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How many years (or hours) for a tether

J

jphillips97

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2021
Messages
348
How long before you replace your tether. I am on year 2 with a 8mm rescue tech. Looks good. Only have a "flat spot" where the girth hitch is. Also how do you clean and inspect? Just getting some thoughts...
 
I change my every season. No reason other than a piece of mind. Keep previous seasons as a back up.

Older ones I just use as general purpose ropes.
 
jphillips97 said:
How long before you replace your tether. I am on year 2 with a 8mm rescue tech. Looks good. Only have a "flat spot" where the girth hitch is. Also how do you clean and inspect? Just getting some thoughts...
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Ive been using resc tech too and have been switching out every 2 seasons. once I untied them and did the "rope test" those flat spots did not fill me with confidence. I mean it's cheap enough we should prob just replace every season. But 2 season max.
 
Buckhorn70 said:
I change my every season. No reason other than a piece of mind. Keep previous seasons as a back up.

Older ones I just use as general purpose ropes.
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Yeah, for me it is just a matter of peace of mind regarding a single point of failure.

I used to use a small amount of Dawn dish soap with a soak in warm water for all my ropes/saddles, but @Fl Canopy Stalker mentioned some PMI rope cleaner and I bought some and used it this year. Again, partly a peace of mind thing.

I don't put my ropes or anything similar in a washing machine. I fill my bath tub up with warm water and a little soap and soak, gently agitate, soak, etc. Then I do the same without soap a few times to rinse. Lay flat to dry with a fan blowing and flip a few times.
 
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philsanchez76 said:
Ive been using resc tech too and have been switching out every 2 seasons. once I untied them and did the "rope test" those flat spots did not fill me with confidence. I mean it's cheap enough we should prob just replace every season. But 2 season max.
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I had flat spots on the similar Oplux. I read here that a static dyneema core rope will develop these. Someone did an autopsy of the flat spot and it was okay. I recall it was @Weldabeast but could be wrong.
 
raisins said:
I had flat spots on the similar Oplux. I read here that a static dyneema core rope will develop these. Someone did an autopsy of the flat spot and it was okay. I recall it was @Weldabeast but could be wrong.
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You can feel the flat spot and feel that the cores are not broken just compressed. You can get a new one from wild edge for $40. Maybe tether every year and linesman less often
 
jphillips97 said:
You can feel the flat spot and feel that the cores are not broken just compressed. You can get a new one from wild edge for $40. Maybe tether every year and linesman less often
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Yeah, it's easy to roll your own also (buy by the foot and tie knots). There's almost zero chance of a careful person tying it wrong and you'll save money and I feel more secure doing it to my liking with the length of tag end I prefer, etc.

If you think about it, if those dyneema strands don't stretch much at all, then when they are on a tight bend...it's almost like driving your truck in 4WD in a curve on a dry road.....it can't keep its shape unless it pulls some of the outside-to-the-bend strands inward to where you could look at the end of your rope and see a staggered effect....but a knot before the end would prevent even that from happening
 
Reagan H. said:
I personally do it every year, but Samson Rope has some good information on rope maintenance and lifespans as well.

Rope Care - Samson Rope
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what do you think about using ropes where the sheath is strong enough to hold you on its own?

not to have that as an excuse to not inspect/retire.....but if i recall the Oplux sheath of technora would hold your body weight on its own....so it might be comforting to know that even if you screw up inspecting your core that so long as you can see a sheath in good shape then it most likely won't snap on you
 
raisins said:
what do you think about using ropes where the sheath is strong enough to hold you on its own?

not to have that as an excuse to not inspect/retire.....but if i recall the Oplux sheath of technora would hold your body weight on its own....so it might be comforting to know that even if you screw up inspecting your core that so long as you can see a sheath in good shape then it most likely won't snap on you
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I definitely think that's a plus, especially for peace of mind. I started doing research into the details of ropes/rock climbing gear recently, but technora seems to be a pretty solid material for rock climbing especially for exterior abrasion on sharp edges (which let's be honest, we aren't going to be saddle hunting canyons any time soon lol). There's nothing wrong with taking every extra precaution when you're climbing/hunting.
 
Reagan H. said:
I definitely think that's a plus, especially for peace of mind. I started doing research into the details of ropes/rock climbing gear recently, but technora seems to be a pretty solid material for rock climbing especially for exterior abrasion on sharp edges (which let's be honest, we aren't going to be saddle hunting canyons any time soon lol). There's nothing wrong with taking every extra precaution when you're climbing/hunting.
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unfortunately, i seem to recall that UV is hard on Technora (which is odd to me because it laughs at flame from a lighter or stove!)

I'd like to find a rope with a strong sheath that also stands up to UV
 
raisins said:
I had flat spots on the similar Oplux. I read here that a static dyneema core rope will develop these. Someone did an autopsy of the flat spot and it was okay. I recall it was @Weldabeast but could be wrong.
Click to expand...
That was actually me, but I can't find the pics any more. Yeah the core wasn't broken or frayed or anything just compressed like you say. But I usually buy a 50 foot length every year from EWO and cut my own bridge, lineman and repel rope so its well cheap enough to replace often and worth doing so. I will say im confident that my lineman rope is fine after 2 years but ill prob replace it next season too.
 
I use predator 10’ length with spliced eye on one end and sewn 5” loop on other end. This will be my 5th season with it which it still looks good but for peace of mind i change every 3-5 seasons.
 
The Navy guidance was washing dock lines, sheets and halberds down with water and woolite, then hanging them to dry and then faking or coiling them down in bights so they didn’t tangle and so the line would fall naturally as it continued to dry. Most line manufacturers recommend mild detergent. We used to wash wire rope with Jp-5(NOT RECOMMENDED!!!) Climbing, as in rock climbing, most state you’ll get 1-3 years out of your line. I’d think we’d get a little longer simply because we aren’t placing the same stresses or conditions on our lines. Having said that line is fairly inexpensive especially for peace of mind so replacing wouldn’t hurt nothing. I’ve been hanging off the same piece of oplux for 3 years and it’s in excellent shape.
If your line gets wet often or dirty and/or experiences chaffing and such then I’d recover long sooner.
 
I just changed mine out for a new one this season, it had two seasons on it. I also use the old one as back up.
 
raisins said:
unfortunately, i seem to recall that UV is hard on Technora (which is odd to me because it laughs at flame from a lighter or stove!)

I'd like to find a rope with a strong sheath that also stands up to UV
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Correct technora does worse than polyester, nylon and dyneema in the sun. UV degradation is rough on it. Also its abrasion resistance is not as good as dyneema or high tenacity polyester. It has better cut resistance than polyester but no better abrasion resistance. It also absorbs water at a rate similar to nylon. Basically the reasons for adding technora are extra strength with low stretch and of course heat treating properties as it has a “melting point” of over 900 degrees. Heat resistance is the real reason technora was first added to ropes
 
No flat spot dissection for me, I’ve only done one to find out how a splice was done. I have had a solid braid polyester rope flatten by using a Hitch Hiker repeatedly on a short section.

Technora and dyneema are more cut resistant than polyester and nylon. Vectran is another material used in ropes and cords, has cut and heat resistance, but isn’t self abrasive like the aramids.
 
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