dynamic rope...does it matter

[Jokerswild]

For much of what we do...does dynamic rope really matter?

one sticking..you have 3 or 4 feet beetween you and the the girth hitch.. Will there be any benefit to the stretch property of the rope at all?

Im trying to think.. If we fall any distance, we are going splat. Right? Any fall we have into the rope system is going to be a very close distance to the girth. Ladder stand and step guys might have a 20 foot length of rope for stretch, starting at the bottom. But the first few feet who cares about a fall anyway... so the longest dynamic section would be 12, 15 feet? Is that going to stretch at all?

 

[The_Fit_Ness_Monster]

It doesn’t, also depends on if you’re 160# or 260# but I use dynamic for JRB DSRT climbing and it does fine, the slight “give” in the rope is enough for “cushion” but not enough to make the climb harder in my experience even at working lengths of 25-40ish ft.

 

[jphillips97]

If you plan to fall on the rope (use it as a fall arrest device) it 100% matters. If you are doing things properly and using your gear for all prevention it 0% matters. If you plan to have more than a few inches of slack it matters but I would argue you should never have a slack rope.

 

[MattMan81]

What are you finding for a dynamic by the foot out there? I looked the other day. Not a lot for by the foot, and having a dry core.

 

[thedutchtouch]

This comes up every so often and I am not a ropes expert but my takeaway has been that we basically are thinking about this incorrectly. When (rock)climbers "climb" they are often advancing past a top anchor, in order to set the next etc. Falls can happen and dynamic rope is needed. In tree climbing we are more "ascending" than climbing- meaning always keeping the tether/tree attachment point above our saddle/harness connection point and using a positioning device and/or knot to ascend this rope which is anchored above us. In this use scenario static ropes are fine-our physics are more work positioning related than dynamic falls related.

Static ropes are also slightly less "bouncy" for rappelling, though in my limited experience, the distances and speeds we rappel don't seem to really factor in and dynamic rope "felt" the same to me as static ropes does.

Ultimately, technique over rope selection, keep your anchor point above you and your tether tight, and it shouldn't matter which type of rope you use.

There's others on here like @Brocky and @Fl Canopy Stalker among others that I'd trust with rope/knot knowledge more than the average internet stranger like me though.

 

[Horn]

What are you finding for a dynamic by the foot out there? I looked the other day. Not a lot for by the foot, and having a dry core.

8.9mm Swift Protect Pro Dry Rope RBF - EDELRID

⚡️Buy 8.9mm Swift Protect Pro Dry Rope RBF - EDELRID with Free Shipping in the US on orders over $50 ✓ World wide shipping ✓. Learn about and buy the 8.9mm Swift Protect Pro Dry Rope RBF - EDELRID today from ExtremeGear.org

extremegear.org

One example, seems like it might fit into our use. A little on the smaller side though. They also have dynamic tethers at 9 ' long for 12-15$ , I think, didn't double check

 

[elk yinzer]

In short, no, not unless you tie into the bottom of the tree and advance anchors as you go up, akin to rock climbing protocol.

A "screamer" is a more appropriate shock absorbing device for a lanyard.

 

[Brocky]

As “any loving is good loving”, any stretch is better than none, things don’t always go as planned. I put it in the personal preference category, rather than right or wrong.

Sterling’s 9.5 Canyon Tech is another static/ dynamic that has ratings for both types.

 

[raisins]

What are you finding for a dynamic by the foot out there? I looked the other day. Not a lot for by the foot, and having a dry core.

Edelrid Swift Protect Pro Dry 8.9mm

Not ANSI rated - With sewn eye ABS is 4000lb when pulled straight. The Swift Protect Pro Dry is the first dynamic single rope with built-in cut resistance. This means high-strength aramid fibers are integrated into the rope sheath during the braiding process. This increases the cut resistance of...

arbsession.com

Edelrid Swift Protect Pro Dry 8.9mm Tether/Lineman Belt

Not ANSI rated - With sewn eye ABS is 4000lb when pulled straight. The Swift Protect Pro Dry is the first dynamic single rope with built-in cut resistance. This means high-strength aramid fibers are integrated into the rope sheath during the braiding process. This increases the cut resistance of...

arbsession.com

This is my favorite rope (dynamic, dry treated, abrasion resistant, by the foot, can have big or small eyes sewn)

 

[samu]

Fall distance alone doesn’t tell much. How dangerous a fall is relates to fall factor, which is length of the fall divided by length of the material absorbing the fall. Force equals energy divided by distance, if your distance goes to zero, the force will become infinite no matter how little the fall energy is.

In reality of course, your body will deform when the rope goes tight, but now you’re absorbing the energy with your body, which is the thing we’re trying to avoid.

On very short falls the horizontal movement diverts some of the fall energy into swinging motion so you have an option to absorb that energy through the contact between your face against the tree. With any actuall freefall distance you have to ask a question, how high I’m willing to jump ass first on bare concrete floor.

Even with dynamic rope, if you approach fall factor 1 you’re looking at unpleasant experience. Above that your ascender will desheath the rope at 4-6 kN force. Hard to create those forces with dynamic rope, easy with static material.

 

[Exhumis]

There’s been a few good discussions about this topic:

Dynamic tethers tested

Well, I have finally come around on YouTube a bit. I do like howNOT2, and today he put out a video testing dynamic and static cows' tails, or PAS or tether depending on who your talking too. Spoiler: fall factor 2 is bad, just don't get in that situation if you can at all help it...

saddlehunter.com

Falling on static vs dynamic ropes-from the howNOT2 guys on youtube

So these guys seem to know what they are talking about. Looking at the forces generated falling on ropes and comparing static vs dynamic ropes etc. Interesting stuff. Definitely rock climbing (they go into forces that break anchors and other gear etc) but another good reminder to not have slack.

saddlehunter.com

Why not use dynamic rope for one-sticking?

I was doing more testing/practice today to incorporate one-stick climbing into my tool box for next season. It's going very, very well. For ropes, I'm currently using a couple of the standard commonly recommended static ropes, Canyon C-IV and Canyon Elite. I find it awkward and (for me)...

saddlehunter.com

 

[jphillips97]

Force equals energy divided by distance

No it does not

Force is mass time acceleration (or deceleration). Dynamic rope reduces your fall effects because it lowers the deceleration at the end of the fall. I am not a proponent of dynamic rope for saddle hunting because it gives your a sense that it is OK to fall. Saddle hunting tethers are about fall prevention not fall arrest. Keep slack out if your ropes and do not worry about dynamic vs static. Zero slack means zero fall force.

 

[The_Fit_Ness_Monster]

I think we’re getting into the weeds on this one, the height any of us will be climbing doesn’t matter what rope either way, nobody’s climbing 100’ or even more than 40’ inmost or all cases. A fall of any kind from such a short distance won’t matter enough to care this much between static and dynamic. Like someone else said, slack is the enemy keep it away.

 

[samu]

No it does not

Force is mass time acceleration (or deceleration). Dynamic rope reduces your fall effects because it lowers the deceleration at the end of the fall. I am not a proponent of dynamic rope for saddle hunting because it gives your a sense that it is OK to fall. Saddle hunting tethers are about fall prevention not fall arrest. Keep slack out if your ropes and do not worry about dynamic vs static. Zero slack means zero fall force.

F = m*a is one thing, E=F*s is the other, both apply. Mistake on my part was to generalize it into this form, as the force obviously isn't constant. Dynamic ropes lowers the deceleration by increasing the distance of deceleration so we're talking about the same thing.

Anyways, it's up to anyones personal choise to consider if they can keep the slack out of the system, but lot of people don't even know about the risk involved and another good bunch aren't as good as avoiding slack as they think.

My point really was that only difference the fall height makes is that on shorter fall the deformation of the body makes up larger proportion of the deceleration distance. Sure on very small falls it will save you, but even 2' can cause injuries that will probably end the hunt short and possibly cause some down time in the middle of the season. Without trying to convert you, adding that one layer of safety is in my mind good idea.

 

[ecfire1967]

That’s why I with one sticking I still use my lineman’s belt. In conjunction with my repel/tether rope. With all things I try to incorporate redundant systems.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[colin.704]

does it matter? nope

 

[neonomad]

I am not an expert, this is not advice, this is not scientific, but will share that I did some bouncing / short drops on my tether today and this Bluewater decelerator provides a very significant amount of dynamic stretch / force reduction. I don’t plan to use it once setup, but do plan to use it while I climb. Current plan is Tethrd One sticks with linemans and advancing rappel length tether.

 

[raisins]

I am not an expert, this is not advice, this is not scientific, but will share that I did some bouncing / short drops on my tether today and this Bluewater decelerator provides a very significant amount of dynamic stretch / force reduction. I don’t plan to use it once setup, but do plan to use it while I climb. Current plan is Tethrd One sticks with linemans and advancing rappel length tether.

you used that as a hitch?

if you don't mind, what diameter main line, what hitch, how many wraps?

i'm only seeing it in 10.5 mm....and that's thicker than my main tether line

 

[neonomad]

you used that as a hitch?

if you don't mind, what diameter main line, what hitch, how many wraps?

i'm only seeing it in 10.5 mm....and that's thicker than my main tether line

No, in-line with existing hitch, so yes requires an addition biner. Works well for me since I can connect it to the harness of my Dryad; the added length might be a bit trickier running off a bridge but worth a try for $16.

 

[raisins]

No, in-line with existing hitch, so yes requires an addition biner. Works well for me since I can connect it to the harness of my Dryad; the added length might be a bit trickier running off a bridge but worth a try for $16.

In case you haven't seen them, Bluewater (I believe) also makes dynamic hitch cord in several diameters...i bought some and never used it because i like sewn eyes and you gotta tie these (bought by the foot)

i already am using a dynamic tether rope, so the dynamic hitch makes sense to match, but then again i think "i'm getting some stretch anyways"

thanks for the quick answer