Rope

For everything you want to do other than rapelling 6mm accessory cord will do the trick. You can buy this by the meter at any good climbing store (try Drifters in Sandton). I'm not sure of the price but it will be much less than R20/m. Its rated for way over body-weight, but is not much fun to rap on because its so thin (it slips quickly through your hands and bites into your body). Alternatively you can buy a full length 8.5 or 9mm rope off-the-shelf. For a 50m rope you'll pay around R1.5k. This is overkill though.

Thanks Hector

@mnt_tiska, I appreciate the offer but I need it Waaay before then plus I'm gonna be away around that time. I am grateful for your offer and help though

Cave Man

There are two other avenues you could try.

The first avenue: Suppliers of safety equipment. Look for 9-10mm safety rope. It is not fully static, as it has a bit of give. It is way cheaper than climbing rope.

The second avenue: Sailing suppliers, specifically open ocean boating. The rope is light, strong and because of the nature of the sport, also good for shock loading.

Two points to note.

50m of rope is not only way too much, it also weighs too much.
If you ever get into a situation where you have to rap anywhere near 25m then you are
a. lost
b. in trouble.
c. climbing.
Best advice would be to go back the way you came.

If you are not a climber, and have to haul packs up 25-50m, remember that you have to get up there first, in which case you are either
a. climbing
b. lost
c. about to get into trouble.
Best advice. Go back the way you came.

But always have rope. 15m max should do the trick. It also won't break your back, or the bank!

That is a very honest answer that makes a lot of sense! . You make a good point there. Any idea who supllies safety rope?

I carry a 6-8mm rope of about 10m if we going somewhere that it might be necesarrary. Sometimes an extra 3 to make an alpine harness. Its perfect for a quick abb or to lower off somewhere. It requires one rated biner to make a munter hitch with, if the friction is too little wrappint the rope around the spine of the biner 2 times does the trick. Last timeI bought cord it was about R13 a meter

I notice a lot of posts and kit lists mention rope for river crossing, hauling packs, exposed sections (no technical stuff).
What rope do you recommend, and how long?
Thanks

Thanks Viking
Is access cord technical type rope?
But something like outdoor braid or ski rope would probably be fine.
Thanks guys for a great forum.

Normally climbing rope would refer to a "dynamic" rope. Dynamic rope stretches to absorb impact during a fall (i.e. a climber encounters a soft fall similar to a bungi rather than a hard impact as if you hit a brick wall)

Accessory cord is normally a "static" rope meaning very little stretch, but importantly it is normally also "rated" to hold a certain weight. 6mm accessory cord is plenty strong enough to hold a person's weight, so it is often used for setting up abseils for example.

Ski Rope would normally not be rated to a certain strength. But, if you tie a loop around a tree at home you will be able to see that it is actually strong enough for your needs.

I agree with Viking that 6mm is difficult to work with. It will tend to cut into your hands as you pull a rope up.

I use 8mm accessory chord. This can be used for a backup belay if necessary (e.g. on my recent trip on Tseke Pass). I did also do a small abseil on Cathedral Peak with 7mm access chord last year. For hauling packs anything strong enough to hold 30kg should do the trick (I think even 4mm access chord is rated to do that), but you can't use this as a backup belay. For a backup belay 6mm is the lowest I would even consider.

Note that hardware rope doesn't bite properly on a belay device (unfortunately I learned this the hard way about 3 years ago, I acquired 17 blisters and couldn't close my fingers on my right hand for a month, the guy on the other end of the rope was fine), so if you want to use your rope for a backup belay, make sure you get a proper access chord, a proper biner and belay device.