice is so nice and low profile.

Thanks for all the good suggestions everybody, I really appreciate it.

 

[Nibbles]

You can milk the cover by anchoring the spliced end somewhere, and pulling/ sliding a prusik down the whole length of it, try to put your weight into it and do it a few times, after that you’d probably be good to whip the end. Or like you said, you can tape/ melt the end and let it milk through normal use for a while, then whip it later when the cover is done stretching out, and you’ve cut off the excess cover off.

I'll definitely do it that way then, thanks a bunch!

 

[sparski]

hey nibbles just a couple options I have done over the years
I have made friction savers out of them now i seen adjustable friction savers if you know where the rope has been and it is safe
I have made a rope swing for the local boys up at the cottage
I have made rigging lines out of it it has stretch but to be honest I would bull rope a negative set up but other than that it works fine
also when it comes to the the frayed end remember with the zig zag you don't want anything wider then stock due to it being a pain in the ass. Can you get the spliced end through the zz or does it have the plastic information sleeve on it ? other wise tape it. I had a climber cut his new petzl rope and we had to tape the end to get it through the actually zig zags of the device. Anywho have a good one take a picture of what you end up doing