Abrasion

Abrasion is throwbag ropes` biggest enemy. No floating rope construction have good resistance against abrasion.

Polypropilene has a low, 160 Celsius melting point. If a rope is tensioned, energy transforms into heat. A bit of friction on a rock and your rope snaps. Bumm...

Sharp rock effects expensive ropes the same way. Spectra and Syntec ropes are getting damaged as well due to the cover having the same material.

 

See some videos of our basic Abrasion test:

How many seconds do you guess it takes to break your throwbag rope?

 

To see results check the abrasion data of different rope types

 

 

See chart of tested ropes:

(how many seconds the rope last if we apply friction by an other rope)

 

 

 

Type                  cover     Core                diameter        broken in

Coreless                PP       coreless               8mm                3 sec

Flat kernmantel     PP        PP                       8mm                5 sec

Doublebraided       PP        PP                       8mm              10 sec

Syntec/Spectra      PP        PP+Dyneema       8mm              10 sec

Kernmantel           PP        PP                     10mm               11 sec

 

Floating Rescue     PP        Nylon                 8mm     60+ sec (not broken)

WWTC                  PP        PP+Polyester       8mm     60+ sec (not broken)

WWTC                  PP        PP+Polyester      10mm    60+ sec (not broken)

WWTC 2020      PES+PP    PP                      8mm     60++ sec (little damage)

Conclusion (for whitewater rescue):

- Polypropylene in the cover gets damaged easily by abrasion (breaks in 3 sec)

You can not avoid using Polypropilene as you need the rope to float.

- to use Nylon/Polyester in the core makes you better resistance against abrasion break, though the cover gets damaged anyways.

The difference is that you can finish the rescue and your rope does not break, after abrasion damage your rope is garbage either ways. So try to avoid rocks...

Also it is sensitive on floating balance if you add Polyester/Nylon, it might be compromising on the weight of your rope but needs to be still floating well.

- Never buy coreless ropes!

- Buying an expensive rope containing Dyneema (Syntec, Spectra) expands the tensile strength but not the abrasion resistance.

- WWTC ropes from September 2020 have Polyester in the cover for a better abrasion resistance giving a huge advantage compared to other floating ropes.