Does anyone have any advice about marking ropes centre-marks? Can you use a xylene free permanent marker, or does it need to be a special pen?

And then, on a dark rope, does anyone have any good ideas for marking the centrepoint?

Ray

This has always interested me.

What is the advantage of having a middle mark in the rope?

So you can see where the middle of the rope is, duh It sometimes helps judging distance. I always coil my ropes from the middle, that way I have only half a bolsup.

I'm considering it to stitch a white thread through the sheath. I think it should work well enough.

If you're rapping and you need every inch of your rope (62m rap with a 60m rope) - it is a huge help.

@ Ray:

I strongly recomend using the Beal rope marker, rather than the normal 'koukies'.
Its a certified rope marker and won't affect the quality of your rope - it was made for the job.
I think CityROCK will mark your rope for free with that ink...
Or you could think of taking a bit of extra strong stitching thread (say 20cm) and put it through the middle(with a needle) once or twice. Make any sense?

@Hann:
Its there to show you when your climber is going past the point of no return, equally important for multy pitch climbing. Go climb e.g. 'Beg, borrow or steal'(aka Pupets on a staaldraad at Bosch) or some of the stuff at Oudtshoorn or Boven with a normal 60m rope, and see if you get back to the ground after you clipped the chains. Now if you have a middle marker you can tell your climber that the middle marker is passing through you hands, and if he/she at that point sees he's still a long way from the chains, the rule of 'I'm-not-going-to-reach-the-ground-and die-if-I-continue' should apply...

Just use a single twist of climbing tape - easy.

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@ MarkM.
I find that the ends of the tape becomes sticky when passing the belay device. With both belaying and abseiling.

@ DAcaveman.
Should you not ALWAYS tie a knot in the end of your rope?
Ask one of the MCSA chairmen, who took a 7m ground fall for exactly that reason.
Oh, yes, good point concerning giving you bail opportunity though...
By the way, thanks virrie slack line.

@ Stu.
Legal requirement for the middle marker is that it is guaranteed to be within 1 (or is it 1.5m) from the middle of the rope. Honestly and truly I sh1t you not.

@ shorti.
I've tried the thread too.
Found it hard to find, and irritating in the same way as noted above with tape.
Also, I coil from THE ENDS, also making for half the work.
You got your Joker?

In Rapping (on 1 rope) I stick one end through the chain. Then I knot both ends together and start feeding simultaneously.
1) This gives me the required knot in the end (it is hard to forget in this way)
2) and gives me EXACTLY the halfway mark. (You’ll be surprised to see where the factory mark sometimes is)
3) Makes life easy when climbing on ropes that is chopped.

I have tried tape, thread, special fancy ink.
Lately I don't bother.

I like to take a sharp knife and make a notch in the sheeth. If you make it deep enough you'll get the white core to show through which is great for spotting the middle mark.

I tried markers of all kinds, but found that they ended up washing out when I bleached my ropes to clean them.

zb.

ZAbullet: Thanks, you certainly have the best suggestion yet. I will do it right away. Any idea what knife is best to use? This is a much better idea than when I used to paint the middle-mark using battery acid - that just got messy.

Ray, zabullet: you guys kill me...um, you...um...


@ hann: at first your q seemed stoopid(to be expected of you)...

then I read your higher grade answer...seems like you've been around the block re this...I humbly learn...

tjiaau!

Nee man!

MELT the mark into the mid-point to avoid all those nasty loose threads. And to clean the rope, remember to wash it in benzene and leave to dry in the sun.


BUT SERIOUSLY -- I have used a normal black marker pen to mark the centre of my ropes -- that's seven ropes in fifteen years and there has never been any sign of degradation of the rope. I reckon that after the small amount of volatile solvent has evaporated, all you're left with is inert dye. Empirically, it seems to be the case because, if the dye were MOLECULAR ACID or whatnot, I think I would have seen the results.



Yes, the mark does fade in time, but so do any marks except those snazzy ropes where half the rope is one pattern and the other half, another pattern.

@Tapster: Flip oke, that sounds a little dodgy, don't you think you're taking this a bit far? Melting could surely damage the rope.

Ray, dude.

Please see the last few posts and you will notice a tongue-in-cheek offshoot of your original topic. Only start taking note of my post after the words 'BUT SERIOUSLY'.

Dude, won't that create an annoying hard inflexible bit that will struggle to run clean through your belay device? I think your idea sucks man.

Hey Hann, no I haven't received my brand spanking second hand rope yet. I haven't done any scientific research into this, but don't you think that coiling from the middle will help get rid of kinks? I hope you haven't sent me a kinky rope

Hey Shorti,

You're right on! Coiling from the middle is one of the best ways of reducing kinking.

@Tapster: I know, I was just pushing the joke a bit further OK enough of this, back to work!

Also not scientifically based but from personal experience:

I never coil my sport rope as I use a rope bag.

The half ropes get coiled after almost every climb (from the ends), and I've never had a coily half-rope.

Oh, wait.
I had a coily half-rope once or twice, but only after lending it out

Is there also a relation between the kind of rope and which part of it to knot?

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Hi Helen

I'm not sure what you mean.
Please explain your question in more detail.