Rappel rope

[LA Archer]

Been saddle hunting for a couple of seasons and was thinking of trying out one sticking. I really was wanting to use 8 mm rope, but it appears 8mm is out of spec for theost popular rappelling devices. (I don't know the technology) anyway what are folks using with 8mm rope or is the 9mm more often used? Just looking for opinions.

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[phatkaw]

Buy a figure eight and then you can use any size climbing rope you want.

 

[dalton916]

And if you don’t want to buy a figure 8 then buy an ATC and a hollowblock.

 

[Bigfoot522]

It would be nice to get the skinny on best ropes in each size.
Most tthreadsmentioning rope get replies where each guy says, "I tried this and I tried that, good luck".

I think we all want thinner ropes with good abrasion resistance, a good hand(not stiff)waterproof, compact and light.
Pretty sure oplux falls short on the water side.
I too am looking for such a rope. I been thinking of Canyon Elite but in now hurry to buy.
I keep hoping to find other options.

The other thing is if you have a rope you recommend and use a hitch cord, you should share that as well as cords that you found didn't work well with that rope or mechanical device.

Lets flesh this out fellas with solid recommendations. Meaning explain why you prefer a rope over each other rope you may mention.
Personally if the vest rope is 10.4mm
so be it.
my climb lines tree cutting are mostly 11mm or bigger.

 

[wdarby]

I use 8mm Oplux + Beal cordlette with schwabisch for one-sticking up and switch to figure 8 + sterling trc backup wirh a distel for rappelling. I have had this absolutely soaked and never had unexpected slippage; although wet line can resulting in jerky (not unsafe but slow) rappelling.

I wish I was a headlight on a north-bound train

 

[Exhumis]

It would be nice to get the skinny on best ropes in each size.
Most tthreadsmentioning rope get replies where each guy says, "I tried this and I tried that, good luck".

I think we all want thinner ropes with good abrasion resistance, a good hand(not stiff)waterproof, compact and light.
Pretty sure oplux falls short on the water side.
I too am looking for such a rope. I been thinking of Canyon Elite but in now hurry to buy.
I keep hoping to find other options.

The other thing is if you have a rope you recommend and use a hitch cord, you should share that as well as cords that you found didn't work well with that rope or mechanical device.

Lets flesh this out fellas with solid recommendations. Meaning explain why you prefer a rope over each other rope you may mention.
Personally if the vest rope is 10.4mm
so be it.
my climb lines tree cutting are mostly 11mm or bigger.

The issue with this is every one has a favorite and preference. Oplux is designed for wet weather conditions and meets the requirements you listed as it was designed for military applications specifically waterborne applications. Then you have static vs dynamic ropes with many folks preferring dynamic for the ability absorb a fall vs static for linemans ropes so it doesn’t stretch. For rappelling many folks prefer smaller diameter so they can fit all that extra line into a drop pouch. For linemans and tethers 9-10mm seems to be liked by most. Also with that size line 6-7mm accessory cord works fine for prusik and other friction hitches.
as for ascender/descending devices it’s best to read the manufactures recommendation on the type of carabiner to use. For example, mammut HIGHLY recommends a hms style biner be used with their smart 2.0 device. Once you’ve used the device you understand why, other shape biners simple don’t bite or hold well enough. Kong recommends oval, their biner works great.
I can tell you most folks use oplux, Sterling htp, canyon (pick a flavor), teufelburger and others. I’ll tell you what I used:
Sterling htp 9mm for linemans with a kong duck and biner,
Oplux with good ole prusik for the tether with black diamond vaporlock.
I now have just a long rappel line and for that I use canyon elite with a safeguard or smart 2.0. Why not stick with oplux for the rappel rope? It’s 8mm, safeguard min is 8.1. Could you make it work? Possibly. Do I want to push my luck and test the limits? Nope. 9mm works just fine and 40’ of elite packs up in a CGM drop bag with room to spare. I really like Sterling htp but it’s a bit stiff which is why I use it for linemans, it’s easier to flip up a tree but not for rappelling, too stiff to try and pack up 40’ of it.

 

[Bigfoot522]

Good read.
I thought I read oplux would soak up much water.
My mistake there.

 

[Fireprojectile]

It's a pain to buy saddle stuff in Europe. I import the most gear from US by myself to enormous costs and fees.

But when it comes to ropes, we do have a sweet alternative to C-IV (out of stock everywhere). I want a static 9 mm (preferred size for GriGri+) as light as it can be. I've found the Tendon Military camouflage to meet all my requirements and which is near C-IV.

Tendon 50.0 g/m, 5 %, 23 kn
C-IV 46.9 g/m, 2 %, 20.7 kn

 

[mprooch]

Glider Climbing Rope - 10.5mm only cause I caught it on sale at rope.com, I had a 10% first time order discount, and during the season it was tough to find most of the 'top choices' mentioned here. 40'. Been a few times that I've been close to maxed out on height with that and had to use my throw line to get the SRT line hitched at height. I've liked it, even though it's a bit more bulky. Using a beal birdie for progress capture, rappelling down on a figure 8. Have had the rope soaked, grimy, etc., and it's performed great on both the birdie and figure 8 (noting it can be a bit more sticky when soaked if using the beal to descend).

 

[bfriendly]

Been saddle hunting for a couple of seasons and was thinking of trying out one sticking. I really was wanting to use 8 mm rope, but it appears 8mm is out of spec for theost popular rappelling devices. (I don't know the technology) anyway what are folks using with 8mm rope or is the 9mm more often used? Just looking for opinions.

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I switched to resctech from canyon elite for rappelling and the ATC works fine. I have a figure 8 which also works but I’ve only tested it at low level. Either way I have a prussik below them and use it to descend. I’m gonna tie new prussiks with the sterling trc, add a prussik tender and maybe lose the mechanical altogether for climbing and at height. JRB just taught me the munter using just a carabiner to rappel…..gonna try that next time and probably use it. I hung from it at ground level and was amazed! Find JRBs video for that munter !