The Good Bad and Ugly: Ropes

I've owned a few different ropes but it is coming to be about the time to retire my current rope, and I am looking around for what people think. Let's hear the opinions, good bad and ugly, about what ropes you love and hate.

I am looking for a 9.5 to 10mm dynamic rope that's good for just about everything, mostly trad and sport. What advice do you have for me?

For the money I really have liked the nicer Edelrid stuff. Their high end fatty is even on STP right now:

sierratradingpost.com/edelr…

The buddy that I climb with most often and I both have the Sterling Evolution Velocity... got a sweet deal on them, but I ended up being a huge fan! The dry treated one is really easy to handle and durable.

The best handling rope I've ever used, though, is the Petzl Xion. Not totally sure how long it holds up, but it feeds like a dream.

I shelled out more than I typically would to get a Mammut infinity and it's really a great rope, very light and handles well. I also have a Edelrid Boa that I got for around $125 intending to use it to save wear on my more expensive ropes, I gotta say I like it better than most of the other ropes I've owned and the thing just keeps going & going.

I second the mammut infinity. Hands down the best rope I've ever used. Thin, light, durable, and handles well. Can't go wrong!

justropes.com - they have a great coupon code if you do a search for it. Best prices around (may not beat the stp price on the edelrid though).

KyleB wrote:I second the mammut infinity. Hands down the best rope I've ever used. Thin, light, durable, and handles well. Can't go wrong!

The infinity will probably be my next rope.

gearx.com/mammut-9-5-golden…

good price if you don't mind the color / lack of bi-color

Blue for a few $ more omcgear.com/mammut-infinity…

hard to find bad reviews

outdoorgearlab.com/Climbing…

backcountry.com/mammut-infi…

Another +1 for the infinity.

I loved my infinity until it got a massive core shot and almost killed me. Obviously no way to know how another rope would have fared but it did make me more wary about climbing on skinny ropes.

I have a bluewater pulse 9.9 now that is awesome. Lots of friends with Sterlings that all seem really nice.

i know someone who calls the Tusk a vodoo rope, so maybe stay away from that one. Infinity sounds real good.
i have used mammut galaxy 10mm for years as my "thin" rope, outstanding cord. Also nice if your over 160lbs

Go with anything Bluewater! Very Durable and I have yet to find a better quality rope. Also its a family owned company and all there ropes are made in USA.

I've owned five Mammut Infinitys and have never had an issue. IMHO best rope ever. I currently use the 9.5 Infinity (70 m dry bi-color) for trad and the lesser expensive 9.6 Mammut Climax for sport climbing. Deals are out there if you're willing to dig a little.

eveningsends.com/2012/02/re…

I boycotted Mammut a few years back, but I did have an Infinity that was a great rope.

For years I had Sterling Evolution 9.8 but those ropes always tend to make my hands black for some reason. Not just mine either - I have friends with the same problem. I got tired of it and so I decided to try Edelrid and have not been disappointed. Have a Falcon 9.4 and love it so far.

So, I was pretty set on the Bluewater Dominator but now am thinking twice. It seems (for a 70m) that the Mammut Infinity is about 20-30 bucks more.

Worth it for the extra 30 or so bucks to go with the Mammut or have people been happy with the dominator?

Another +1 for the Infinity. I got the Duodess because I love bipattern ropes. I've been digging it so far!

I'll add my kudos for the Infinity - it's been a great rope, can't go wrong purchasing one.

Edelweiss ropes are my new favorite. Check out the Energy 9.5.

My current fave:

Edelweiss Curve ARC 9.8 x 70m, bipattern.
Perfect all-around rope. Good price, good specs, handles well, comes with a freebie rope bag (w/ sewn in ground tarp!). 61g/m, 7.8kN impact, 9 falls.

@MIYG (and anyone else thats interested) .... I had an 70m Infinity (dry) a few years ago and it handled really well (at first), and it was mega durable. My only problem with it was that it turned into a cable after about 1 year or so of pretty regular use (single and multi-pitch trad), it was hard to belay and I was scared to fall on it because of the not so soft catch, so I had to retire it because of that, and I was super bummed, because it was in great condition...except the fact that it was a cable. I have had owned alot of ropes and I have almost never had a rope that I've had to retire before I've had to chop it at least once (although the old sterling 9.5 ion came close) I have never even thought of buying a Mammut since.
I have also had a Dominator before. If you look closely at the Dominator (9.4mm) and the Infinity (9.5mm) side by side, you will see that there is more of a difference than .1mm in the thickness. The Dominator to me is much more of a skinny 9.2 than a do it all 9.5, and for me, the Dominator falls more in the elite and light-weight rope catorgory--not really a workhorse do it all rope.
With all that said, I was using my brand new 70m Dominator on a multi-pitch rock climb. Mid climb, I discorvered a core shot in the middle of it, and I had no clue how it got there. (Its unnerving to have to rappel a mulit-pitch with a brand new core shot rope) I survived and called customer service at BW and they were super helpful and sent me a brand new rope of my choice (a 9.7 lightening pro--which was a pretty good rope, not amazing, but pretty good) So the customer service was awesome.
Long story short, I decided to cut the Dominator which had the core shot and use it for shorter, single pitch climbs. It was awesome--handled super well, really durable for its size, soft catches for its life---I mean, I really beat this rope up and although I had 3 other ropes, this would always be my go to rope if possible.
So in the end, I liked it so much that I actually bought another one, and I will probably buy another one...

MIYG wrote:So, I was pretty set on the Bluewater Dominator but now am thinking twice. It seems (for a 70m) that the Mammut Infinity is about 20-30 bucks more. Worth it for the extra 30 or so bucks to go with the Mammut or have people been happy with the dominator?

whatever is cheap and decently durable 9.8-10mm ...

any good brand will do ...

the more you climb, the faster youll wear it out ..