I would like to raise the issue of the length of club ropes and suggest that an inventory of ropes is done, or a current list made publicly available - including what length different ropes are.

I accept that sometimes ropes have to be trimmed (for whatever reason) but would hope that short ropes were known about, to avoid surprises when on route. This may not be an issue on single pitch crags but can be crucial when winter climbing (when pitches are often a full rope length) or abseiling from multi pitch sport routes (when your abseil may be nearly as long as a rope length).

I use an orange single rope as an example - it was a 60m rope and is relatively new. It is now under 45m in length. If we know the length of ropes we can work around it, but in Scotland no-one was aware of how short this rope was, including current committee members and recent gear secretaries. Having a rope only 3/4 of the expected length is pretty poor show.

Doing this exercise may also help work out which doubles are mis-matched, as at least one club set is significantly different lengths.

If you need a hand I don't mind helping measure them at the Munrow.

Thanks.

Sorry Starley, some of the committee will be looking at the ropes in the new year.

As I'm sure you're aware it is very difficult to label a rope without damaging it or altering the handling. It is also quite hard to keep track of club ropes when they aren't returned promptly after trips leaving the gear secs less time to sort them out!

We'll do our best to get this sorted out as soon as possible as it shouldn't really have happened.

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Ex-president

As far as I'm aware only the rope that is significantly shorter than it should be is the one you mention Starley. It had to be trimmed at Pembroke owing to a significant tear in the sheath. Rather a shorter 45m rope than a dead stoat.

Myself, Phil and at least Tommy will be running an inventory of the whole cupboard next term. We'll keep this issue in mind and label the ropes as best we can, but as Mark says, labelling indvidual ropes is quite tricky. I tried it at Pembroke and ran into a whole host of problems. Nevertheless, we'll look into it!

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Developing Nicely.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I was not necessarily meaning labeling the actual ropes, as I appreciate the difficulties involved. Perhaps a thread that is kept upto date if anything has to be trimmed may be one possibility - and highlighting any ropes that are shorter than people may anticipate; for example the orange one. I guess identifying ropes may then be a problem; I can't remember if we have duplicate colours etc.

How about keeping anything shorter in a labelled bag so people know?

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MILF-Hunter

Are you guys still using the gear Database Neil and I made? It should have all this sort of info on it... plus when you last checked it etc.

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Girls like three things: Danger, Boners and R1oss' guns.

You do realise that you should really be keeping a record of use that each rope has had. As well as dates on when first purchased, first use, when it was last checked etc. Likewise at the end of its life span which depends on its use, which you don't know unless you keep a record, the club as responsible for its safe and appropriate destruction (Yes that's right destruction, not being kept by a committee member!).

Why do you need to do this? Well if it all goes wrong and someone gets hurt or worst, as it will provide the evidence that you as a club have tried to safeguard you members as much as possible. Without it then the committee members can be personally liable! (And Yes the buck does stop somewhere - Either the Chairperson, or more likely the Gear Sec!) As a committee, by lending out ropes you are saying that they are safe to use, and without the evidence of its use, how do you know! Would you led your car to someone without checking that they have a driving licence?

This collection and recording of use, is not just a committee members responsibility, as they can't really run around every time the clubs ropes are in use, but the club members as a wholes responsibility. My recommendation is to buy (or make) a few rope bags, enough for one per rope if used singular or per pair if doubles and attach a hard-backed note book to the bag, so that all use can be recorded along with dates, locations, any damage, etc.

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Mountaineering Instructor and Asp. Level 5 Kayak Coach
Supported by : Team Pyranha | Peak UK