Rope Pads:
Protecting your rope remains a high priority during storage, during rigging and during use. On Rope spells out a number of important considerations and rigging options for rope pads. They remain after all these years, the most efficient, flexible and user friendly rope protection devices available.
A well designed rope pad protects the
rope from abrasion, has rigging gromets
on the
top and bottom, in case an
'extension' of the pad is required, and is
flexible enough to confirm to rugged
terrain and protect the rope at all times.
Protection:
Since On Rope was initially printed in
1987, standards by various standard
setting groups have appeared
describing the minimal acceptable
protection a pad should provide. They
state a pad should be constructed of
two layers of cotton duck. The standard
fails to define the necessary duck
thickness. Two layers is good, but it can
be poked with a sharp instrument and
penetrated with relative ease. Rock with
protruding minerals like granite or
quartzite sandstone or a rusted steel I-
beam can give a 2-layered rope pad its
final test.
Several years ago, On Rope 1 designed
a
a Pad that included a sandwiched piece
of 22 ounce of PVC*. This PVC is covered front and back with #8 duck (a very thick canvas). The three panels are grommetted and stitched together. Long pieces of rope are attached to the upper two corners*.
Rigging the tangled steel at the New York World’s Trade Center put rope pads to the maximum test. No one realized how demanding a collapsed building could be on rope pads—those items that protect our rope—the one item we depend on to protect us.
Separate Rig Points:
An essential rigging aspect of providing the best possible rope pad protection is to separate the top, rig the two corner from two opposing rig points and render the pad flat so the rope has every opportunity to be placed on the protective surface, thus keeping us safe. 
The really nice part about a rope pad is its easy
to pass, whether going up or down. It’s the best.
*On Rope 1 exclusively provides this feature.