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To flake or not to flake (the rope)

Ken Noyce · · Layton, UT · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 2,648
mcarizona wrote: Thank you Scott! It's inconsiderate and kinda sez: "check me out everyone" (chalk blow), (bzzzzat!) As said before: flaking the rope gives an opportunity to check your gear. Steve
Nope, not inconsiderate at all if you have any clue what you're doing. You drag your rope tarp directly under the rope then when you pull the rope it lands right on the tarp and doesn't inconvenience anyone. You simply let people in the immediate area know what's going on.
Eric Engberg · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 0
kennoyce wrote: Nope, not inconsiderate at all if you have any clue what you're doing. You drag your rope tarp directly under the rope then when you pull the rope it lands right on the tarp and doesn't inconvenience anyone. You simply let people in the immediate area know what's going on.
Pulling it through the long way also gets the twists/kinks out much better then pulling out through the draws and reflaking. Of course if you are oblivious to a simple "rope" and make me repeat it and use other ways to get you to move...then I have my own idea of who is inconsiderate.
normajean · · Reading, PA · Joined Jun 2015 · Points: 110

Thanks everyone! Great responses!

Rick Blair wrote:I don't understand. Doesn't it take less than a minute to flake out a rope?
There are better things to do...
FrankPS · · Atascadero, CA · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 276
normajean wrote:Thanks everyone! Great responses! There are better things to do...
Like posting on Mountain Project? :)
patto · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 25
Faulted Geologist wrote:Ropes are rated for a number of falls, usually around 6....
Most of what you say is good advice but having this as the first sentence is pretty misleading. A rope will BREAK pretty shortly after it exceeds the fall rating.

That said the forces involved in the FF1.77 falls used in rope tests are almost never seen in the real world. Should you have even one fall of that sort of magnitude you should be cutting that section off.

Comparing low force falls to high force falls is not highly relevent. Sort of like comparing jumping off a 6foot cliff ten times vs a 60foot cliff once...
Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425
kennoyce wrote: No, it's not stupid, if he had been hanging and falling on the rope it's good practice to pull it through like he did so that the next climber is climbing on the other side of the rope.
I must be envisioning it wrong. After the climber unties I pull through down through the draws. It sounded like the person pulled UP through? That way there was zero control over the rope falling through the air.

If that IS the case I keep with my original assessment. If not stupid at least dickish. I've seen people do that at Movement with tons of people walking around. Once that rope is airborne it's over.

Again I think we are envisioning different things.
Ken Noyce · · Layton, UT · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 2,648
Scott McMahon wrote: I must be envisioning it wrong. After the climber unties I pull through down through the draws. It sounded like the person pulled UP through? That way there was zero control over the rope falling through the air. If that IS the case I keep with my original assessment. If not stupid at least dickish. I've seen people do that at Movement with tons of people walking around. Once that rope is airborne it's over. Again I think we are envisioning different things.
Yes, you are envisioning it correctly, however, thanks to this spiffy thing called gravity it is extremely easy to know exactly where the rope will land within a controlled environment like a gym where wind isn't a factor. As long as you put your rope tarp directly under the hanging rope, you know that the rope will land on the tarp. At this point all you need to do is make sure that there are no people who are going to walk over your rope tarp during the less than two seconds that the rope is free-falling through the air onto your tarp (which let's face it, if they are walking over your rope they are being the dicks anyway).
Rick Blair · · Denver · Joined Oct 2007 · Points: 266
Scott McMahon wrote: I must be envisioning it wrong. After the climber unties I pull through down through the draws. It sounded like the person pulled UP through? That way there was zero control over the rope falling through the air. If that IS the case I keep with my original assessment. If not stupid at least dickish. I've seen people do that at Movement with tons of people walking around. Once that rope is airborne it's over. Again I think we are envisioning different things.
I have been told by Gym staff that is how they want the rope pulled so the unused end is now on top and the rope ends are more likely to be alternated that way which slows down the flattening of the rope on one end.
greggle · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2016 · Points: 0
Scott McMahon wrote: It sounded like the person pulled UP through? That way there was zero control over the rope falling through the air. If that IS the case I keep with my original assessment. If not stupid at least dickish. I've seen people do that at Movement with tons of people walking around. Once that rope is airborne it's over.
I think that's just a little hyperbolic.

What kennoyce said all around. And like what others have said, my partners and I try to rotate the sharp end between climbs. Sure, we could say, "Pbbf! This is the gym's rope. The hell do we care?!" THAT'S being dickish.
Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425
kennoyce wrote: At this point all you need to do is make sure that there are no people who are going to walk over your rope tarp during the less than two seconds that the rope is free-falling through the air onto your tarp (which let's face it, if they are walking over your rope they are being the dicks anyway).
haha movement in Boulder is like a rock concert at night (why i never go anymore). Chances of people not walking under your rope is a gonna be hard.
Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425
greggle wrote: I think that's just a little hyperbolic. What kennoyce said all around. And like what others have said, my partners and I try to rotate the sharp end between climbs. Sure, we could say, "Pbbf! This is the gym's rope. The hell do we care?!" THAT'S being dickish.
I always flip the rope. Good habit muscle memory I guess.
Old lady H · · Boise, ID · Joined Aug 2015 · Points: 1,374

Anybody else just work straight out of the rope bag? Seems to work just fine, when it is just stuffed in, opposite end tied in to the bag, and pulling from the stuffed end. Granted, it is not on a tarp, but we don't have cactus at our local climbing.

Ken Noyce · · Layton, UT · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 2,648
Scott McMahon wrote: haha movement in Boulder is like a rock concert at night (why i never go anymore). Chances of people not walking under your rope is a gonna be hard.

Then it's their own fault if a rope falls on their head.
Ken Noyce · · Layton, UT · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 2,648
Old lady H wrote:Anybody else just work straight out of the rope bag? Seems to work just fine, when it is just stuffed in, opposite end tied in to the bag, and pulling from the stuffed end. Granted, it is not on a tarp, but we don't have cactus at our local climbing.
I'm sure it works, but a tarp is much quicker and easier for moving between routes.
Eric Engberg · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 0
Scott McMahon wrote: I always flip the rope. Good habit muscle memory I guess.
That doesn't unkink it - not as well as pulling it through the long way,
ChossKing King · · Boulder, CO · Joined Apr 2014 · Points: 0
Rick Blair wrote:I don't understand. Doesn't it take less than a minute to flake out a rope?
pics or didn't happen.
Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425
Eric Engberg wrote: That doesn't unkink it - not as well as pulling it through the long way,
haha well I don't leave it kinked. :o)

Speaking of climbing looks like alpine season is DONE in colorado! Time for ice!
Matt Looby · · Cincinnati, OH · Joined May 2011 · Points: 6,651
normajean wrote:is it necessary to re-flake the rope?
Here's the beta for not having to re-flake your rope all the time:
When you pack the rope/tarp into the bag, FOLD it over on itself and roll it as you put it into the bag. Most people just shove the rope/tarp into the bag and then it comes out as a mess when you unpack it.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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