What rope do you like? What knots?

[caver]

I use retired 1/2" static kernmantle rope from my vertical caving days. It never got much use but most say retire in 10 years even if you toss it in a closet. I was once at a caving convention and the author of On Rope was giving a talk about vertical caving. His one funny line was if you cant tie a knot, tie a lot. On Rope: North American Vertical Rope Techniques for Caving, Search and Rescue, Mountaineering: Padgett, Allen & Bruce Smith, Profusely illustrated: Amazon.com: Books

 

[JasperFrank]

Over the years, I've converted almost entirely over to Mule Tape. Its cheap, easy to cut to length, easy to untie, easy to make knots with, easy to fold for threading, and doesn't seem to tangle up like normal rope does and folds down in to small spaces. Making a permanent loop, you just fold it over and flat stitch it. Though it looks weird, and I get grief from other boaters, I use it on my boats also for dock lines and anchor lines.

 

[newbury]

My favorite knot to teach kids to do is the draggin knot.
You know, tie any old knot in a rope and drag it in front of the audience.

 

[WinterDeere]

I use to measure my knot quality by how much it weighed when tied (e.g. keep piling on the granny knots till it holds!)

There's an old saying among sailors: "If you can't tie knots, tie lots!"

In other words, if you have a crew who doesn't know how to tie a real knot, just tell them to tie "a lot", and it'll get the job done. Worry about untangling the mess after the race or rescue.

 

[Rockbadchild]

In Mine rescue we uses static kernmantle rope as well ( kern or the inner core that supplies most of the rope’s strength, and a protective outer layer or mantle) capable of supporting a force of 2.7 kilonewton (kN) or 600 pound-force. It is a very good rope... but again it need to be well maintain if not it will rot.

 

[SmallChange]

Lots of great advice here! Thanks to all!

Wanted to point out: I'm a big believer in chains for rough things, especially involving ground contact. And wire rope too, for some things. What (regular) rope is good for, it seems to me, is:
Long lengths -- I've run it 100' to the thing I need pulled, and I'm not carrying 100' of stout chain
Pulleys -- I sometimes use 2 or 3 snatch blocks, to get the angle I need or to multiply force
Pulling on it by hand -- chain's heavier and harder on fingers (admittedly there's not much I can move by hand!)

Also, I'm sure rope has compromises. The ability to remain outdoors for long periods is important on a boat but not for my uses.

The whole point about static versus dynamic is an interesting one I want to learn more about.

 

[Rockbadchild]

We use static for mine rescue because it gave us better control it is more predictable, safer and better knot stability and there is no need for it to be elastic since we have a safety rope so no slack if one let go the other take the tension immediately so no impact in contrast a rock climber can fall and have a lot more slack then us and the elasticity absorb the shock ... for pulling a load I would say static rope is better since it cannot spring back if the rope snap or let go and whip back and cause injury, there wont be any bounce or speed variation when pulling depending of the fiction.

 

[nyone]

Pulleys -- I sometimes use 2 or 3 snatch blocks, to get the angle I need or to multiply force

Do you have a comeAlong? With one of them, an arborist rope and a 4ft section of 3/8 cordage you can do a ton of aerial tree work on trees that have the ability to be dropped whole.

I much prefer a chain ... rope, water and mud don't mix well.

Never seen to much mud in the top of a tree.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

My favorite knot to teach kids to do is the draggin knot.
You know, tie any old knot in a rope and drag it in front of the audience.

On the line crew we used to always talk about the beaut knot espescially when management or engineering would come out on the jobsite and it never failed somebody would bite and want to see the beaut knot which looked like a big pecker with balls, they would always get embarassed when you would say
" ain't she a beaut" ?

 

[Torvy]

I can tie a few knots from the old school boy scout days. Untying? That's what a belt knife is for!

I have a few different types of rope, some chain and some wire. All have uses.