Mammut 8.7 Crag Sender Dry Rope Review

You may think that a sub-9mm rope with a dry treatment is an alpine rope of some kind. Perhaps it’s a double rope or a twin rope. Maybe it’s a dedicated glacier rope, even. It’s not. It’s a crag rope. At 8.7mm in diameter, the Mammut 8.7 Crag Sender somehow pulls off being very thin, single-rated, dry-treated, and crag-oriented. To call it a “sender” is absolutely accurate.

Mammut 8.7 Crag Sender Dry Rope Features:

• Made of premium yarn for a lightweight finish and excellent handling
• Dry technology ensures that the rope is permanently dirt- and water-repellent
• Achieves < 1.5% in UIAA water absorption tests
• Optimized abrasion resistance
• Abrasion-resistant center mark
• Rope comes tangle-free and does not need uncoiling before first use
• Triple-certified as a single, twin and double rope
• Weight: 6lbs, 13.6 oz (as measured in 60M before use)
• MSRP: $270 (as tested in 60M)

The 8.7 Crag Sender is a Rope for Most Everything

I’ve been climbing on the 8.7 Crag Sender for about 4 months now, and I have my opinions about it. The first of which, I was unsure about before the rope arrived. 8.7mm is not too thin for a single rope. Over a handful of months and numerous pitches, I’ve arrived at that opinion squarely. On a couple of occasions, I’ve met up with other parties on a belay ledge and gotten a remark that my rope is mighty thin. It is quite noticeable when put beside other ropes.

And yet, it’s confidence inspiring. I had a little mental break-in period, since I’m used to climbing on ropes in the 9.5-9.8 neighborhood, but this little 8.7 is nothing to sneeze at. These days, I’m happy to whip on it, and there’s not an ounce of hesitation in me when I consider the harder pitches at the crag. I know I’m well protected. Besides, these days, ATCs and Grigri’s alike work on ropes as thin as 8.7, so there’s no shortage of well-matched belay devices for a rope like this.

What inspires that confidence with this rope though? For me, it’s a handful of things, but weight and handling are at the top of the list. As far as weight goes, it’s not surprising that a rope this thin weighs so little. At 2.1mm thinner than my daily crag rope, it’s a gaping 1lb, 14.5oz lighter. You feel that kind of weight difference. You feel it on the wall, and you certainly feel it on the approach. Now, if you’re truly just cragging with this rope, maybe the approach isn’t as much of a consideration, but weight on the wall is more than enough. When I’m trying hard, pumped, and trying to clip a high draw to protect my next moves, I don’t want to think about how heavy the rope is. I want ease, and the Crag Sender delivers on that front.

As a weight-conscious person though, saving grams is not worth a thing if the handling isn’t right. I’ve climbed on stiff ropes, and I’ve climbed on soft noodles of ropes, and I’m not a fan of either. This little beauty toes the center line, staying stiff enough to comfortably and naturally pass through a belay device or the gate of the carabiner, while also remaining soft enough to play nice with your hands and not feel like a long strand of plastic. It has, in my opinion, the perfect in-between of soft and stiff. It has structure, but it’s ready and willing to move too.

One pitfall that many soft and stiff ropes alike can fall into is pig-tailing. When a rope gets climbed on or rappelled on over and over and over, it can develop twists between the core and the sheath of the rope, which lead to tight curls in the rope, or pig-tails. They make rope management a bear. In order to help prevent this, more conscientious companies will factory coil their ropes in specific, intentional ways to reduce the likelihood of pig-tailing. Mammut does this with the Crag Sender (thanks, guys), but I still took steps on my side to reduce the likelihood further, flaking the rope out 5 times in different directions.

Success? The rope pig-tailed on me once, and I’d call it light. I was using the rope on a multipitch line near Leavenworth, WA, and the final pitch of the day did it in. It was high-friction by nature, which can often lead to pig-tailing. A heavy roof pull low off the deck was followed by perfect vert climbing, then increasingly casual slab climbing for 50 meters or so. The rope was doing one big bow. I followed the pitch, and by the time I reached the top, there were 5 or so light pig-tails. When I untied and let the rope sort itself out, they vanished, never to be seen again. Thank goodness too; I hate pig-tailing in a rope. I’m very glad the Crag Sender doesn’t really have that problem, even when I use it for long multi-pitch.

I’ll be honest, I used the Crag Sender for a lot of long multi-pitch. At the end of the day, it’s what I love to do. So this rope went to Squamish and other parts of BC, and it toured the Cascades, hitting alpine lines all around. It’s a great line for it, even if it doesn’t bear the “Alpine Sender” name of its close relative. In spite of my frequent off-piste testing habits, I did crag more this summer than I ordinarily do, and I have to say, this rope is well at home in that world too. Its light weight and handling make it a real winner for redpoint and onsite attempts.

It won’t be your workhorse though. 4 months of testing is noticeable on it, with some light fuzziness developing at the common fall spots, 10ish feet from either end. Wild durability just isn’t the name of the game for this rope, so that’s something to be aware of. It’s more Maclaren than Miata; not a daily driver but certainly the one to bring out for a track day. Its whole goal is to give strong performance when you need it, but it’s not designed to be bashed around like 10mm might be.

You might be wondering why it’s dry treated. Reasonable. I wondered the same, and, after much reflection, I’ve decided that it doesn’t particularly matter why. The dry treatment lends two benefits with no downsides I can surmise. For one, it increases durability. For two, it makes the rope more versatile. After all, it’s wildly thin and single-rated… seems perfect for your big alpine objective doesn’t it? I thought so. I still think so. Moreso, it rocks at the crag.

Buy Now: Available at Mammut