Surprising Effect of Dirt on Climbing Ropes

A lab experiment to determine the effect of dirt on Climbing Ropes and is Washing your Climbing Rope a good or bad idea?

00:00 Intro
01:52 New - Classic - 65 Cycles
05:44 Black Streak
06:25 New - Dry Treated - 65 Cycles
08:59 Used - Dry Treated - Dirty - 185 cycles
11:50 Used - Dry Treated - Washed - 185 cycles
12:56 Used - Classic - Dirty - 125 cycles
13:54 Used - Classic - Washed - 125 cycles
14:55 Chalk effect on Rope ends?
16:07 Is washing the Ropes bad idea?

Big thanks @mammut for letting me to nerd with their engineers and toys

Because that makes a big difference and is the main reason that allows me do this project!
Deep Thanks!
Ben

[kevinmathewson]

TLDR if you're hurried: Dirty or chalked ropes frayed much faster than clean ropes in stress tests . "Dry-treated" ropes, treated with a chemical to resist water and dirt, were somewhat resistant to this effect, but dirt and chalk still made them fray faster. Washing ropes does help protect ropes, but don't climb with a wet rope or you'll damage it, and likewise don't use a heater to dry the rope.

[LoveAndClimbing]

As a user of Mammut ropes in some pretty abrasive conditions, I want to let you guys know that I buy your ropes specifically because they hold up to abrasion better than other company's ropes in my experience. Just wanted to let you know your hard work in the lab is paying off out at the crag!

[AdamLewis]

I gotta say, knowing Mammut is willing to allow you to go through all of this makes me want to give them my money when it comes to buying ropes

[mGAARSNAL]

As someone who worked as a carpet cleaner, it is incredibly difficult to explain to people that some areas of the carpet simply will never look lile new because of how extreme abrasion can effect the look of carpet, and how it reflects light back at the eyes.
The damage can sometimes be so extensive that old dirt goes all the way down and damages the carpet glue that holds it all together.

[flpn]

I don’t climb or use any equipment like this, but it’s always good to educate oneself especially with such quality educational content as yours, friend. Thank you for all the work put into these videos

[nicholasbenn]

Great to see these practical tests inside the Mammut facility with their actual engineers. The transparency and simple advice for keeping your ropes clean is excellent!

[Qadow]

Beal has original detergent for washing ropes harnesses etc, if anyone is thinking of washing their equipment after watching this video, this is probably the safest option.

[kenferrin]

Amazing results! I'm a quality control tech at Sterling Rope in the States. Impressive results on the dirty and chalk filled ropes. I have been interested in conducting these tests for some time and I'm glad to see other companies doing the same. Looking forward to seeing the wet rope drop tower test. Great job guys and gals!

[ristotakala]

I think this is the best channel about climbing equipment and safety in youtube. Why? The videos are about scenarios every climber must have thought, but only few go and dig deeper. Nice job!

[oldms]

I don't climb nor do I have plans to any time soon, but you kept me captivated throughout the video. You're a great presenter. It found it to be really interesting and engaging.

[beyondchivalry]

1:28 "It's multiple bags of durd!" XD

[uploadsnstuff]

I'd love to see the wet ropes that went through the drop tower go through a tension test AND a wear test to see if they break/wear down faster than ropes that never got wet dropped. And ropes that went through a washing cycle with a strong detergent, but that'd start to be a lot of ropes...
Thanks for the video and taking the time to make them !

[dimitrykuzmenko-oiqb]

I have never written a coment at any video. But you deserve recognition for your job. Your content is not only entertaining but also helpful, well presented, interesting and highly useful. Thank you!!

[tzjatseng]

The girl engineer's laughter is healing 😂

[Carrick]

Excellent for Mammut to help with this video - an excellent collab and hopefully we'll see more collaborative videos with other manufacturers. One good thought though is that the same side of the rope would probably not rub against the sharp edge as the rope would probably twist a bit as it's moving over the edge.

[chuckmaddison]

This explains a lot . I have just come to the conclusion that the same applies to tow rope and snatch straps. The snatch pretty much lives in the dirt and would make a recovery from a deep bog quite dangerous.
It's amazing how research in one subject translates to another.

[aspidoscelis]

If you’re in a lab, a dirty rope introduces abrasives into the system; if you’re on a cliff, abrasives are already in the system. A dirty rope could still make that worse, but it would probably be a much smaller change in the real world than in the lab.

[majkelb]

So much work Ben to make our life safer ! I love this nerdy series :)

[prjndigo]

Double-drum spinning dryers where you wrap the rope on the inner and close the outer around and just spin it so air is forced centripetally through the rope are the best. Tumble driers apply a great deal of impact (millions tiny little stresses) and almost always have detergent or softener residue in them.

The US Army has an entire manual of rope care as does the Navy.

[GippyHappy]

I’ve never gone climbing in my life why did I watch this entire video