Help with canyoneering rope decision

[RyanA]

I am going to start canyoneering this summer and am in the process of buying some rope. Will be taking an aca course first. I found some mammut performance static canyoneering 9mm. Does anyone use this or should I stick with the Imlay rope? If you are against using mammut why.

[Mountaineer]

I am going to start canyoneering this summer and am in the process of buying some rope. Will be taking an aca course first. I found some mammut performance static canyoneering 9mm. Does anyone use this or should I stick with the Imlay rope? If you are against using mammut why.

I haven't used the mammut. I've used Sterling, BlueWater, and Imlay. Love the Imlay Canyon Fire, you can't go wrong with this rope for canyons.

[Aj84737]

I know I was a lot rougher on my rope when I first started not knowing all the tips and tricks of the trade. It seemed to me the outside of the imlay rope held up quite a bit better then my sterling rope did but both are great ropes. Never had a mammut rope. I would recommend getting something at least 9mm to start to give yourself a higher margin of safety and longer rope life.

[Brian in SLC]

Mammut makes a great rope (my current climbing ropes are Mammut Twins and I've run through three single lead ropes). Not familiar with their static line.

Imlay and Mammut I think are different materials (polyester versus polyamide ie nylon 6?). Given the price and materials, I'd probably get an Imlay for the reasons outlined in Sterlings tech manual:

http://www.sterlingrope.com/media/document/techmanual.pdf

[RyanA]

thank you guys for your input and knowledge. Looks like I won't be getting the mammut rope.

[tcott]

thank you guys for your input and knowledge. Looks like I won't be getting the mammut rope.

Good call, I've used a Mammut 9mm static, it was stretchy and didn't hold up well to canyoneering. I would stick with Sterling and Imlay.

[moab mark]

Inlay Canyon 9 mm can't go wrong. Get a silo also. I would get 2 120's can do the vast majority of all canyons with that length. If coin is not to big concern buy a spool and cut it up as you go.

[mzamp]

Take the class and then buy your harness, rappel device, biners, helmet. They ususally give you a discount on the gear (20%). Find a friend who has a rope and experience and team up to start your canyoneering career.

[RyanA]

Inlay Canyon 9 mm can't go wrong. Get a silo also. I would get 2 120's can do the vast majority of all canyons with that length. If coin is not to big concern buy a spool and cut it up as you go. Thanks Mark. I think I will plan on buying the spool and cut it up as I go. I was also thinking of buying 200ft of pullcord and one of those pull cord bags also.

[moab mark]

Thanks Mark. I think I will plan on buying the spool and cut it up as I go. I was also thinking of buying 200ft of pullcord and one of those pull cord bags also. I would pass on the pull cord when getting started. I have not used one in years. Just haul rope for the majority of your trips. Then if something goes south you have enough rope to get home. If I was cutting up a spool I would go two 120's a 200 and two 80's. That should cover just about all scenarios. Best case is to get bags for all but the 80's. I have my 80's in bags but coiling that short is easy. Yea I know all you rock climbers (Brian) coiling is easy on all lengths. :bootyshake: This may lead you off a bit but if going with a spool you may want to go 8.3. 9mm is tougher etc but the 8.3 sure bags a lot smaller. You can put a 200' 8.3 in a small silo. It is tight but it sure is nice in your back pack. In 9 mm a 120 fills a small silo. YMMV

[Iceaxe]

I don't think I would cut 80' ropes from a new spool. If you canyoneer much you will soon have a bunch of shorter 100', 80' and 60' ropes lying around. It's just the nature of the beast. Start with a 200' and a 120' rope.

I have a 6mm x 200' pull cord in a baggette and I use it all the time. It's light enough I carry it for retrieving my 100' to 200' ropes. It's also big enough I would have no problem rapping on it in an emergency.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[Iceaxe]

I don't think I would cut 80' ropes from a new spool. If you canyoneer much you will soon have a bunch of shorter 100', 80' and 60' ropes lying around. It's just the nature of the beast. Start with a 200' and a 120' rope.

I have a 6mm x 200' pull cord in a baggette and I use it all the time. It's light enough I carry it for retrieving my 100' to 200' ropes. It's also big enough I would have no problem rapping on it in an emergency.

Tap'n on my Galaxy G3

[price1869]

Rapping on 6mm, even in an emergency is going to be scaaaaaary! :)

[Iceaxe]

Rapping on 6mm, even in an emergency is going to be scaaaaaary! :)

It's certainly not something I would make a habit of, but I've done it before. 6mm accessory cord has a tensile strength of 1600 to 1900 pounds depending on rope. Also, the times I've done it the rope was doubled. The big deal is making sure you have enough friction dialed in and are not running over any sharp edges because your margins for error are small.

[ratagonia]

It's certainly not something I would make a habit of, but I've done it before. 6mm accessory cord has a tensile strength of 1600 to 1900 pounds depending on rope. Also, the times I've done it the rope was doubled. The big deal is making sure you have enough friction dialed in and are not running over any sharp edges because your margins for error are small.

Rapping on 6mm nylon accessory cord - rolling the dice! That stuff is a total gamble, often very stretchy... remember a certain 8mm accessory cord in Heaps, Mr. Ice?

Which is a big reason I made 6mm polyester static cord. Low stretch, count-onable properties. Don't rap on it over an edge. Strength is 2200 lbs, so you can probably rap on it doubled, but better if you can rap on it quadrupled. I have rapped on it on short raps where the rope barely touched the rock. The problem with using such a light cord is that it will cut really easily if rubbed across an edge.

In general, I find I use the pull cord rarely. Better to bring real ropes.

:moses:

[Bootboy]

thank you guys for your input and knowledge. Looks like I won't be getting the mammut rope.

I'm guessing you saw this on Backcountry.com.... I don't know why they have the Mammut static line listed as a canyoneering rope. Mammut them self makes no such advertisement. This is simply 100% nylon low-elongation rope. It was never intended to be a canyoneering rope.

Anyway... For a first rope, the Imlay canyonero is about as good as it gets for the money. It's super durable, and very user friendly. Once you've got some experience with it, then you can get another rope like the sterling C-IV, a Bluewater, or the canyon fire.

[edsbay]

My climbing ropes are Mammut which have been good and now I own 2 200 foot 8.3 mm imlay and 1 120 foot 9.2 imlay and love them for canyoneering. I'm a relative newbie in canyoneering as well having knocked off a few things in Zion and the Black Hole. I would go with a 200 foot rope to start with. I just bought a petzl canyoneering harness which i really like and have mulitple rappel devices. Pyranha, totem, 8, atc, rack and like them all in different situations. I would say my totem is my go to and the rack for big long rappels. Take a class. I did and cannot tell you how much I learned. Crossing over from climbing to canyoneering I thought I knew everything and realized I did not really know much about going down as I was used to going up. <Grin>. Welcome to the club!

[RyanA]

I'm guessing you saw this on Backcountry.com.... I don't know why they have the Mammut static line listed as a canyoneering rope. Mammut them self makes no such advertisement. This is simply 100% nylon low-elongation rope. It was never intended to be a canyoneering rope.

Anyway... For a first rope, the Imlay canyonero is about as good as it gets for the money. It's super durable, and very user friendly. Once you've got some experience with it, then you can get another rope like the sterling C-IV, a Bluewater, or the canyon fire.

LOL yes I did find it on backcountry. I am sure glad I checked on here first:mrgreen: I will be getting some imlay rope pretty soon.

[RyanA]

I'm guessing you saw this on Backcountry.com.... I don't know why they have the Mammut static line listed as a canyoneering rope. Mammut them self makes no such advertisement. This is simply 100% nylon low-elongation rope. It was never intended to be a canyoneering rope.

Anyway... For a first rope, the Imlay canyonero is about as good as it gets for the money. It's super durable, and very user friendly. Once you've got some experience with it, then you can get another rope like the sterling C-IV, a Bluewater, or the canyon fire.

LOL yes I did find it on backcountry. I am sure glad I checked on here first:mrgreen: I will be getting some imlay rope pretty soon.