Old forester told me to cut my climbing line 6 inches shorter. Ignored him for 2 years.

I always liked having extra tail on my climbing line for choking limbs. Felt safer. But last month I was working a big white oak in Austin and kept getting my tail snagged on branch stubs. Took me forever to finish. Finally trimmed it down like he said. Made redirects so much smoother. Has anyone else dealt with fighting a line that's just a bit too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

hannahs7121d ago

Does anyone ever account for how much your rope stretches under load when you're cutting it?

the_amy21d ago

Wait are you serious? Nobody ever talks about this. I've been cutting my climbing ropes by eye for years like an absolute idiot. That stretch factor thing is honestly terrifying when you think about it. Like if you're trying to set up a top rope anchor and you cut it to length without accounting for that 30% stretch under a fall. You could end up way off from where you thought you'd be.