Knots in the rope?

[Jonny_Jee]

Hmmmm so can you tape the bottom of the rope with retroreflective tape?

[markmcgary]

Originally Posted by Jonny_Jee

Hmmmm so can you tape the bottom of the rope with retroreflective tape?

We've already found a vendor for retroreflective rope.

[amesmich]

I believe a loop is legal so long as it meet the size constraints. 12" I think off memory. I would not consider tying a ring to it but a loop woven into it. I suppose I could accomplish the same thing by making a loop with the rope and adding a hard "anti fray" polymer coating. Not sure we even want do it but generating ideas. Thanks for your thoughts.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by amesmich

I believe a loop is legal so long as it meet the size constraints. 12" I think off memory. I would not consider tying a ring to it but a loop woven into it. I suppose I could accomplish the same thing by making a loop with the rope and adding a hard "anti fray" polymer coating. Not sure we even want do it but generating ideas. Thanks for your thoughts.

10", actually, per I04.


I still want to see how the GDC handles splices--I suspect they'd be considered "woven" or "braided", and if they're done right they can be nearly the size of the original rope, or thicker, depending on the type used. But they can be very stiff...

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by EricH

But they can be very stiff...

Better not make it too stiff for too long a distance:

Originally Posted by I04-D Bluebox

Flexible means that if the ROPE is held at any point, it should not extend more than 12” above the point where it is held. ROPES are meant to be pulled, not pushed.

[LEGOlas798]

I can't help but think about this quote in rule I04, section D:

"consist entirely of flexible, non-metallic fibers twisted, tied, woven, or braided together except for the last 4 in. (~10 cm) of each end which may be whipped, fused, covered in heat shrink or tape, or dipped in a coating material to prevent fraying"

Does anyone know of a "coating material" that can be magnetized? Just an idea.

[The Swag Muffin]

Could you use a mettle crimp at the end of a rope to keep it from fraying.

"Consist entirely of flexible, non-metallic fibers twisted, tied, woven, or braided together except for the last 4 in. (~10 cm) of each end which may be whipped, fused, coveredin heat shrink or tape, or dipped in a coating material to prevent fraying."

Would mettle all so be excepted for the last 4 inches?

[Cothron Theiss]

Originally Posted by The Swag Muffin

Could you use a mettle crimp at the end of a rope to keep it from fraying.

"Consist entirely of flexible, non-metallic fibers twisted, tied, woven, or braided together except for the last 4 in. (~10 cm) of each end which may be whipped, fused, coveredin heat shrink or tape, or dipped in a coating material to prevent fraying."

Would mettle all so be excepted for the last 4 inches?

The way I read the rules, I think that no metal of any kind will be allowed on any part of the rope. I think the non-metallic bit is meant to describe ALL parts of the rope. But don't take my word for it. This is probably a question for the Q&A. A team could decide to dip their ropes in molten aluminum or iron for some reason.

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by LEGOlas798

Does anyone know of a "coating material" that can be magnetized? Just an idea.

You can get magnetic paint/primer, but I suspect the GDC is going to shoot that one down on Q&A.

Originally Posted by The Swag Muffin

"Consist entirely of flexible, non-metallic fibers twisted, tied, woven, or braided together except for the last 4 in. (~10 cm) of each end which may be whipped, fused, coveredin heat shrink or tape, or dipped in a coating material to prevent fraying."

Would mettle all so be excepted for the last 4 inches?

Do you see "crimped metal ferrule" in that list of end treatments? If you HAVE to have something metallic there, I think currently your options are magnetic paint or whipping it with steel wire/cable. I seriously wouldn't get my hopes up about that, though. I think that's likely to get shot down about a day after the Q&A opens.

Back on the knots subject, in case anyone hasn't done the math, it looks like the davit has about 22" of steel guide below where the attachment knot should go. So a knot in your rope should be about 7" below the steel channel of the davit. Not sure how far below the touchpad that puts you, but it's definitely close. I'm assuming y'all are thinking of regularly spaced knots and a notched pulley?

[cadandcookies]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

You can get magnetic paint/primer, but I suspect the GDC is going to shoot that one down on Q&A.
Do you see "crimped metal ferrule" in that list of end treatments? If you HAVE to have something metallic there, I think currently your options are magnetic paint or whipping it with steel wire/cable. I seriously wouldn't get my hopes up about that, though. I think that's likely to get shot down about a day after the Q&A opens.

Back on the knots subject, in case anyone hasn't done the math, it looks like the davit has about 22" of steel guide below where the attachment knot should go. So a knot in your rope should be about 7" below the steel channel of the davit. Not sure how far below the touchpad that puts you, but it's definitely close. I'm assuming y'all are thinking of regularly spaced knots and a notched pulley?

From the knots and loops school of thought, Ri3D 'Snow Problem is attempting a climber that will essentially act as a winch on a rope with a loop at the end, using rotating pegs and a cam cleat. We should have a video of our prototype on Monday (it's linked to our intake, and is basically just an interesting concept that isn't much of a risk for us if it doesn't work out).

[Kevin Sevcik]

Originally Posted by cadandcookies

From the knots and loops school of thought, Ri3D 'Snow Problem is attempting a climber that will essentially act as a winch on a rope with a loop at the end, using rotating pegs and a cam cleat. We should have a video of our prototype on Monday (it's linked to our intake, and is basically just an interesting concept that isn't much of a risk for us if it doesn't work out).

I think that'll be a pretty common idea, yeah. Don't kill yourselves getting the cam cleat working though. If you can lift the whole way without it, your lift is good enough, since scoring is at the instant of T=0. If you've had the touchpad triggered for >1s before T=0, then you're good.

The cam cleat would save some battery since it'd hold you in place passively, and it'd give you a 1s margin, since triggering the pad at T=0 and maintaining for 1s also scores. But staying up there after T=0 definitely isn't a requirement this year.

[cadandcookies]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

I think that'll be a pretty common idea, yeah. Don't kill yourselves getting the cam cleat working though. If you can lift the whole way without it, your lift is good enough, since scoring is at the instant of T=0. If you've had the touchpad triggered for >1s before T=0, then you're good.

The cam cleat would save some battery since it'd hold you in place passively, and it'd give you a 1s margin, since triggering the pad at T=0 and maintaining for 1s also scores. But staying up there after T=0 definitely isn't a requirement this year.

The entire plan regarding our climber is to not kill ourselves over getting it working-- we figure that whether we fail miserably or succeed wildly, or anywhere in between, the community learns something, which is why we're doing Ri3D in the first place.

[Cothron Theiss]

I want to add to this discussion that any of the modifications you can make to the last 4" of the rope must be in order to prevent fraying. This kind of thing will be inspected on a one by one basis, and if your rope has anything that the inspector deems not for the purpose of preventing fraying, they shouldn't allow it to pass inspection.

[mman1506]

Originally Posted by amesmich

I believe a loop is legal so long as it meet the size constraints. 12" I think off memory. I would not consider tying a ring to it but a loop woven into it. I suppose I could accomplish the same thing by making a loop with the rope and adding a hard "anti fray" polymer coating. Not sure we even want do it but generating ideas. Thanks for your thoughts.

1.5

The intent of this manual is that the text means exactly, and only, what it says.

Yes the loop is legal but why does putting the metal ring in the loop make the metal ring legal. When you add tape to the end of the rope it becomes part of the rope as it is still within the criteria of the rope according to the rules. A metal ring does not.

Anyway ask Q&A.

[GeeTwo]

On splices...

As I read it, an "end cap splice" of up to four inches in length would probably be OK (though that would be rather short for 1" line).
Slicing the rope along its length to another rope would require the splice to still be no larger than 1" in diameter (not too difficult if the line is 5/8" or smaller) would still be "braided" and allowed.

Splicing a loop into the end of the line (unless it were very short and could all fit in 4") would not be a knot and would not be allowed. (Say the last part three times fast.)

[Usual caveat that this is my opinion, not a Q&A answer.]