UKH

Looking at getting a new pair of 60m half ropes for trad and Scottish winter. Had my eye on the Mammut Alpine Dry 8.0 and with a cheeky discount code can get them for £116 each. 

Anyone got any other recommendations or thoughts on these before I hit 'buy'? Thanks.

In reply to Scrambled32:

8mm mammut brilliant but 60m too long for trad, probably too long for winter - it's a lot of work coiling, carrying, stacking the extra 10m for the very few occasions you would benefit from using it - 50m is a long way 

In reply to Scrambled32:

Saw a pair of Tendon dry treated 50 m 7.8mm blue & yellow half ropes £60 each in Go Outdoor at Bury yesterday if your interested in shorter ropes 

Albert 

In reply to John Kelly:

Yeah fair comment. I'd definitely prefer 50m for trad but I'm at the point of willing to put up with a bit of extra rope faff for winter just to have that extra flexibility. Maybe unnecessary. Something to think about. Cheers.

In reply to Albert Tatlock:

Thanks Albert, I'll take a look.

In reply to Scrambled32:

60m over 50m every time. If your ropes take some damage and you need to cut them back cutting back a 60 to 55 gives you a rope that is still very useable; cutting back a 50 to a 45 etc rapidly leaves you with a rope that isn't long enough for some pitches. 

In winter it is not uncommon to go a long way between confidence inspiring belays. 

In reply to Scrambled32:

Think they were a managers special price rather than an on line deal.

Decathalon also do good deals on Simond  60 m half ropes

In reply to Scrambled32:

8mm is thin, do you have a suitable belay device, and suitably smooth rock that won't trash them quickly?

In reply to Roberttaylor:

don't think that works for trad and winter, you don't get to specify the location of the damage, the last 2 ropes I cut down were a 60m to 45/15 and last week a 50m down to 39/11 

In reply to Scrambled32:

I think a pair of ropes for both only really works well if you aren't doing short single pitch grit.

I have a pair of 60m beal icelines (always 60s for winter) but they are poor for short grit trad as they are too stretchy and their skinnyness terrifies me on the abrasive rock.  I usually end up using my 70m single and tieing into both ends for short grit trad and my partners thicker less stretchy doubles for other trad (usually with my rack to keen things fair).  Not really a recommendation I know but my great winter ropes don't make great grit trad ropes. 

Edit: I'd still get 60s for trad so you can string pitches together on those long easy days but my do tend to use my icelines for these days as they are nice light.

In reply to Somerset swede basher:

Yeah I'm buying these predominantly for winter, I've got non-dry treated halfs for summer trad but I can't say I'd never use these for trad on good rock. as you say, bit of a concern using skinnier ropes on abrasive rock - I'm sure someone could come along as say it's purely psychological and the extra wear is negligible but it'd always be in the back of my mind.

In reply to John Kelly:

I get their point though that you at least have a better chance of having a usable rope if you do need to trim it. That's not to say you'll always have a decent section of rope left.

But regardless of length really just looking for thoughts on the Mammut rope or whether someone has something else they prefer, like something from Beal or the Edelrid Starling Pro Dry.

In reply to Scrambled32:

Mammut 8mms are great ropes (whatever length), so are the 7.5mm

They have brought out a core protected version of the 8mm

https://www.mammut.com/uk/en/products/2010-04590-11288/8-0-alpine-core-prot...

I found the Edelrid starling protect pro so twisty on abseil that we gave up using them 

In reply to John Kelly:

Thanks John, I appreciate the help.

In reply to Scrambled32:

60 m defo.for winter, look at the tendon tifix master Pro 7.8 mm, they have different construction to most ropes, 9 cores weaved together and the sheath glued onto those, makes them far more resistant to being stood on with crampons than other ropes, not the best for trad as the construction makes them quite stiff, but in winter they are amazing 

In reply to Scrambled32:

I have the non dry treated Mammut Alpines in 50m for trad single and multi-pitch on mostly limestone.

Cant comment on durability yet but they are great handling ropes, they feel light and easy to use. Don't find them any less reassuring than a burly single on hard (for me) trad. Overall, very happy with them! 

In reply to Scrambled32:

I have beal operas and have climbed a bunch on beal ice lines. I like them a lot and would happily buy again.

I've used various edelrid ropes belonging to pals (Parrot, Apus etc) and thought they wore a bit faster than the beals. It was common to find small areas of fluff on the sheath following abrasion. These areas would then fail the "pinch test" and we'd cut the rope down. This happened on 3 occasions with the Parrot. On inspection of the core, we never found any issues, so I suspect that these ropes are easily damaged to the point of failing the pinch test but are still fine to use. I don't know of a better test for core integrity, so my inclination would always be to chop rather than assume they would be fine, and confidence in your rope is really important. For this reason, I personally wouldn't be in a hurry to buy another edelrid rope. I'm keen to hear if anyone else has experienced this or if there are alternative core integrity tests that people use.

Tendon- got two of their ropes, both purchased because they were good bang for buck, they have been great. I have not tried their high end ropes but I definitely would.

I've never used mammut ropes, but I've heard so many good things about them that I'll probably buy one for my next single.

And I'm firmly in the 60m crowd, particularly for winter.

In reply to Scrambled32:

I know this doesn’t quite answer your question regarding the Mammut ropes. But if you are happier to go skinnier and can get a good price on them, then the Beal Gully 7.3 is a brilliant rope and surprisingly durable (relatively ok price for a pair at banana fingers). Alternatively, little thicker and heavier is the Tendon Master 7.8, also a phenomenal rope (mentioned above). Both have the sheath bonded to the core. They do work best/ safest with a dedicated belay plate and carabiner, but have also used them both with normal belay devices without any real issue.

As they are so light you can also consider 70m if you want to use them predominantly for winter and are happy handling an extra 10m of rope. Gives you loads more margin for finding belays or places to retreat from. However,I feel that depends on the kind of winter terrain you typically find yourself in. If it’s Scotland then 60m is probably sufficient.

As others have also said, the Beal Icelines are also fantastic rope, started with mine purely for winter and ended up using them as a trad rope for many years after that once they started sucking up too much water. I think those ended up as a door mat or something.

On a side note. As a skinny rope aficionado I was always intrigued by the Edelweiss Elite 7.8. Which also has Unicore and I wonder if they are made by Beal as well(?).

In reply to Scrambled32:

I have just purchased a Gilmont 8.3 mm dry half-rope from Sgurr, which I am pleased with.  They do a 60m one for £110, which I assume is good value for money.  It is 43 g per metre, which compares well with other, thinner ropes.  Hopefully I will get less issues with rope wear or belay devices being a bit too slick but will still have a light rope.

https://www.sgurr.shop/products/gilmonte-gill-8-3mm-half-rope?variant=42230...

One observation though was that it seemed quite stiff.  Not sure if this is a quality of this particular brand and model of rope or if it is an effect of the dry treatment.  It is the first time I have bought a dry treated rope so I wasn't sure what to expect.

In reply to johnlc:

Definitely not necessarily a result of dry treatment, my Beal rope with 'golden dry' treatment is 'soft'.