What mat for TR static rope anchor?

The other day I was climbing some top rope and set up a tree anchor for the first time, we used my friends static rope. When we went to take everything down at the end of the session, the sheath of the anchor was completely worn away where it came in contact with the cliff’s edge, exposing the inner strands. I want to get a mat or something to lay against the cliff face to prevent this from happening in the future. What kind of mat should I get, do any climbing stores sell them online?

Hey Jonah! They do sell purpose made rope protectors but most of the time you can use something you already have. A sweatshirt or backpack can work well. Old carpet tile or towels also do the trick if you have any laying around. This site has alot of good information 

https://www.alpinesavvy.com/blog/diy-rope-protector-for-a-fixed-rope

https://www.alpinesavvy.com/blog/diy-rope-protector-for-a-fixed-rope

you can also take 1 inch webbing and cut to length , then use it to cover any cord or rope that will run over an edge.

Fire hose is pretty good, I cut it open and sewed some velcro on so I don't have to thread the whole rope through. I work at a fire station so it's easy for me to get but if you ask nicely at your local station you might get a few feet. If there's a leak near the end that bit is usually cut off and the connector moved, like climbers cut the worn ends off their ropes, so they might have some spare pieces laying around..

Old carpet or floor mat from your car

Mike J wrote:

Fire hose is pretty good, I cut it open and sewed some velcro on so I don't have to thread the whole rope through. I work at a fire station so it's easy for me to get but if you ask nicely at your local station you might get a few feet. If there's a leak near the end that bit is usually cut off and the connector moved, like climbers cut the worn ends off their ropes, so they might have some spare pieces laying around..

You’re not worried about glass or chemicals on the fire hose? We only handle hose with gloves because of this 

Alex Guzman wrote:

You’re not worried about glass or chemicals on the fire hose? We only handle hose with gloves because of this 

No, I'm not. It's soaked for days and then industrially washed. Goes from covered in black muck and debris to squeaky clean and bright white again. I handle (clean) fire hose without gloves all the time and so does every firefighter I know. Rolling it, storing it, carrying it and laying it out for forest fires e.g. Don't you?

Don’t forget to place some protection for the tree as well. Sticks in between your knot and tree to spread the load vertically or wrapping a tensionless hitch with a hoodie or backpack between the tree and top is excellent.

If you have access to suburbia, a trashed garden hose can be cut into 1 or 2 foot sections, and rope or slung threaded through.   Hold in place with paranoid and a friction hutch.

Latro wrote:

 Hold in place with paranoid and a friction hutch.

How did you know about my paranoia?

Isn't a hutch going to be difficult to bring up to the anchors?

I have an anchor setup that I keep in all my rope bags. It is 50 feet of static rope with 10-15 feet of 1” tubular webbing slipped over the rope to the mid point. Tie mid point into a master point. I use 2 steel non locking ovals and 1 steel locking oval. I include 2 additional locking carabiners for clipping to bolts or other points. I run climbing programs and this will let me set up 90% of climbs, is quick and strong. I used to replace 1” webbing that I used for anchors about every 3 months. These anchors will last about a decade.  My rappel bags include a canvas rope pad. 

Was the anchor setup to minimize lateral movement of the anchor?  If not I could see after a day of climbing it would saw through the static line.

This is my favorite type: https://pmirope.com/product/spiroll-rope-protector/

Lightweight and not bulky. And stays in place by itself. But otherwise a lot of good suggestions above.

FrankPS wrote:

How did you know about my paranoia?

he read one of the climbing in mexico threads?

Glowering wrote:

This is my favorite type:https://pmirope.com/product/spiroll-rope-protector/

Lightweight and not bulky. And stays in place by itself. But otherwise a lot of good suggestions above.

Do these open or do you have to slide the end of the rope through? From the description the make it sound like one of those bracelets that can be straightened and then snapped around your wrist and it curls.

search for wildKen rope protector on Amazon: heavy material with Velcro closure.  Have used mine for 2+ years on extremely sharp limestone, works great.

Connor Hale wrote:

Do these open or do you have to slide the end of the rope through? From the description the make it sound like one of those bracelets that can be straightened and then snapped around your wrist and it curls.

They open. Yeah, kinda like one of those bracelets but they wrap around the rope at least 2 times. And it doesn't stay open, you have to unroll it open, then put around the rope to get it on (it's easy). It wants to curl up tightly so it grabs the rope and doesn't slip.

I use the foam pipe insulators.  Super light, pre-split, and you can cut them to whatever length you want. I added cord loops to them to keep them in place.

I use the rope bag

Brian Boyd wrote:

search for wildKen rope protector on Amazon: heavy material with Velcro closure.  Have used mine for 2+ years on extremely sharp limestone, works great.

This is what I use for TRS. $18.99 and it's super tough material. +1 on this recommendation