fall factor

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When top rope or lead climbing on an indoor face, how many falls can you have on that rope before you can not use it any more. Allso once the rope has been taken out of service can it be used for any thing else?

-- mike williams (mjw81@hotmail.com), February 12, 1998

Answers

i believe the number of top-rope falls does not matter. the number of lead falls depend on their severity (as measure by the fall factor) and intervals. unless it is several severe falls that's not much to worry about either (rope damage come mostly from abrasion against the rock, not a problem indoors). a rope retired for leading can still be used for top-roping, or any other use which does not involve dynamic forces. then you can still use it to haul.

-- Quang-Tuan Luong (luong@ai.sri.com), February 17, 1998.

I wouldn't recomend using a retired rope for top roping at all. Yes top roped falls put less strees on the rope, but if you don't feel safe leading on it, why put your life on it just because it's top- roped. Top roping ropes last for a good long time. We keep em up in out gym, being used countless times a day, for a few months at a time. Your rope life will vary with its diameter, how much you use it, what kind of edge protection you use if any, and how many falls you've taken on it. Once you can see the rope getting really fuzzy, you see the core, you feel the sheath starting to slip, the rope getting flater, or thinner; stop climbing on it. Use it for gear and tying a christmas tree on the roof of your jeep.

-- jim davis (jmdavis384@aol.com), March 20, 2003.

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