Just hit my 500th tree removal and realized something about my ropes

Caleb Bailey · 2026-07-11T17:45:05.551884+00:00

I counted up my jobs from the last 5 years and hit exactly 500 removals last week in Nashville. What got me was how many times I've replaced my climbing line - it's been 4 different ropes in that time. Anyone else keep track of how often they swap out their gear?

terry_jones2mo ago

Gotta disagree with you there man. Four ropes in five years sounds like a lot unless you're running them through some gnarly stuff every single week. I've had the same line for four years now and it's still solid, just need to keep an eye on the wear spots and retire it when it actually starts to fray.

6

murphy.linda2mo ago

Wait, are you seriously not inspecting that line after every single climb?

6

kim6932mo ago

@terry_jones I gotta call you out on that one. Four ropes in five years is actually pretty normal if you're climbing every day and not just sitting in your truck. I swap mine every 12-18 months because once the sheath starts feeling loose, that rope is done.

5