Page 40 - The Pocket Guide to Outdoor Knots

It is only sensible to care for expensive cordage. Minimize fair wear and tear.
Avoid carelessly dragging rope over rough ground or treading it underfoot.

Protect sections that bear against sharp or abrasive fixtures or other hardware by
enclosing them in tubing sleeves or wrapping them with tape or spunyarn. Vary

predictable localized chafe by using a longer line than necessary, then shifting its
position a little periodically. Alternatively, reverse it (end for end) from time to

time. At least once a year wash ropes in water with a mild soap, or hose them
down, to remove abrasive dirt and grit. Dry in fresh air and store them, hung up,

away from direct sunlight.
In routinely handling ropes that are subjected to serious use, inspect them

frequently to detect wear or damage. A slight fuzziness on the surface of a
braided line is no cause for concern, and may even afford protection from further

abrasion. Extensive areas of broken outer fibers are a warning sign, however,
that the rope may have to be replaced. Open up the strands of hawser-laid ropes

by gently counter-twisting them, to obtain a glimpse of the rope’s inner
condition. The state of a braided line’s heart must remain unseen. Only gross

flaws, such as a torn sheath through which some of the core protrudes like an
organic rupture, or glazing due to heat-generated friction, will be apparent.

Signs of a sheath creeping over its core are symptomatic of greatly differing
degrees of movement and implies that the construction is somehow failing. In

the absence of a log book for a rope (which is seriously suggested for climbing
ropes), only an intimate knowledge of what any braided rope has endured will

determine when it ought to be downgraded from work where failure would be

hazardous or costly to less crucial employment—like learning and tying knots.

Coiling

Rope and smaller cordage are perhaps the longest and thinnest artefacts made by
humankind, and—in common with hosepipes and electric cables—they seem to

have minds of their own. Even carefully stored ropes, when retrieved, are liable

to tangle. Indeed, some knots— such as the overhand and the figure of eight—
apparently tie themselves. There is only one way to ensure a reasonable chance