Change in the length of my rope after use
Warnings
- Read the technical notice before viewing the following techniques.
- It is important to fully understand the information provided in the technical notice before using this complementary information
- Mastering these techniques requires training.
- Consult a professional before attempting to perform these techniques on your own.
It is important to know that your rope will get shorter with age, for two different reasons:
- You cut off one or two ends of the rope because they were damaged.
- The rope shrunk. With age, the rope swells in diameter and thus shrinks in length. You may notice shrinkage of 2-3 % after the first few uses, and up to 10 % over the life of the rope.
Note also that this phenomenon is not necessarily symmetric on each end of the rope: half of the rope can shrink by 5% and the other half by 10%. In this case, the rope's middle mark is no longer in the correct location.
Shrinkage is more pronounced if the rope gets wet and then dries without being tensioned (climbing a snow slope, for example).
To limit this shrinkage, we advise you to:
- regularly alternate the use of the two ends of the rope.
- for half ropes, be sure to alternate the use of the two strands of rope.
Finally, knowing that your rope can shrink over time, we recommend that you:
- regularly inspect the middle mark of the rope.
There is a simple way to find the middle of the rope: hold the two rope ends together, then slide the two strands simultaneously through your hands until the middle of the rope is reached.
- regularly evaluate the length of your rope.
- read the following tip Rope too short: warning - danger.
