Just bought my first rope, Hope its the right stuff??

[rickster]

Someone please tell me i got the right kind of rope to start with.

http://www.appoutdoors.com/sterling_rop ... p53936.htm

[reeffish1073]

Personally i use PMI pit rope. Looks like you got the right stuff though! Mabe some one else who uses sterling can chime in and elaborate more.

[Chads93GT]

The only Sterling rope that I have ever used was their 100% polyester rope that was, i believe, isostatic? Anyway, I was the first person down the pit on it and holy crap, all 6 bars on my rack, pushing up on the bars to slow down and I was still moving right along. Either way 7/16 is 11mm which is what most people I cave with use as their main rope.

[MUD]

That'll do just fine Rick...cept ya paid a bit much for it! Next time ya want to buy some gear PM me and I'll tell where to get it cheapest!

[rickster]

ok mud, thanks

[wyandottecaver]

rick,

you should be fine. Sterling SS is not as durable in the sheath as PMI pit rope or even maxwear. It is however more supple, as it is also intended for use in rescue where that can be an advantage when running through gear. It will be slightly faster than pitrope as well but nothing near as fast as the polyester chad mentioned. Overall it should be a fine caving rope as long as you dont abuse it too much on rough surfaces. It is not however a "fragile" rope.

a few tips, NEVER let it lay on concrete...especially wet concrete, or obviously around other corrosive substances. It is also recommended to wash it gently before first use. (I use a bathtub and a little Ivory Snow detergent for delicates) this helps set the fibers as the rope shrinks slightly. Do not ever put it in a dryer and use extreme care if using a washing machine that the rope is not damaged (I put the rope inside big pillow cases tied shut)

[Chads93GT]

im curious, why not let a rope sit on concrete?

[sherppa]

me too... Why the rope should be washed before its first use? Is it really necesary? If it is, why those people don´t wash the rope before sending it out to sale?
I´ve used sterling ropes just a couple times, in industrial rescue trainning, but it seems to be a good rope. As PMI does, 11mm sterling meets NFPA 1983 standard for light use (no more than 300lbf).
Take care of it, ´cause it will take care of you

[Stridergdm]

Someone please tell me i got the right kind of rope to start with.

http://www.appoutdoors.com/sterling_rop ... p53936.htm

OMG, you're going to die. But I'll do you a favor and take this off your hands for free.

Seriously, never used it, but Sterling is a well enough known name I'd have no problem trusting my life to it.

[ek]

I've used Sterling 11mm Superstatic for caving. It works fine!

I cannot speak in any authoritative way to sheath durability, but it is a little stretchier than PMI Max-Wear or PMI EZ-Bend, and that can increase abrasion because more stretch translates to bigger sawing motions over edges. Avoid or pad any aggressive edges (and flat-out avoid any sharp ones, to the point of thinking about what's going to happen to your rope if a single non-redundant component of your anchor system, like a bolt, fails). You know, like you would do anyway.

I've seen Sterling 11mm Superstatic (rigged by climbers as rappel lines) abrade on edges...it seems to abrade faster than 11mm PMI ropes, but I'm not sure the sheath thickness or construction actually has to do with that. The Sterling ropes have a higher number of fiber bundles in their sheaths, i.e. their sheaths are a finer weave. Some people say that this increases abrasion-resistance, though it has never been explained to me why that would be so.

I don't have access to samples of each to go back and compare, but the Sterling 11mm Superstatic always seemed less supple to me than PMI 11mm EZ-Bend.

Initial testing on Sterling ropes suggests that WNS decontamination with the properly concentrated Lysol ICS solution (not bleach!) is safe. The production of those results is an indication that Sterling has done more to assist in that research, thus far, than any other company. Those early results and the work that went into them speaks well for Sterling. PMI has a long history of being caver-friendly, and remains the most respected and most use manufacturer of caving ropes in the US. Blue Water also produces excellent ropes and has a good history of concern for caver needs--it was the original caving rope company. This history was established well before the debut of WNS. It is nice to see that Sterling is interested in the needs of cavers as well.

(Sterling also sponsored the vertical training session at the Spring 2010 NRO.)

Overall, my personal favorite 11mm caving rope is PMI 11mm EZ-Bend.

[wyandottecaver]

concrete is bad for ropes because of the alkali (lime) in it. It is caustic to nylon, although certainly you won't trash your rope by leaving it lay on your garage floor 1 night. Water accelerates this reaction. So, occasional contact is probably fine, but storing it on a concrete floor would be something of a gamble...

Pre-washing is not necessary. It is helpful. It essentially causes the new rope to shrink slightly which settles the fibers and makes it marginally less likely to get grit into the core.

tighter sheath weaves in theory mean that the sheath is better at resisting grit penetration and each individual fiber has less total exposed surface. In practice I think it also means the fibers themselves or the core is not as thick. What I know for sure is that they are "faster" on rappel. A polyester tight weave rope is like a greased fire pole for a heavy caver.

In general I consider EZ Bend a bit too abrasion prone for caving, but it handles like a dream. I also suspect EK takes more care in rigging than I do...with the exception of truly sharp edges I'm a student of the Chuck it N' Fu*k it school.....

Of course I'm also a rope junkie that retires ropes regularly and I have several thousand feet of rope including virtually all the major makers. I really like New England KMIII Max (not to be confused with KMIII). It's not as bombproof as PMI pit rope, but handles very well and stands up to a reasonable amount of abuse. KMIII is much less durable and in some cases has worn very rapidly.