Silent Partner question

[pac man]

I went to use my Silent Partner on a new 10.2 dry treated rope and before I started climbing, I tested to see if the the clove hitch would catch a fall. With the "slick" rope, the clove hitch would not prevent rope from feeding out even though the drum of the Silent Partner was locked. Has anybody experienced something like this with a new rope and this belay device?

[stevetimetravlr]

drag the whole rope thru a belay device a few times with someone on the other end and that should knock some of the shine off the rope. I think if you really fell on the silent partner it would lock the knot up. But I still think you need to have your rope scuffed up a bit for a little insurance.

[mountainmatt]

I have a silent partner, and although I don't use it very much, I haven't had that problem before. Then again, there are a lot of new coatings coming out on ropes these days.

 

Did you try this when it was under weight? Or just by pulling with your hands? (ie. would the clove hold better with weight?)

 

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[billcoe]

What Mt Matt says goes for me as well.....I've always had it lock up....you double checked your clove hitch. Sorry, had to ask.

[pac man]

Set it up again and double checked the clove hitch both times because I was so shocked it didn't lock up. I had only tried vigorously pulling the rope through the Silent Partner to lock it up and didn't trust testing it with a fall. After vigorously pulling a section of the rope through it, it eventually began to catch, so I'll be waiting till the rope is used often before trying the two together again.

[layton]

i've had that problem.

[stevetimetravlr]

When you have a brand new dry treated rope, it can be dangerous. It doesn't take much to scuff them up enough so that they loose that slickness, but right out of the bag they are so slippery that they will sometimes shoot thru a grigri like grease. So be extra wary with brand new dry treated ropes when you belay. the smaller the diameter the greater the odds of them slipping, but I guess that goes without saying.