Skinny, Light, & Non-stretch!,  Thursday, 03 January 2008 This new 3/8" (9.5mm) black rope from New Tribe is light, compact, and reportedly only 2% stretch! The lack of bounce makes my two-feet-together SRT ascents a pleasure compared to my old "static" rope.

Grigri & Trango Cinch descents take more finesse with the down lever than thicker ropes, and the start/restart rappell is a bit abrupt, but well worth the tradeoffs.

A side benefit is the black color that disapears in the tree.

Bill

 UPDATE,  Wednesday, 02 January 2008 UPDATE: My old static rope may have "broken in" my Trango Cinch - or I just may have developed a finer touch with the descending lever. Last night I rapped for only the 2nd time on my 3/8" HDP from New Tribe and found the Cinch worked much, much better than the first attempt last fall.

I now find the Cinch raps smoothly if I fine tune my pressure on the lever; using my left thumb as a fulcrum against the device helps modulate my descent. Fully weighted in a free rappell I still find the start/restarts a bit abrupt on the 9.5mm rope - versus smooth on the larger old rope.

NOTE: I found the same abrupt start/restart issue with the Grigri (on the new HDP rope -which amazed me with it's extremely low stretch, reportedly only 2%!). I'm willing to deal with the rough start/restart in exchange for the lighter weight of the HDP.

Beginning to love the compact Cinch,

Bill

 Rappeling with the Trango Cinch,  Monday, 05 November 2007 I hoped the small Trango Cinch would do it all - belay, position, rappel. I understand most climbers are using this device as a positioner; Gear Rater may want to move the Cinch to Positioning Devices instead of Rappeling. I have found a few issues with using it as a rappel device:

1) The store salesperson had me try it out in rappel mode on a 9mm. rope; I think the device requires the rope be 9.4 - 11mil. In order to descend, I pulled (too) hard on the hi-tech plastic lever - and pulled it right past the stop. I still couldn't descend - evidently the cams grab the 9mil a little too well.

2) Also, after several test rappels in my garage with one end of my new 11mil Fly rope, the sheath bunched enough to somehow jam the Cinch - leaving me stuck. No amount of bouncing could force the jam through the device.

3) Finally, I tried rappeling with my new Sterling HDP 3/8" (9.5mil) rope. The Cinch wanted to drop me scarily fast instead of the controlled rate I was looking for. I don't know if this will change when the new rope breaks in. The Cinch has rapped smoothly with older ropes.

I'd love to hear of other's experiences with this sexy little number.

Bill