Southern Ropes

[fivesix]

Does anyone here even know how a climbing rope is made? What makes one better than the other??? What makes a rope stronger, more durable, better elasticity???

Reading this is like watching a bunch of 6year olds at a spelling contest, you know how to spell the word but you have no clue of the definition!

"Oh beal is better cause it lasted longer!" - no you idiot, its cause you cant climb in the first place and hanging on the rope while top roping your "project" does not constitute as a fall!

Get a clue... and then start the mud slinging!

Oh and to say that a rope should be judged by its price is utter lunacy... you do realize that thats your life on the end of that rope right!?!? How much did you say you paid for that...? Well no wonder it failed, you cheaped out cause you didnt get a clue and now you want someone else to pay the hospital bills!!!

[dirktalma]

Wow. Donovan, the mud slinging ended in July 2007.
Maybe I should have started a new thread.

Rob and Fanta, would you be keen to test the rope if we get some of their new product? Otherwise I'll do it after my exams.
Doing the UIAA drop test (http://theuiaa.org/upload_area/pictorial_files/UIAA101-Dynamic-Mountaineering-Ropes_1.jpg) would test the durability and strength.
I have a 2 year old Beal Booster (60m, 9.7mm) with a dodgy middle part. I will offer it up to compare with Southern's new product. It has two 10m pieces that is still fine.

[fanta]

indeed the mud slinging ended a long time ago...
I would be MORE than happy to put the rope through a few places! The bigger question is: "Is Southern willing to supply me a sample to do just that with?" Perhaps I should contact them myself and ask...

[fanta]

Does anyone here even know how a climbing rope is made?

I do have a pretty good idea... however I am not a rope manufacturer. Rope manufactures are suposed to have a pretty damn good idea how to manufacture ropes that are menat to work as expected.
Question fivesix:
Do you know how your car that drives your family around all day is made?
Do you know how the food you are about to eat next has been processed??
When you go into a hospital for an opperation do know exactly how and what the docotors are going to do to you???
Not everybody has all the answers, we expect the people that are supposed to know, to know.
Thats why people ask specialists to certain things... as it is when people come to me asking me to rigg a stunt or to make some one fly...

[robertbreyer]

This thread ought to have stayed buried deep somewhere.
I don't see any new news since 2007.
Southern Ropes came to us that year saying "they had developed a dynamic rope". we got a sample and tested it. about as dynamic as a brick wall. maybe 3% static elongation. we didn't dare test dynamic elongation. they hadnt heard of the UIAA. so at the time it was clear that Southern Ropes and SABS didn't know how to spell rock climbing and dynamic and this was at best a semi-static rope.

manufacturing dynamic ropes is not all that straightforward as people think.
maybe Southern Ropes could engineer one, but i doubt there is a business case to be made for developing a product for selling to the 3 1/2 SA rock climbers we have.

interesting side-note. SA Nylon Spinners used to supply a lot of the world market of Nylon yarn for dynamic ropes. China and the strong Rand put them out of business, they closed last year.

- robert from cityrock.

[fanta]

This thread ought to have stayed buried deep somewhere.
I don't see any new news since 2007.

Why do you say it should have stayed buried??? If we as users of ropes are not happy with the products that we use, should we keep quiet about it???
In fact I am rather glad this topic happened to pop up again after all these years, Its certainly now given Southern Ropes a chance to improve on the development of their dynamic rope

[fivesix]

Im sorry I just saw it on the ticker and paid no attention to the date.... But I will say its important to know what you are dealing with.

@ Fanta: I dont know the ins and outs of everything, but I know that there are standards put in place to govern our safety. Saying that I shouldnt have to know how things are made, but I do anyways because its in my best interest!