Tendon Master 9.7mm Review

Written by Scott Longton

I’ve been using this rope for over a month now, subjecting it to abuse both indoors and outdoors. The rope has held up nicely, despite copping such treatment as running it through short draws (creating excessive friction), taking falls from several metres above the last bit of protection, and catching people as heavy as 115kg.

The rope handles very nicely through a variety of belay devices. I’ve personally used the Black Diamond ATC Guide, ATC XP, and my partner’s Edelrid Mega Jul, none of which presented any problems for this rope.

One of the concerns when buying a rope is untying your knot after a big fall and I’ve tested this with both a properly-dressed Figure-8 and a poorly dressed Figure-8. After a big fall, the properly-dressed knot was quite easy to untie. The poorly-dressed knot was slightly more difficult to untie but did not present any major problems.

I’ve also tried tying a few other knots just to test out the "knotability" of the rope. The rope is easily able to form into bowlines, rolling clove hitches, butterfly knots, and double figure-8s, although the last one required a bit more dressing than usual.

Possibly the best thing about this rope, however, is the weight. Coming in at just a touch over 3.5kg, this rope is light! The weight makes a big difference on those long, uphill walk-ins, that’s for sure.

It’s not a perfect rope though. It has retained a curl despite my best efforts and the yellow colour seems to attract dirt. I’ve also noticed that the outer sheath seems to move around a fair bit, although not too a concerning extent.

Overall, it’s a great rope that’s suitable for both indoor and outdoor climbing. Check it out here.

 

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