Let’s be honest – getting a new rope is glorious. After hours of internet research and nerding out on technical questions like “how many grams per meter?” and “what’s the static elongation?”, you came to decisions on diameter, dry treatment, length, and color. Now all you have to do is unpack this beauty and whip off of your pending project. Before flaking out your new rope and knotting it into 70 meters of Rubik’s Cube frustration, take a deep breath. Uncoiling your new rope correctly can save you hours of untangling and heartache. Let us explain…
When the rope is ready for packaging, it is coiled torsion free and neutral to give you a head start on maintaining a twist-free rope. Uncoiling your new rope properly will maintain this neutral positioning and minimize the amount of twisting introduced. To do this, you will need to reverse the factory coiling process. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Remove any packaging being careful not to damage the rope
- Unwrap the outer rope end from the coil and place your arms through the center of the coil
- Rotate your arms over each other repeatedly as the outer end that you already unwrapped begins to flake into a pile
- Take your time to prevent the inner end of the rope from coming out of the coil or wrapping around your arm
- Once the rope is completely uncoiled, flake it from end to end to remove any twists that may have found their way in
Now your rope is ready for action. Once you have begun to use the rope, we recommend using a rope bag or foldable rope tarp instead of coiling your rope after each use.
Techmaster Tip: When uncoiling your rope, toss the rope ends and middle (clearly marked on Trango ropes) to the side. This makes it easy to flake the rope from the middle to each end so none of the twists have to travel more than half the rope length.
