What To Make With Old Climbing Rope: 6 Honest Ideas

I have made a lot of rubbish out of old rope. That is not me being modest, it is just true. My first attempt at a belt looked like something a seagull had built.

So when somebody asks me what to make with old climbing rope, I can answer honestly, because I have already wasted the weekends on your behalf.

Here are six ideas, rated by whether they are actually worth your Saturday.

What to make with old climbing rope at home

1. A dog lead. Do this one first. Easiest win on the list. Rope is already the right thickness, already strong, already built to be yanked. Splice a loop, add a clip, done. Dogs do not care about your neat edges.

2. A mat or a rug. Coil it flat and stitch it as you go. Looks brilliant. Takes a whole rope and a lot of patience, and your hands will hate you by the end. Worth it once.

3. Coasters. Coil, glue, press flat, back it with cork. Quick, cheap, and you get about twenty out of one rope. Best beginner project by a mile.

4. Plant hangers and shelf hangers. Basic macrame knots, no special tools. The rope colour does the heavy lifting and makes it look far more clever than it is.

5. Keyrings. Cut, seal the ends with a bit of heat, add a ring. Ten minutes. Good use for offcuts so nothing gets wasted.

6. A belt. This is the one everyone wants and the one I would tell you to be careful with. Getting a belt to sit flat, hold a buckle properly and fit an exact waist is a lot harder than it looks. That seagull nest of mine was attempt one of about thirty.

The two bits nobody warns you about

First, cutting. Nylon frays the second you look at it. You have to seal every cut end with heat or the whole thing unravels in a month. Do it outside. The smell is horrific.

Second, washing. Your rope is carrying years of chalk, grit and whatever was on the crag floor. Wash it before you make anything or you will build the dirt straight into your lovely new thing. Cool water, no detergent, dry it flat out of the sun.

That is genuinely most of the skill. The rest is patience.

If you would rather somebody else did it

Not everyone wants a project. Most people just want the rope to stop sitting in the cupboard making them feel guilty, and that is completely fair.

That is the job I do. Rope comes in from climbing walls around the UK and from folk posting me their own, and it goes back out as recycled climbing rope belts made to an exact waist between 22 and 50 inches, climbing rope coasters, and gifts for climbers that are not another chalk bag.

If your rope is not retired yet and you are not sure, have a read of when to retire a climbing rope first. No point cutting up a rope that has years left in it.

Have a go yourself though. Start with coasters. Worst case you end up with twenty wonky coasters and a much better understanding of why I charge what I charge.

Stay classy and remember,
Make Waste Useful.

George