New rope

I just got a length of Goldstreak line (I think it's the same as Bluestreak, just yellow).

When I used it today, the Blake's hitch tended to slip a lot. 'took me several retyings on each pitch. It would finally hold, but not until after a lot of worrying the knot.

Does a new line need some kind of a break-in that I don't know about? I heard something about "milking" a line, but have no idea what that means.

Some help from some experienced folks please!

I've heard the term "milking" to mean something just a bit different from what Dan says. I guess his description is what happens when you don't want it to happen, and mine is when you do it intentionally.

The sheath of some ropes can stretch more than can the core (this can depend on the particular type of rope as well as on different production runs of the same type). So, for example, when you rappel, the sheath can stretch to be longer than the core.

I had this happen to my Safety Blue line. Because I had whipped the ends (of course), the sheath had "bunched up" in a few places, effectively causing "lumps" in the rope.

What I did was remove the whipping from the end nearer the lumps, tie the other end of the rope to a tree, wrap a selvagee (any of you old salts know that knot?) around the rope, and then pull the selvagee (you could use any friction knot) to the unwhipped end. I repeated this a few more times until the sheath didn't stretch any more. This stretched the sheath to be the same length as the core. I then cut off the extra sheath and re-whipped the rope.

I was told that the process of stretching the sheath was called "milking." This agrees with what Dan said.

BTW, I milked off 14 inches of sheath from my 120 foot Safety Blue. I talked with Jay (at Blue Ridge Arborist Supply) about this, and he found an advisory that said that a particular run of Safety Blue had such a problem because of some humidity differences (I think it was) in the manufacturing process. This apparently was unusual for Safety Blue, but I have been told that some ropes are well known for such a situation.

Finally, I once milked a rope with a klemheist and found that it caused a spiral in the sheath (the klemheist twists in one direction). The selvagee "twists in both directions" and prevents the spiral twisting of the rope. I doubt that the (mildly) twisted sheath is any problem whatsoever.

I just assume when I get a new rope that the end will need some milking. Some ropes I've used have had as much as 7 feet off a 120' hank. I had 2 hanks of Yale XTC that milked little to none.

Some people seem to see this milking as a negative trait of a climbing line. Some have gone so far as to not buy a certain line because of the milking. The rope needs to be broken in anyways.

Maybe it's because I'm from WI, but I'm not bothered by milking!

love
nick

Docteric, I am not familiar with that make of rope. Who makes it? Does it have a solid core. Some ropes do not have a solid core.

Some rope runs milk while some rope runs do not. I had some problems with a few Yale XTP ropes, and none with the same rope from different sections of a 600 ft. spool.

Most ropes have a waxed surface when new which can alter performance. Some folks wash their new rope. Other folks climb like demons to wear it off. I know of one guy that took his rope out on a Sunday afternoon, tied it to the back of his car, and dragged it around a vacant parking lot to take out the sheen.

Another climber I know took a rough grade of sand paper and applied elbow grease to his rope. I never did get a report back from this guy’s technique. He might have reached his breaking point.

Originally posted by docteric
... the Blake's hitch tended to slip a lot.

docteric,
New rope usually runs fast and worst of all it is typically quite “jumpy” when descending on a friction hitch. I have found it helpful to use a bridge which I am already familiar with when trying out a new climbing line. In other words, use the “split-tail” system with a bridge that you are already comfortable with.

As far as stuff to use for a bridge…
Samson Blue Streak is my favorite. You might also want to try a piece of Yale 7/16” Sportline. The smaller line has a tendency to create a bridge that bites more and slides less. Experiment!

By the way…
I have had the opportunity to spend an afternoon on Arbormaster R/W/B. I think Goldstreak is the exact same construction. Big, beefy, super strong, and real light too.

That Goldstreak you have there is some mighty nice stuff.

Regards,
Electrojake

Also, when climbing on new lines, having a strong repertoire of friction hitches will be to your advantage. It seems with the VT and all the variations of it (and other similar knots) you can make any line a "good" climbing line. You can always find something that works.

love
nick

Nick,
You mentioned the VT in your post.
Are you referring to the Valdotain Tresse???

You use this hitch often?
Isn’t it a bit unpredictable?
Do you consider the micro pulley on the carabiner a “must-have” item to get the VT to function properly?

Thanks for your input on this!
Electrojake

Yes, VT=Valdotain Tress

Touchy? Yes, if you don't find a version of it that works well for you.

Pulley is absolutely NOT essential. You can use the carabiner or many other things as slack tenders. Or, if you were feeling massochistic, you could just use no slack tender at all!

love
nick

By the way - docteric,

If you feel your Goldstreak is a bit unpredictable new out of the bag…
Dan H. mentioned that he got some New England Fly and he liked it a lot. It is indeed some interesting line.

The stuff is static kernmantle yet you can tie a hitch in it (or so they say). I found it to work great on SRT cause it glides through the aluminum hardware beautifully however, for a simple DRT climber such as myself, it seems a little too slinky.

There are a number of posts that discuss Fly climbing line at: TCI Message Board » Gear » "The Fly" climbing rope by New England Rope. And of course you can have a look at www.newtribe.com to learn more.

If you don’t already own some, I would say that it is worth its price just to see how incredibly different it is as compared to the line most of us DRT lovers usually climb on.

By using a bunch of different friction hitches, doing a lot of SRT, and just plain playing with the line, it's now working much better. I think it just needed to be broken in a bit. Being new to the field, I think I sort of panicked when it didn't work perfectly right out of the box. I don't think it was ever dangerous (or I wouldn't have used it again), just a bit touchy.

Re: the Fly, I know I can't buy any right now. IfI start spending a lot of money on another expensive hobby (in addition to backpacking, kayaking, wood working, etc) my wife will disown me - and she makes most of the money! I got the Gold streak because one of the companies had it on a great sale.

Interestingly, the hardware store down the road has started carrying arborist equipment for the local treemen. So I've gotten a chance to fondle the Fly and it seems to be everything people have said it is. Maybe when she gets a raise ...

New Rope Question
I recently got a new rope from a friend. It is still in the original package from New England Ropes. It appear to me like a "static " Rope used for cave exploration so you can not easily tie knots on it but I assume that it could be used for SRT climbing if I figure out how to secure it to the tree with a couple of Gibbs grabs and Prusik knots or slings.

The question is this. Is this a good idea or should I just try to return the rope or sell it to a rock climber and buy me a more appropriate and versatile rope for tree climbing?


I want to hear from the experts, specially Treeman, Treetramp and Nickfrom WI, Icabob and Rescueman, if you are still around. etc.

I will try to post the actual details from the rope package tag. (I know it is 120 ft long about 11mm thick.)

Here is what comes to mind for uses for static 120 foot rope:

SRT- use a figure 8 bend on a locking biner to secure to the anchor point or all the way up an over and secure to the trunk.

Traverse- low stretch and high strength makes it the rope of choice.

Top Roping- belay or aid a climber.

Trade or Sell it at TreeBuzz's tree-bay.

Cut in up into spider legs for a great tree tramp. (sorry I couldn't resist)

See you at the top,
Dan

Treetramp this is the kind of fun stuff that keeps me comming back to post. That's exactly the info that i wanted to hear. The rope is made by New England Ropes, Maxim Climbing Rope, Static, KMIII, 7/16 Diameter and 150 long instead of 120.

I am looking forward to the replies from Nick from WI, he will probably suggest to splice it into little pieces !!
I like your idea for the spider legs for the treetamp. Have you run into BJ since the NE rendezvous? I Have some pictures of her in your treetramp. I saw some of your posting in another site in which Dick Flowers has a lot of stuff about trees Identification. It is amazing the people you run into on these web sites. Most of the postings from Michigan are from 2000 and 2001 were pretty educational and interesting.
Take care and climb safetly.!

Treetramp this is the kind of fun stuff that keeps me comming back to post. That's exactly the info that i wanted to hear. The rope is made by New England Ropes, Maxim Climbing Rope, Static, KMIII, 7/16 Diameter and 150 long instead of 120.

I am looking forward to the replies from Nick from WI, he will probably suggest to splice it into little pieces !!
I like your idea for the spider legs for the treetamp. Have you run into BJ since the NE rendezvous? I Have some pictures of her in your treetramp. I saw some of your posting in another site in which Dick Flowers has a lot of stuff about trees Identification. It is amazing the people you run into on these web sites. Most of the postings from Michigan are from 2000 and 2001 were pretty educational and interesting.
Take care and climb safetly.!

I am almost sure that your kind of rope is not splicable; (is that a word?)

I like the pretty colors that the use to braid it but bending knots is tuff.

BJ sent me some artwork and am sure she would like to see your photos; can you post them or email them?

Bill McMillian took some and posted them at our website at: KCTC photos


See you at the top,
Dan