80m vs 70m rope

I'm trying to decide between a 80m and 70m rope The 80m is cheaper 9.8mm 6falls and non dry the 70m is 10.2mm 11 falls, dry and 30 bucks more. I think that the 70m is a better choice but my partner is trying to convince me that the 80m isuseful sometimes and it's hard to find an 80 meter rope.

So my question is. Do I need a 80m rope in Colorado area? or is it just more rope to carry around. 60m worked for me so far and I do have a double 60m.

JulianG wrote:60m worked for me so far and I do have a double 60m.

Then you are you even considering an 80m? If 60m works fine, that's your answer, get 60m. I use a 60m and I am fine with it. If I need a second rope to get down, I use a pull cord. I would only buy a 70m if the area I climbed in had a ton of routes that needed it, and I would never buy an 80m.

I would go with 9.8 instead of 10.2. What's the weight per meter? I bet 80m weighs the same as the 70m. Worse case, cut the extra 10m - you got a cheaper and lighter rope.

180' pitch would need a 110m rope to lower off...

doligo wrote:I would go with 9.8 instead of 10.2. What's the weight per meter? I bet 80m weighs the same as the 70m. Worse case, cut the extra 10m - you got a cheaper and lighter rope.

OP... the numbers have spoken

If you're going to be taking a lot of falls on it, I would consider the 80m not because you will need 80m but because you could cut the ends multiple times without having it get too short. If you plan to use the rope a lot and don't mind the extra 10m of weight/bulk to carry, it's gonna be more economical in the long run.

Back in the day, 50m of Gold Line was all you needed. Then 60, and I recently bought a 70. Where the hell is this going and why?

Like others have said, rope drag limits how high you can drag an 80 going up. But I keep finding places where an 80 makes getting down faster. Seems like there are a lot of 40 meter rappels out there from the days when folks put up routes with 50s and planned for double rope raps.

Roy Suggett wrote:Back in the day, 50m of Gold Line was all you needed. Then 60, and I recently bought a 70. Where the hell is this going and why?

Pfft... my first rope, a Goldline, was 120 feet. That's a bit under 37 meters.

Neither rope is very practical for multi-pitch climbing - both are very heavy compared to the modern norm. 9.8 is a much more versatile diameter and plenty beefy for almost anything. Some newer sport climbs in western CO and elsewhere require an 80, but more important, the 5-10m on each end of any rope used for sport climbing will wear out much faster than the middle, so you could cut your 80 several times and still have a functional 70- or 60-meter cord. I've seldom noticed much difference between dry and non, especially once the rope gets some wear. Some of my favorite ropes have been untreated.

you are going to hate carrying around an 80m rope unless it is absolutely necessary for you to send your mega proj. if I was buying a 80m rope, then it would absolutely not be a 9.8mm, probably would get something skinnier like a 9.2 or 9.4 to save some weight.

Ask yourself some questions: Do you climb tall routes and enjoy doing mega long pitches? Do you want to increase your odds of reaching ledge to ledge on the big stuff? Do you want to roll the dice a bit and do linked or long raps and count on guide book overestimations of length (very common) and rope stretch to get you to the next station? Do you know how to (and enjoy) safely down climbing to a rap station in the event that you don't quite reach a linked/long rap? Are you dumb/smart enough to believe that extra weight just makes you stronger? Do you take the big whippers and wear out your ropes near the ends necessitating frequent chopping?....

If you answered yes to 2 of these or if the rope is less expensive.... get the 80.

Abel Jones wrote:Ask yourself some questions: Do you climb tall routes and enjoy doing mega long pitches? Do you want to increase your odds of reaching ledge to ledge on the big stuff? Do you want to roll the dice a bit and do linked or long raps and count on guide book overestimations of length (very common) and rope stretch to get you to the next station? Do you know how to (and enjoy) safely down climbing to a rap station in the event that you don't quite reach a linked/long rap? Are you dumb/smart enough to believe that extra weight just makes you stronger? Do you take the big whippers and wear out your ropes near the ends necessitating frequent chopping?.... If you answered yes to 2 of these or if the rope is less expensive.... get the 80.

Well I do tend to be dumb more than smart :-) but it is hard to pass on a 80m rope for 130 bucks. 50 cents a foot. So I got the 70M and my partner got the 80M.

I believe that ropes and harnesses should the replaced every couple of years. We don't back up single ropes or harnesses as we do with every other climbing gear. And I do have 2 pairs of shoes and chalk bags just in case. Not to mention that nylon and certain chemicals don't mix. I'm retiring my current rope, that is still new because I left into in my van for too long(more than a year)Well at least retiring from outdoors climbing gym padded floors and bolts every 4 ft make a big difference