Rope Material

I plan on purchasing a rope for home use only - and was wondering what type of climbing ropes were at the seminar in Az - those felt great!. I'm unsure whether to get the manilla, un-manilla(polypro), or polyplus? And what diameter to purchase? - 1.5 inches - 2 inches.. Just want something that has a comfortable grip

I don't know what was in coach's gym but I emailed Dillon after the seminar and he recommended 1.5" manila, but said 2" is good too. If you need I can dig up the link to the site he recommended. You would have to splice the end yourself, but it is a cheap option and the splicing is not hard.

That would be awesome - would really appreciate the links!!

I prefer manilla. Our girls really liked it but my boys used to tell me it smelled funny. I actually love the smell.

Here's the link:

http://onlinestore.ahlstrand-marine.com/decorativemanilarope/decorative-manila-rope.html

Like I said, pretty cheap, but you have to eye splice it yourself. The rope comes with one end taped I think and the other is simply wrapped around with some twine. I put extra tape on the on end then spliced the other. I bought an 18' piece and after splicing its probably around 15'.

Desi, for your hands 1.5" is probably best. Bigger hands like mine really benefit more from a 2" rope.

I have found that just having 4 feet or rope is plenty, and that you don't really even need to splice it for use.

You can use strong-ish (200 lb test or so) polyester line, probably 3/8" or 1/4" to tie in a small eye via whipping and I forget the other technique I used (I will probably have to post a pic of what I did) or if you have 5-6 feet of rope just tie a knot at the top end of your rope and use the poly line to tie the knot in place so it can't move or come undone. I will provide pics of that as well. It's perfectly safe for exercise purposes, as long as you do things correctly.

I actually have an even simpler setup. I just tied a knot, hitched a webbing loop to the knot so that my weight tightens the hitch when I am on the rope, and then I use a carabeener to secure the rope onto my power rack. You can do this with a doorway pull up bar as well, or a ceiling eye hook, or whatever else you want to use.

Thanks guys for all the help! I actually went ahead with the 2" manila that already had a steel attachment from the end. it was from muscle driver. It is awesome - I have it attached to my ceiling with a eye bolt - and now part of my daily warm-up regimen. Working the grip way more than the 1.5! - Never worked my grip like that ---In several months - I'm excited to see how my strength in my hands and forearm will progress. I plan to also train with a 1.5 inch - so I can climb for longer reps- and with weighted vest. No way my grip could take that with a 2" rope!

Sliz - do you have a pic? I'm no good at knots :cry: For my next rope purchase (from the marine store website - great $!) I would like to try that or the hose clamp with a rope loop attached --( I saw that somewhere on the sight - very cool and looked so easy)

i think I'm going to stick with the manila- feels great and smells cool. i agree with your girls, Blairbob- think that is one of the best parts!

Muscle driver is awesome, that's who I got my bumper plates and bar from!

Our girls also preferred it to the synthetic gymnastics ropes that were hung from the ceiling. We had one that was 1.5 inches and another that was 1.25 or maybe it was 1.25 and 1 inch while the gymnastics ropes were 1.5.

In honor of Desi I am resurrecting this thread. September 2012 and she is beastly. Five minutes of wall one arm switches with Yuri. If that gives you an idea. She figured out a meat hook pretty fast and almost rolled into the reverse, this after working ring strength muscle up progressions. Very impressive and inspiring.

Desi is the strongest woman I've ever met.

Definitely sets the new standard when women say they can't be as strong as guys.

That's awesome! Looking forward to seeing what 2013 brings!

Man - last weekend rocked - I miss everyone already. Yuri - those handstands trashed my shoulders for days - such good stuff! Learned so much - esp. with hand-balancing and body position - lots to work on. I'm going to go through my notes this weekend and hash out some more stuff. In no rush - but will master the one-arm handstand - hollow back - and OAC ----with all our community experts ---it should be a coast

I look forward to seeing a hollow back on floor or rings from you. Can't really get too excited about A-level strength moves though I have always been envious of L or straddle-L press to HS on floor.