I'm interested in recreational tree climbing with my daughters, and have had a couple of guided DRT experiences with them, which we all enjoyed. I have rockclimbing experience, and would like to do some top-rope climbing and rappeling with them also. I'm thinking to buy some equipment, and have these questions. Is an 11mm static kernmantle rope, which would be appropriate for rappeling and short tope-rope climbs, only suitable for SRT in tree climbing? If the sheath is polyester, would it work for DRT as well? What makes a hybrid rope, such as Poison Ivy, work well for both DRT and SRT? Is the sheath "grippier" in some fashion on DRT knots, and if so is that a function of the way it is woven or the material from which it is made?
Thanks for any info,
Gary

Hi Gary,
Static kernmantles don't have a tight enough bend radius to hold a Blake's Hitch. That's the difference between the hybrid arborist static ropes and the "true" statics, the arborist ropes are extremely supple.
-moss

Being a long time sufferer of O.C.G.D.(obsessive compulsive gear disorder) I could not wait to get my hands on a length of 3/8" snakebite by Sterling rope. Bought 200' with the intention of just using it for SRT rec climbing. Works very well with mechanical asenders and is my new favorite rope this week for SRT. Just for giggles I tried doing a poplar takedown using a blakes for DRT. Just as Moss said, static kernmantles are too stiff to hold the blakes or any other climbing hitch. Snakebite also turned out not to be a good choice for using around chainsaws because it simply disappears visually in a tree. The pattern does look like a snake or a vine. This however is a very cool thing for rec climbing where you don't want to be detected. Not wanting to give up on the idea of using this rope for DRT I tried a Beeline splittail that has never worked on any other rope to my liking. This combination turned out to be awesome. It is as if the Beeline was made only for this rope. It holds a blakes 5-3 and 4-2 very well, does not creep, and is very smooth on accent and decent. I was very pleased to stumble on this combination of two rather unlikely products! One of the problems of having O.C.G.D. is that I am not one to be satisfied with having one rope for just one task so I just had to take it to work with me. My full time job is high rigging. I am lucky enough to get paid to climb buildings, bridges and towers and could not wait to rappell off this rope. It is simply a blast to scream in using a 12" rack and 3 bars! I also like using my Pirana figure 8 to rap on but it gets much too hot on any more than 150'. Overall I really like the feel and consruction of this rope and am cosidering buying 300'. Would love to hear any thoughts from anyone else who has tried this rope. Thanks for letting me ramble.

Cool job afb!

I have found that 8mm Beeline grips well on my Sterling SuperStatic. I've been using it to SRT backup.