We got to try out my new 11mm Max Wear yesterday. It wasn’t a bad rappel or climb, but definitely not Sport Ez, Talon, or Extreme Pro. For what it’s designed for, ruggedness and durability, I think it shines; time will tell. Rope is on my mind this morning. Trying to pin down “the one” I like the most; and that’s a tough one.

11mm Extreme Pro– rappel is like butter! Super smooth through the rack; very easy to get over the lip with; but yet you need to be aware of just how easy it feeds. Definitely a fast rope to rappel on, and very smooth! The climb…… meh. Not my favorite to climb on. Very stretchy. I’m not a fan of the “bungie cord bounce” when climbing. The longer the drop, the more the bounce. It’s so lumber that to start climbing is a pain in the butt. Once you get 20’ ish off the ground it gets better from rope weight. Then ya bouncy bouncy bounce until you hit the 100’ ish mark and the stretch isn’t too bad and the bounce chills out; making the climb much better.

11mm Max Wear. It’s a beast. Ready to be dragged through caves, over rocks, through water, and just abused is it’s design. The rappel wasn’t bad, but certainly not “butter smooth”. A much stiffer rope, it doesn’t feed through the rack very good when going over the lip; gotta feed the rack some. Once over and free hanging it does fine. The climb? It’s “ok”, not as much stretch/bounce as the Extreme Pro, but close. The longer the drop, the more boing! Boing! You’ll go. It’ll work good for what I got it for; caving and dirty pit bouncing.

11mm Sport Ez– I didn’t think I would like this one as much as I do, now. It’s a good all around rope; and it’s actually one of my favorites now. We sell a ton of it; and during the Spring through Fall we make thousands of feet of it daily. The rappel is nice. It has a great happy medium getting over the lip and dropping. It feeds through the rack very well, and is nice for tying knots/rigging. Smooth rappel and makes it very smooth to control you bars; doesn’t give you that herky/jerky when using your bars to adjust your descent. The climb isn’t bad at all either. It has a little stretch at the start, but you can quickly get climbing after a couple steps. Has a ‘little’ bounce too it, but tolerable; for me…. Again, I didn’t think I’d like this one as much as I do. Turns out, I like it a lot. Definitely a “go to” rope and I bring it every time. 

11mm Talon* (available by special order) – I don’t think I’m as impressed with it as I am the 10mm Talon. I love my 10 mil. The 11mm I thought would of been better. Rigging/knot tying it does good, easy to use. Fairly smooth going over the lip and it feeds through the rack well, no “feeding the rack” with this one. Just sit yer butt back and go. Once on the free hang, it rappels nice; but, not as nice as I thought it would. Sport Ez and Extreme Pro are better; which surprised me. Where this rope shined is the climb. No stretch (at least at the 100’ level so far; it’s the biggest drop I’ve rigged it with, yet…), and the climb is fast and smooth. No bouncing, just flying straight up! There is no fumbling around on the first step either. You simply just get ya movin’!

I have a couple more ropes to make and try out. Definitely going to get some ISO Static in the 13mm and 11mm. Have a short 11mm and it handles very well on rappel and climb; just need to try it on a bigger drop. And the Access Pro… would like to try that. But for now, I do believe my “go to rope” would be the Sport Ez in the 11mm. Definitely Talon in 10mm.

I’ve lost track of how many feet of rope I have now, it has become a little addicting, but I enjoy getting to make these products AND get too use them. When your butt is hanging on a thread, it’s comforting to know where and how that rope was made. It’s also nice to be able to make custom colors and patterns. Seeing so much daily helps out with coming up with patterns. Love my Red/White/Blue colors and patterns, but I just might have ya get our standard Old Glory rope made, just to have one. Be a good add too the mix. 

Anywho….. I felt like yammering about rope since I got too try out the Max Wear yesterday. Going to switch to bagging my ropes (minus the max wear and pit ropes, still coil those), to save some wall space, and it’s a better way to stow them. Honey; we’re going to need a LOT of bags! 

I would also like to thank my wife, for not killing me for buying/making all this rope; and…… future, ropes…… While she does “face palm” and shake her head; she hasn’t killed me yet! 

Presenter: Andrew Munoz | MRA Webinar Series | 

Description:
What I Learned Spending 14 hours Peeing In My Wetsuit |

December 5th, 2015 saw two cavers trapped by rising flood waters on Vancouver Island, BC. Andrew Munoz was one of those cavers, tasked with extracting and reviving his nearly drowned companion. This situation is harrowing enough, but his GoPro just happened to be running and the entire ordeal was caught on film.

Having your worst moment preserved in High Def. allows for ample time for personal reflection and post-incident analysis.

Join Andrew as he breaks down the incident, play-by-play, taking you through the decision making process used by professional rescuers when seconds count. The unbelievable footage, combined with Andrew’s scathing introspection, will leave the viewers with lessons they won’t soon forget.

Andrew Munoz began his caving in 2003, working his way around the world leading tours and expeditions for the next 10 years. He left his guiding career to pursue a path as a first responder and works as a Paramedic and Industrial Fire Fighter on Vancouver Island, B.C with his wife Sarah and daughter Juniper. He has focused on the science of cognitive decision making, exploring strategies to equip rescuers with the mental tools they need to make the right decision when seconds count.

Presenter: Nancy Aulenbach | Webinar |
Join us as we celebrate PMI’s 40th anniversary with the product that started it all – the PMI^® Pit Rope. Since this rope was created by cavers for caving, it seems only fitting that our webinar speaker is a caver. With over 44 years of cave exploring under her belt, Nancy Aulenbach has been a fan of PMI from the very start, and is certainly a good judge of rope character! Nancy will be sharing stories of some of her favorite caving adventures around the world, and give us a look back in time when PMI changed the quality of vertical caving forever.

Presenter: Debbie Spoons | MRA Webinar Series |
Would your rescue team be effective during a cave rescue? What are your resources? Do you even need outside resources? This webinar will discuss the drastic differences between above ground rescues and underground rescues and the different resources available to you. Many rescue teams are literally caught between a rock and a hard spot when attempting to conduct a cave rescue. The techniques that we rely on above ground do not always work underground. Did you know that for every 10 minutes a person travels into a cave, it will take trained cave rescuers an hour or more to remove the person if they are not able to walk themselves? Most cave rescues take multiple hours to, many times, days to complete.

You and your team also have to deal with the stress of: total darkness, small, cramped, wet working areas, and the stress of being underground for hours at a time. Confined space training is not adequate for cave rescues. Some of the differences between above and underground rescues include: haul systems, logistics, pre-planning, communications (or lack thereof), ICS, resources, moving patient, medical considerations, and other rescuer considerations.

Debbie Spoons has been a member of Utah County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue since 2010. Debbie attends hundreds of hours of classes each year in cave rescue techniques, not only as a student but also as an instructor. She is a Level 2 NCRC – (National Cave Rescue Commission) and will complete Level 3 this summer. Debbie is the NSS (National Speleological Society) Webinar Chair and is in the process of building a “Cave Safety/Cave Rescue Library”, through hosting educational webinars. You can view these webinars at www.caves.org.

Presenter: Angie Lucht | Webinar | 
National Geographic went inside one of the greatest natural marvels on the planet – a giant crystal cave described as Superman’s Fortress, with magnificent crystals up to 36 feet long and weighing 55 tons. Our presenter, Angie Lucht, was one of the four cavers/mountain rescuers on the team that went into the caves. She will talk about the boundaries of the physical limitations and new explorations while filming “Into the Lost Crystal Caves”.