Gear Review
Beal Rando 8mm Dry Cover Rope
Not perfect
By Eric McCammond
Ranked #190 - Climbing Ropes and Bouldering Pads
July 27, 2009
I bought this for a compact, light "scrambling" rope to use for short rappels and such. It works pretty well for just that. I have a couple of complaints though. First, I'm not pleased with the dry treatment. I took it out for the first time in the rain and it soaked up water like a sponge. I hung it up in my house and it took about 3 days to dry. I also question the durability. There are small strands of nylon poking out from the sheath after only one use. I don't think it affects the strength in the short term, but I don't expect this rope to last as long as the others. I've used several other ropes and none of them did anything like this.
View Details: Beal Rando 8mm Dry Cover Rope
Helpful Votes: 0 Yes
Change me.
1 Comments Last Reply: February 27, 2012 By: Brandon Riza
Just a note about the dry treatment. If this rope is indeed what Beal refers to as "Petrol Blue", then it doesn't HAVE dry treatment, BC has the description wrong. (it also doesn't have markings every 12 meters...) On Beal's site it states that only the "Blue" and "Anis" color Rando ropes have their "Golden Dry" treatment. The picture shown here at BC is indeed the same rope as shown on the Beal site as "Petrol Blue". (The little grey squares in the pattern denote this as the "Petrol Blue" color, on the "Blue" version, those grey squares are cyan...) I have this rope, I got it here at BC and it does not have 12 meter markings. It also came in a wrap that said it was "Petrol Blue". These things tell me that, as per Beal's site, the rope I received does not have a dry treatment. So if your Beal rope has no markings and was labeled Petrol Blue, then yours doesn't either. So yeah...it'll soak up the juice... I'm not saying that's the case with the rope you received, I'm just saying it's likely, and that BC has the photos and the descriptions slightly cattywompified... All of that stated, I love this little guy. I just wish BC would carry the red version as well...it'd make a great lightweight 30 meter twin setup paired with the Petrol Blue one...
Helpful Votes: 2 Yes