When should I Retire My Rope?

Is climbing on an older well used rope the equivalent of knowing you have bald tyres on your car and hoping you don’t skid on a slick road?

Ropes are expensive and we all like to get the most out of them, but knowing when to retire or assign them to an alternative use is an important decision.

When should I retire my rope?

RECOMMENDED LIFESPAN OF CLIMBING ROPE

Lets first look at some approximate guidelines from manufacturers about the life spans per usage of a rope:

Daily usage: less than 1 year

Weekly usage: approx. 1 year

Regular monthly Usage: approx. 3 years

Regular annual usage: approx. 5 years

Rare annual usage: approx. 5-7 years

Never used: approx. 10 years

How accurate are the Guidelines?

The guidelines make for interesting reading as I know ropes get used way past their recommended lifespan all the time.

With any guideline and approximations, there is a degree of vagueness and manufacturers will err on the side of caution.

These are also “normal usage” guidelines and don’t allow for what happens to the rope during the lifespan, the abnormal conditions it experiences, or even how it’s been stored and cared for when not in use.

A rope getting heavily stressed over an edge on its first day of use could be dangerously damaged, way more than one that’s barely used by its owner over a 5 year period.

Let’s look at two identical 10.0mm dynamic single ropes I have purchased:

Rope 1

Purchased in 2011, the rope was used a lot at first for leading on trad, then for bottom roping and now gets used solely in a teaching capacity for demonstrating setups.

It has no fuzziness or swollen lumpiness, no sheath slippage and through touch and bend inspection, no apparent damage to its core.

It’s lost some of its dynamic quality, but for the eye to see, looks in great condition. It is no longer ever used to climb on

Rope 2

Purchased in 2016, the rope was used as an all-rounder at first and used often. It saw a good amount of work and was used on a good number of occasions for roped scrambling.

It was used on multiple occasions to direct belay off some coarse rock. Its diameter is visibly swollen, it now measures 12mm with callipers and has a fuzzy and rough exterior.

There is no bunching or sheath slippage or apparent damage to its core.

It lost some a lot of its dynamic properties and is visibly in poor condition and is no longer used in any capacity.

Work vs lifespan

The point of the above two descriptions of rope is obvious, the latter had a harsher workload than the former and as such measuring its lifespan by time alone is a useless factor.

As climbers, we must be diligent to record the various uses and hardships that a rope goes through and be willing to absorb the cost of repurposing a rope when its time has come.

Storage conditions

The conditions we store our ropes in has a massive outcome on their lifespan. All manner of things can affect the quality and safety of the rope and often the damage can be hidden internally.

  • UV damage to the sheath from overexposure to the sun
  • Chemical damage from contact with solvents or corrosive materials
  • Collected dirt/grit/salt damage grinding on the inner core

We must be as careful when we store them as we are when we use them. Below are some of the common issues leading to rope damage.

  • Using regular ink to mark our rope rather than specialised marking ink
  • Leaving ropes on a floor in the shed as cement dust is corrosive
  • Oils and diesel: Left in the boot of our car coming in contact with the rope
  • Some powerful batteries can give off gases, so be careful if storing ropes near power tools

Guidelines for good rope maintenance

Below are some tips for extending the lifespan and maximising the safety of our ropes.

  • Regularly inspect your ropes by touch when coiling and flaking your ropes.
  • Fully investigate any irregularities to the touch or feel of the rope or if unsure, ask a more experienced person to also inspect anything suspect.
  • If you can see the core of the rope protruding from the sheath, it’s too damaged to use as a single piece of rope.
  • Likewise, if you feel a flat spot in the rope, consider the internal core too damaged to risk using.
  • Wash them occasionally using just lukewarm water or manufacturer-approved cleaning agent.
  • Dry them properly and don’t store them wet or damp where they won’t dry out.
  • Use a rope bag when at a dusty/dirty crag to keep grit from working inside the sheath
  • Don’t buy a second-hand rope, you can’t tell where it has been or what it has done.
  • Don’t lend a rope to somebody, unless you totally trust them to look after it and tell you how it was used/abused.
  • Store the rope in a dedicated bag/box/area, where you can seal the container and contact with a chemical is impossible.
  • Consider retiring any rope that has been subject to a fall with a very high fall factor rating. These types of falls are uncommon but do occur.
  • If the rope becomes stiff and unworkable, it’s possibly time to retire it, as its properties have been compromised beyond their intended usage.

Ok, so when should I retire my rope then?

To sum up, if your gut instinct tells you a ropes integrity might be compromised, either by its uses, appearance, how it feels or how you stored it, consider retiring it and buying a new one.

We change our climbing shoes all the time when we notice damage to them and they are considerably more expensive than the average 10mm single rope.

I hope the above post is useful. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss any aspect of this post.

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