19 yr old rope?

Never used, still bagged, in a residential closet since about 2000, 10 mm climbing rope...safe?   Don't be too hard on me, l'm new to this...

Based on your profile photo, it sounds like you have dog leashes covered for life ;)

I'd TR on it all day long.

Nylon doesn't have a shelf life and doesn't weaken over time unless it is used. Some evidence shows that it may lose some elasticity with age, however (although other evidence suggest no effect or even the opposite effect). I would TR with it, maybe sport climb with it, but not trad climb on it to be on the safe side.

F loyd wrote: Here is some good info I saw on another post. 

That is some really good information! Before reading I would have only TRd on OPs rope. Now I would treat it like any brand new rope. 

Your old "new" rope is perfectly safe to climb on. You need to disregard those who, being new to the game, are only familiar with modern ropes, that, by comparison, are garbage as shown in tests, where the thinner cords, while displaying higher energy absorbing properties are  not as dependable over time with light use,

eli poss wrote: Nylon doesn't have a shelf life and doesn't weaken over time unless it is used. Some evidence shows that it may lose some elasticity with age, however (although other evidence suggest no effect or even the opposite effect). I would TR with it, maybe sport climb with it, but not trad climb on it to be on the safe side.

According to the link ":

"Test results of a "new" unused 20 year old rope show(s) NO change in strength & equal in comparison to a similar New rope. 

and

anecdotally

I have ropes of varying ages, I use the "black"  twin of the below red rope for everything,
 & I now 'take'  & take more short whippers then ever before...

 

The matching "Black" rope has a corresponding
 stripe of the pink/red like the black stripe...

&  I have one skinny 150-foot Edelweiss brand, that is 40+_ years old and only now showing signs of wear.

 I use it as a "twin" 2 strands, clipped together for the most part, on short gear intensive leads & for top roping.  

Eh? sorry, Allen Sanderson, NO READ THE INFORMATION WITH THE TEST RESULTS
 you may be right for the current modern crap that is available, but not for the over-built workhorse cords from 20 years ago. 

what is written in the link & below post (while elasticity may decrease over time, that will affect energy absorption/stretch, not strength)

The link provided below is  the biased opinion of those in the business of selling gear,
and as I have that brand of rope ~ a skinny 9 mil ~ that is 40+ years old and fine to whip on please think & read the post(s) above this one!

http://www.edelweiss-ropes.com/faq?___store=english&___from_store=francais

5 - What is the lifetime of my rope?
Lifetime = Time of storage before first use + time in use.
The lifetime of the rope in use must never exceed 10 years.
The total maximum lifetime (storage before use + lifetime in use) is limited to 15 years (i.e. if the time of storage was 6 years the maximum time in use is limited to9 years:15– 6 = 9).
Attention: This is only a potential lifetime; a rope could be destroyed during its first use. It is the inspections which determine if the rope must be scrapped more quickly. Proper storage between uses is essential.

Nylon 6,6 which is what kern mantle climbing ropes are made from degrade over time due to oxidation. This oxidation basically makes the nylon brittle, so while the tensile strength may increase the elastic properties decrease.

Tagline or dog leashes.

Send it to me and I will test it thoroughly and report back.

Thanks for the input everyone! Overall it sounds like a (slow & careful) go.

I dunno if it is helpful info or not, but I have spent much of the last 20 years not climbing, and because I've been so slow to get more active I have a couple of 10mmX60m ropes from the 90s that have mostly been used for toproping very occasionally over the last 2 decades.  

I climb on them.  

I also have a really neat-o new-ish 9.8mm X 60M rope that I use a lot.

I haven't been able to tell the difference in my use between these ropes and the new rope.  I mostly use the new rope when I'm belaying someone else and I use the older ropes when I am solo toproping... I only do that cause I don't want to scare my partners.  I'll retire them when they wear out, and I've been climbing a whole lot more this year so they are catching a lot of wear.

The data from the Black Diamond testing above seems reliable to me.

The fact I've been divorced twice is testament to my poor decision making skills, so beware that I'm just some gumby who, functionally, has been climbing for about 8 months.  But my point is that there are folks using old ropes.  I climb once or twice a week on these ropes and haven't died yet though.

My experience has been that when a rope gets much older than the manufacturer’s recommendations, I start to worry about whether I might be being “negligent” if I am holding other people up with it.

I’d hate for my wife and kids to be on the receiving end of some kind of lawsuit because I didn’t want to retire an old rope.

Ropes are relatively cheap in the grand scheme of things.

Yes, Modern ropes are cheap. Made to be Disposable, lightweight planned obsolescence is a better business model, than heavy over-built durability  

The Black Diamond Testers In SLC, admit that they did not have any sort of comparable cord,
The modern configuration is lighter & It uses thinner sheath material to produce a very different type of rope...READ WHAT THE LINK SAYS ABOUT THE ROPES TESTED!

mbk  - you need to READ THE INFORMATION THAT HAS BEEN POSTED IN THIS THREAD BEFORE YOU POST !

mbk wrote: My experience has been that when a rope gets much older than the manufacturer’s recommendations, I start to worry about whether I might be being “negligent” if I am holding other people up with it.

I’d hate for my wife and kids to be on the receiving end of some kind of lawsuit because I didn’t want to retire an old rope.

Ropes are relatively cheap in the grand scheme of things.

aSSUMPTIONS, & reader comprehension fail or purposely disregarding what has been posted?

 ~ NOT INFORMED DECISION MAKING. - -You missed the facts! - -

The facts matter, we are talking about a rope that was made to specifications from 20 years ago, A "New" ~never used old rope~, not a recently made used rope.

Allen Sanderson wrote: edelweiss-ropes.com/faq?___…;___from_store=francais

5 - What is the lifetime of my rope?
Lifetime = Time of storage before first use + time in use.
The lifetime of the rope in use must never exceed 10 years.
The total maximum lifetime (storage before use + lifetime in use) is limited to 15 years (i.e. if the time of storage was 6 years the maximum time in use is limited to9 years:15– 6 = 9).
Attention: This is only a potential lifetime; a rope could be destroyed during its first use. It is the inspections which determine if the rope must be scrapped more quickly. Proper storage between uses is essential.

Nylon 6,6 which is what kern mantle climbing ropes are made from degrade over time due to oxidation. This oxidation basically makes the nylon brittle, so while the tensile strength may increase the elastic properties decrease.

Tagline or dog leashes.

I have a few ropes still that are 20+ and get used for occasional tasks. The degradation is apparent when you run the rope through a tube and the tuber ends up being the color of the rope. 

Mobes ! Ya Know I Luv Ya , , , , , , But that is not the focus of this thread !

 We are discussing A 20 year old NEW, Never used rope, not a 20 year old Mobes-used  cord!

Today on “Let’s Ask Climbers!” we are talking about old ropes! Our question is “Is a properly stored 20 year old rope safe?”

Let’s hear from the community.

“A properly stored what?”
- Tyler, 20, crossfit boulderer

“They dont make gear like they used to. I mean, stretchy ropes and flopy cams? Back when we were putting routes up in the gunks....”
- Alvin, 62, alpinist

“Hast du bier?”
- Klaus, 33, barista and via farreta guide

“Yer gonna die!”

eli poss wrote: I would TR with it, maybe sport climb with it, but not trad climb on it to be on the safe side.

Because gravity is somehow different on trad climbs?

Marc801 C wrote: Because gravity is somehow different on trad climbs?

no... because if its elasticity has degraded then it could have a higher impact force, which could cause my gear to rip out, especially in the soft rock around here. I'm less concerned about that happening with bolts so I probably wouldn't mind sport climbing on it. But when I trad climb, I'd prefer to stack the odds in my favor. 

Sawyer W wrote: Today on “Let’s Ask Climbers!” we are talking about old ropes! Our question is “Is a properly stored 20 year old rope safe?”

Let’s hear from the community.

“A properly stored what?”
- Tyler, 20, crossfit boulderer

“They dont make gear like they used to. I mean, stretchy ropes and flopy cams? Back when we were putting routes up in the gunks....”
- Alvin, 62, alpinist

“Hast du bier?”
- Klaus, 33, barista and via farreta guide

“Yer gonna die!”
- Steve, 32, programmer and weekend gym sport climber

Like! Would read more!

Sawyer W wrote: Today on “Let’s Ask Climbers!” we are talking about old ropes! Our question is “Is a properly stored 20 year old rope safe?”

Let’s hear from the community.

“A properly stored what?”
- Tyler, 20, crossfit boulderer

“They dont make gear like they used to. I mean, stretchy ropes and flopy cams? Back when we were putting routes up in the gunks....”
- Alvin, 62, alpinist

“Hast du bier?”
- Klaus, 33, barista and via farreta guide

“Yer gonna die!”
- Steve, 32, programmer and weekend gym sport climber

Yeah, Sawyer, you're on the right track with this. Heading in the right direction, but could still use some work. Please add more!

Marc801 C wrote: Because gravity is somehow different on trad climbs?

Multiply the distance of the longest run-out by the coefficient of gnar times pi to get the specific gravity for any given route. 

Since top roping has a zero coefficient of gnar the gravity is always lower.......