Page 17 - Nate Fitch, Ron Funderburke "Climbing Knots"

It should suffice to say that ropes designed for single-
strand applications in a climbing system can have
enormous elongation, up to 40 percent. That is a good
thing, especially for lead climbers. But ropes desig-
nated for other purposes, like anchoring, should have
very low elongation.
The Climbing Rope
When purchasing a climbing rope, there are dozens
of specifications, performance attributes, and styles to
choose from. Some climbing ropes are designed to be
used in pairs, so they have small diameters and their
elongation is based on the two ropes being used in a
coordinated fashion. This text, however, will focus the
use of a UIAA CE-approved single climbing rope. If
a rope is designed for a single-strand application in a
climbing system, for belaying any human body weight
(even the smallest humans), it not only will have a
larger diameter, it also will be clearly labeled for that
purpose with . Single ropes range from 8.5mm to
11mm in diameter, and they are tested to ensure that
a falling climber cannot elongate the rope more than
40 percent of its length or generate an impact force
of more than 12kN. Climbers generically refer to
the climbing rope as a dynamic rope, even though all

A single climbing rope is clearly indicated by the .
4 CLIMBING: KNOTS