Rope for freediving
The rope quality has a direct impact on your safety in freediving. Diving depth limit is set by the length of the rope. If a freediver
has no force to swim up, or there is a problem with the fins, he or she will pull on the rope to the surface.
Finding a good rope is not easy. Putting color marks on the rope is even trickier. Using an unmarked rope is unsafe.
We offer a precisely marked rope suitable for dives over 90 m (300 ft) deep.
Precise standard marks on the rope
The marking must be done with precision, because freedivers use it to set the exact depth when attempting dives near their personal bests.
An error of 1 m or more might make the difference between a safe dive and a black out.
An additional length at the bottom end
An additional lenght at the bottom end increases the safety of a dive:
a stopper is set away from the bottom plate or weight, to avoid bumping into it, and to avoid entangling the laniard in the knot, the weight or the plate.
A stopper
The stopper stops the laniard from sliding further down, preventing its carabiner getting caught on the knot or preventing the entanglement of the laniard on the bottom weight.
Handy to pull on
The rope is flexible and comfortable to grasp with bare hands, when pulling up or when tying knots and loops on it.
Unstretchable
An elastic rope would be no good, making its marking and depth setting
imprecise and yielding additional effort while pulling yourself on the
rope.
Contrasted color, easy to be seen in the water
Easily seeing the rope contributes to calm and relaxed dives. This is
especially important when diving without a mask. Colored treads help
to evaluate one's speed when swimming along the rope.
Q & A
Q: Why bothering with a special rope, since I can get one from a hardware store and mark it myself with some tape?
A: Yes, there are thick ropes in hardware stores. Unfortunately those ropes are stretchable, at least when the length is long enough. And they are not suitable to go into sea water. The rope would stretch or shrink, depending on many factors, including aging and variations of the bottom weight. The weight usually varies depending of sea conditions and style of freediving. Thus it would be impossible to mark the rope with good precision. And the rope might be or become too rigid, uncomfortable to grasp.
Q: Is it true that rock-climbing ropes are o.k. for freediving? Can I use one?
A: Surely static (not dynamic) climbing ropes are an acceptable option for freedivers. But they are not ideal either. A static climbing rope elongation is generally less than 2%. This is enough to distort your marking on a long rope. And even with 2% elongation the rope will absorb your efforts while pulling yourself up (this discipline is called free Immersion). Thus a dive would take more effort and more oxygen, which is not good neither safe. Also static climbing ropes tend to shrink about 4% with time, also distorting the marking. And those ropes become rigid, hindering the ease to tread them into loops
for storage and for transportation inside the buoy. Hauling a buoy with part of the rope tangling in the water is an unpleasant experience.
Q: Is your rope that good that it will not elongate neither shrink with time?
A: We searched for an ideal rope for 3 years, testing different grades. We tested the final best choice in hundreds of dives, including many over 100 meters deep with a fin, over 90 m in free immersion pulling up on the rope. We routinely use bottom weights
ranging from 6 to 14 kg. Double-checking the depth on diving computers at all time, we found no rope distortion exceeding a few centimeters. So we think the rope marking is really reliable.
Q: Can I buy an unmarked rope from you?
A: No, for safety reason we don't sell unmarked rope.
Which diameter is better: 10 mm or 11 mm or 12 mm?
A: There's always a trade-off. A 12 mm rope is more comfortable to grasp for pulling up. But is is heavier and takes more space for transportation. So for freediving with fins or no-fins breaststroke it is preferable to have a 10 mm or 11 mm rope. 10 mm is lighter and easier to carry around. The 11 mm rope might be a good compromise if you intend to use all techniques and want relative ease of carrying it.
Bottom rigging options
Rope diagram option 1: Stopper
Stopper
= Option 1
No plate and thus no tags, this option is often used in training sessions. Because there's no bottom plate, it is not suitable for rehearsing competitive dives.
+ Advantage:
No additional gestures required at the bottom: just feeling the stopper by hand or thru the laniard means you are good to return to the surface.
- Drawback:
Accustomed to freedive with such a simplified rigging, it is easy to forget taking the tag in competition.
= Option 2
After the stopper there is a bottom plate on the rope, so that you learn to grab a tag before the ascend.
+ Advantage:
The bottom plate is quick and easy to install, making this option suitable for competitive freediving training. Taking the tag becomes a reflex.
- Drawback:
Extending your hand and taking the tag is an additional gesture to reach the intended depth.
It takes some additional effort to pull out and transport a rope with a plate (though our training titanium plate is a good solution).
Rope diagram option 2: Stopper, Plate
Plate
Stopper
Minimum configuration
Each rope is marked and equiped with a stopper.
And additional length is added for bottom rigging (option 1 or 2).
The rope length is sold in multiples of 10 m
Diameters available: 10 mm
Free ends for knots are included in addition to the diving length.
10 mm rope prices:
50 m - 180 €
60 m - 200 €
70 m - 210 €
80 m - 225 €
90 m - 235 €
100 m - 250 €
110 m - 265 €
120 m - 280 €
130 m - 300 €
Purchase your rope