Jump Rope care tips for outside use and increased durability
As many of you will be using your ropes outside more and on harsher surfaces like concrete and paving, here is a list of useful ideas to help your ropes last longer. RX users should pay even closer attention to some of this as wire coated speed ropes will be the worse affected by use on harsh surfaces. Enjoy and we hope this helps!
1) Rope Type
Different ropes have different levels of durability and so this is a factor to consider when purchasing a rope for the first time:
- Beaded ropes wear the best on harsh surfaces as the beads protect the cord. The cord never actually hits the surface. The beads we use are shatterproof plastic and so should not break and will last. Beads can be replaced and moved around easily as well to maintain the rope for even longer.
- Wire coated cables are going to be the worse affected as these are usually fast and thin. The coating is also thin and so will wear down quickly. So if you do have one of these try to use them interchangeably with a beaded or more affordable PVC rope so you aren't focusing all the exposure to one single cable.
So overall, we recommend beaded or affordable PVC ropes that can be replaced more cheaply than a premium speed rope. Don't despair if you have a speed rope, keep reading as we have some useful tips coming up for increasing rope life!
2) Invest in a jump rope mat
We recommend mats that are fairly thick so around 6-8mm, not only will this protect the rope but also add some protection for your joints. See our mat here. These are more advisable if you use wire based speed ropes as this will increase the life of those cables massively. Generally, if you jump regularly then a mat is advisable more-so to protect your joints!
3) Wrap your rope with tape
A super cheap option that is very effective and is going to be most applicable to RX Smart Gear users and PVC coated wire cables. Simply wrap your PVC coated cable with duct tape or other form of strong tape around the part of the rope that contacts the surface. This will add another layer of protection. This can also be done if the wire cable is exposed after the PVC coating has worn away. Keep refreshing the tape once the tape wears down and this will extend the life of your RX cables especially with use on harsher surfaces. I first saw this hack in a video by @rope_rage, see video below which is a useful watch anyway!
4) Check your rope length
Now, the beginner recommendation from our partners at RX is your height plus 3ft. However, you should move down to shorter ropes with time and wherever possible. In fact, try to reduce the length of rope by an inch or 2 more than you are comfortable with. This will not only help with your jump rope form but will actually help with rope durability. The reason for this is that if your rope is too long, there will be a lot of excess rope. This will lead to the rope impacting the ground. Instead, if your rope length is shortened enough, the cable will simply brush the surface. This brushing is going to wear the rope far less than impact.
5) Storage
This is super important! Do not leave your ropes outside in a pile on the ground. Exposure to cold can lead to PVC ropes to snap easily. Make sure you hang your ropes over a hook inside in the warm where possible. Or use a jump rope bag and keep your rope in a neat loop. This will also help prevent kinking. RX users should prioritise making use of the RX Jump rope bags which maintain the loop and when hanging, hang by the handles and not the cable as this will also maintain the cable shape better.
I hope some of this helps and let us know if you have any rope care tips of your own!