What rope should I use for a rope swing?

What kind of rope should I use?

• Ok. First of all, I am not a mountain climber or rock climber. I need some rope that will be light in my pack--Im going hiking in the Rockies-- . Im not trying to rappel down a cliff or anything like that.For example, last year when we went hiking in the mountains, there were a few sketchy areas where we had to traverse a steep incline(or is is decline?) going downhill, with loose soil under us , we basically had to slide from tree to tree to get to the bottom, like I said , sketchy. If we had a rope we couldve just tied it to a tree up top and at least used it to guide us down a bit safer. I want a rope that can be useful in that regard, more for support versus holding someones entire weight. At the same time, I dont want to spend a lot of money, Ive seen climbing ropes start at around $150. I have seen marine type ropes---docking ropes---similar to regular utility ropes, fairly cheap but I dont know how safe they would be to use. Something like this---http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_15347_-1?Ntt=rope&Ntk=All 1,305 lb. safe work load 6,525 lb. tensile strength I look at those numbers and they sound pretty safe, more than a few of us combined weigh? Could something like that work? Any suggestions?A the same time, I dont want to compromise safety for a lower price. Either I will buy a rope that will be safe to use in the way I described and stay within my budget, or I will buy none at all. Its better than having a false sense of security and then have the rope fail.

• Answer:

  Man I really think you should be asking on a mountaineering forum and not yahoo answers. XD For what you're looking at you would probably not need a dynamic rope (this is what climbing ropes are and why they are so expensive--the core absorbs shock by stretching so that the rope won't snap). If there is no chance for you to be taking a fall you do not need a dynamic rope. A non-dynamic rope is called a static rope. REI has a good guide for choosing ropes: http://www.rei.com/expertadvice/learn/ropes.html I would recommend getting an actual static rope intended for CLIMBING, not one intended for docking boats or anything like that. They can still be pretty expensive. I'm glad you're looking for safety over cost, but I really do think you need to drop the money on a proper static rescue rope. The thing about climbing ropes is that they're not meant to just be abandoned, either. You would do good to learn some proper anchor building/knot tying/alpine-harness-making technique before you try this sort of thing. Honestly, ask this question on a mountaineering forum.