New Climbing Rope - Defect Sheath

Hi folks! Today I uncoiled a new rope - Mammut Crag 9.5 I bought and noticed this slight 'defect' in one place.

The white strand in the sheath seems in one point thicker than normal and is a bit frayed and when it continues it gets thinner than normal and darker in color.

Should the rope be replaced as having a manufacturing defect? I haven't climbed on it yet but I'm worried it will wear out fast at this particular place.

Thanks for your ideas!

I’m certain it’s safe and if it were me I’d go ahead and forget about it and use it but that’s only because I’m lazy and wouldn’t want to go through the hassle of trying to get it replaced.   It’s a bummer it has that slight fuzz though.  I’m pretty sure Mammut will probably replace it if you make a big enough stink. 

I had an issue with this rope, on mine though the orange thread was tufting out when new (just a few pitches), while the blue and white were perfect. They said it was something about an air splice, that it was perfectly safe still. Mammut sent me another one and the same thing happened again. Then they sent me a different model, which is still unused.

Btw I just emailed Mammut with photos and they were super great to work with. 

Definitely looks like an air splice. Absolutely NOTHING to be concerned about; don't waste Mammut's time about it.

My brand new BD 70m rope has a spot like that. It’s just a sheath issue and a small blemish, nothing to worry about.

Air splicing is quite common, not a defect: https://sterlingrope.com/205/

My issue alarmed me, but maybe it was nothing after all. It happened after a few pitches so I just thought that was strange, how the orange thread tufted out while the blue was crisp and new. 

I bought a new $275 rope from a guy here who thought there was something wrong with it for $100. I told him to call bluewater and that they would tell him that it was a normal part of manufacturing and not to worry about it, but he already had his mind made up. I'm stoked, it's my favorite rope I've had. 

Thanks folks for all the replies! Very informative indeed!

I was not aware of this air splicing technique and that it is commonly used in manufacturing of climbing ropes.
I haven't noticed a similar thing on any of my previous ropes, neither on any of my climbing partners'.

Tbh, I'm a bit surprised this is a common practice on climbing ropes since they need to resist a lot of abrasion. I would expect the rope to have highest integrity possible and if there are to be any "seams", they shouldn't start falling apart when you run your finger over it.
This place definitely seems like a weak point where it will only fray more with time. The safety is probably not affected, but durability obviously is.

When using a rope for projecting I notice that once the integrity of the sheath is interrupted, it only takes a couple of falls to get to the core.

So, all in all, even though air splicing is probably a commonly used process atm, I'd say most people would prefer a rope without these "features".
It would be cool if the manufacturers came up with an improved process to join the yarns, make a shorter rope if they're running out of the yarn or compute which rope lengths they can make without needing to splice the yarns (Knapsack problem?) as the manufacturing lines seem highly automated.

Or maybe just said which ropes have the air splices and which are "seamless" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. What do you think?

They only use air splices on a rope that has a pattern or color change. If it is the same (color or pattern) all the way through, it won't have any splices like that. Which is why you don't see it on all ropes. 

Patrick Lwrote:

They only use air splices on a rope that has a pattern or color change. If it is the same (color or pattern) all the way through, it won't have any splices like that. Which is why you don't see it on all ropes. 

Gotcha, my rope wasn’t a bi pattern, so the orange thread in the photo above is not an air splice? 

Patrick Lwrote:

They only use air splices on a rope that has a pattern or color change. If it is the same (color or pattern) all the way through, it won't have any splices like that. Which is why you don't see it on all ropes. 

I understood air splices were used anytime one yarn needs to be refreshed with a new spool.