Question as titled. Is it legal to have a loop in the climbing rope not situated at the end of the rope, but rather partway through, and having the rest of the rope continue on as to meet the minimum length requirement of 63"? This is of course provided the loop meets the normal diameter restrictions. I’ve thoroughly read I-04 and I don’t see anything pertinent to this topic.
Poorly drawn diagram here:
Thanks in advance.
The loop should be perfectly legal as long as the loop is 29" away from the retaining knot and complies with I04-G. I04-G states “If the ROPE has a loose loop such that, uncompressed it’s 12 in. (~30 cm) in diameter, but it can be easily compressed by hand to less than 10 in., that ROPE has met the requirement of part I04-G.” If the loop adheres to those requirements it should be fine.
Absolutely. Our climber this year uses a set of hooks around a winch. Our rope has 4 loops at about the height of the winch. Hooks grab a loop, winch lifts the robot.
Yes. You can see ours in action in these videos:
NoVA district competition highlights
Making a Triple Helix style climbing rope.