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CANYONEERING ROPE 8.3mm Canyon Fire 8mm Canyon Rope 9.2mm Canyonero 6mm Pull Cord
ROPE TOOLS Rope Silo Small & Large Bagarino Bagette
POTHOLE ESCAPE TOOLS Potshot
ADVANCED ANCHOR TOOLS SandTrap
KEEPING STUFF DRY Small Canyon Keg Large Canyon Keg
ACCESSORIES The Clipster Scuttlebutt The Book

Canyon Rope / Rappel Rope / Canyoning Rope Specs

IMLAY CANYON ROPE is made for the rigors of canyoneering. Tightly woven of 100% polyester for toughness and water-non-absorbance, our canyon rope has a tight, thick sheath that resists cutting and abrasion. The polyester core and sheath work together to make a nice handling, very static rappel rope.

    Canyoneering Rope Overview     Canyon Rope Details and FAQ

Weight Comparison * Rope Bag Fit * Choosing a Diameter * How Long? * Sheath Slippage * Country of Origin * Warranty

Weight Comparison

ModelRated StrengthWeight grams/meterWeight lbs/100 feetWeight lbs/200 feet
8.0mm Canyon Rope4100 lbF50.0 g/m3.34 lbs/100ft6.68 lbs/200ft
8.3mm Canyon Fire4100 lbF57.3 g/m3.85 lbs/100ft7.70 lbs/200ft
9.2mm Canyonero Rope5000 lbF63.5 g/m4.27 lbs/100ft8.54 lbs/200ft
6.0mm Canyon Pull Cord2200 lbF30.2 g/m2.03 lbs/100ft4.06 lbs/200ft

Rope Bag Fit

ModelRope Bag for 120 feetRope Bag for 200 feetRope Bag for 300 feet
8.0mm Canyon RopeBagarino/Bagette 1Small SiloMedium Silo
8.3mm Canyon FireBagarinoSmall SiloMedium Silo
9.2mm Canyonero RopeBagarinoMedium SiloMystery Pack
6.0mm Canyon Pull CordPot Shot?Bagette 1Bagarino


Choosing a Diameter

There are many factors to take into consideration when selecting a canyon rope diameter for YOU, with perhaps the most important being personal taste. I suggest choosing one size as your "standard rope", so you and the people you canyon with can dial in how to set up your rappel rope and device for optimal friction in each situation.

The 8.0mm Canyon Rope and 8.3mm Canyon Fire Rope provide very close to the same amount of friction; while the 9.2mm Canyonero provides quite a bit more. While slightly bigger, the Canyon Fire is also slightly softer, and the two properties cancel each other out. In discussions of diameter, the 8.0 and 8.3 will both be called "8 mil".

The most important factors in choosing a rappel rope size for you:

- Your Weight - big people need a bigger canyoning rope. Partly because you will need 'more friction', but mainly because your weight is the driving force behind the rope rubbing against edges and getting dinged up (that's a technical term). The higher your weight, the more you tend to tear up the rope. Careful, experienced 200 lb canyoneers in non-flowing canyons can probably get good life out of an 8.0mm canyon rope. But most canyoneers pushing 200 lbs will be much happier with the 9.2mm rope. Include the weight of your regular canyoneering partners in your calculations.

- The Tools You Use - each rappel device on the market will work best with a limited range of diameters. Figure of Eights are good for 'fat ropes', but not so good for skinny ropes. The Pirana and ATC-XP work better with small diameter cords. Largely, it is a matter of what you are used to, and what you have training and practice using. Match the tool to the rope, or the rope to the tool, but make sure they match.

- The Canyons on Your Hitlist - Canyons come in a lot of different flavors. Wet flowing canyons are tougher on ropes, so choose a larger diameter rappel rope for that. Canyons far from the road encourage choosing lighter ropes. Canyons in Ouray combine flowing water with sharp rock, so the 9.2mm Canyonero would be the Ouray tool of choice.

- Experience Level - Certainly, more skilled people tend to avoid swinging side to side on rappel, and other things that tear up ropes. If you take beginners out a lot, you will want to tend toward a fatter rope.

- Personal Taste - Perhaps the most important factor - what do you like?


How Long is My Rope?

Here at Imlay Canyon Gear, we cut every pre-cut length ourselves. We buy spools that are 610 feet long, then pull the ropes out in my back yard, cut to length and coil, carefully finish the ends, bag and tag. Each 100 foot length is cut to be 101 to 102 feet. When cutting three 200-foot lengths, the last length tends to be 2 to 4 feet longer, or 204 to 208 feet. Our MINIMUM length to send the rope out is the actual stated length, but very few will be less than 1% longer than stated - when new.

As canyon rope is used, it tends to get shorter. Because of the tight weave, I think our ropes shrink less than most - but there is no standardized test for rappel rope shrinkage, and the amount of shrinkage will vary wildly with the details of usage. So I make no specific claim, other than that your rope will shrink, and every now and then you should check to see how long it is.


Sheath Slippage

Modern climbing and canyon rope is made in a "Kern-mantle" form: A Kern or Core covered by a woven sheath or mantle. With a few exceptions, the core and sheath are not bound together except by friction. When we rappel, we Squeegee the sheath down the core, and the sheath CAN slide down the core. This is called "Sheath Slippage".

Is this a problem? Not usually, but... it is important to be aware of it. The obvious result is that you can end up with a section of sheath at the end of the rope with no core inside. This section is NOT ROPE and has no strength, and should be cut off immediately and the end re-melted.

Imlay Ropes have less tendency for the sheath slipping than many other ropes, I think because of the tight weave. It helps that the core and sheath are the same, meltable material (polyester). When we finish the end of your pre-cut length of rope, we weld the core and the sheath together, which is harder to do when the core and sheath materials do not melt together well.

You can create situations that will increase sheath slippage. For instance, taking your new rope out and having a bunch of people all rappel in the same direction on the same section of rope -- which might sound kinda normal, but will create considerable sheath slippage.

PREPARING YOUR CANYON ROPE - If you are concerned about sheath slippage, you can prepare your rope by pre-shrinking the sheath onto the core. Soak your rope in water, then hang it up to dry. Repeat a couple of times. By shrinking the sheath slightly onto the core, sheath slippage can be reduced substantially.


Country of Origin

Imlay Ropes are made in Canada, using fibers made in Korea.


Warranty

WARRANTY: Imlay Canyon Gear products are warrantied to be free from defects in materials in workmanship. We also warrant that canyoneering will beat the crap out of you and your gear. If you have a problem with one of our products, please talk to us and we'll see what we can do.

 

Imlay Canyon Gear

PO Box 5532
2625 S State Street
Mount Carmel   Utah   USA   84755

 

CanyoneeringUSA@gmail.com
voice 435-648-3089
fax 435-304-0096