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How Many Falls Can A Rope Take?

• April 2017
• Hi Steph Climb Gear

Steph, how are you? How many falls a rope can take (small falls inside the gym)? I always hear different arguments and wanted to know from you 🙂 Thanks
Romulo

Hi Romulo,
I believe in using my climbing ropes for as long as possible. I don’t like wasting things in general, and I know it takes resources from the planet to make anything out of nylon so I am always determined to get full use out of any rope. I also think that ropes in general are stronger and more durable than most people’s perception based on appearance of wear, so for the most part I use ropes until they are fuzzy, fraying and starting to develop core shots. Then I use them for fixed ropes, hand lines, tie down straps, dog leashes or garden projects. (A good friend of mine, who is a well known and witty climbing writer, once threatened to write an article about me called “The Last True Dirtbag” because he claims I’m the only sponsored climber he’s ever seen using a rope with core shots.) For me, the time to replace a rope is either when my friends won’t stop talking about how old my rope is, or when there are too many fuzzy spots (or I have cut off the ends a few times). I have seen ropes fray and cut over edges when rigged improperly, but I have never seen a rope break.

So now I have some official information that will actually be of help to you in deciding how long to use YOUR rope 🙂

Here are some guidelines from Mammut, with their recommendations for ropes and retirement–you’ll see, it’s mostly visual inspection and using your common sense, so you can trust your judgement if it matches the points in the Life Span section.

This section will be of interest too, with more specifics on falls and how that relates to life span:
“SHOCK LOADING
Short, sport climbing falls only minimally damage a rope; it can withstand hundreds of them. If the rope end becomes stiff or rough you can cut off the damaged section. Also, bigger falls of ten or fifteen meters don’t have to mean the end for the rope, assuming a dynamic belay technique has been used. fall factor and impact force are critical for the well being of a rope. A longer fall with fall factor over 1, which is not gently braked, can clearly reduce a rope’s safety reserve. Even then it may still hold simple sport climbing falls, but can, however, break with edge loading, even over a less sharp edge, when compared with a new rope. Under no circumstance should it be used in alpine terrain or in climbing areas with rough edges. Safety oriented climbers will replace a rope after such a «heavy» fall.”

I hope that helps with your decisions 🙂
Steph