ProView – C.A.M.P. Shadow 9.4mm Dry Rope Review

Ropes are a dime a dozen these days, and the options are overwhelming. Each rope offers its own perk and speciality, but at the core, all climbers want the same two things from their rope: durable and well-handling. What package that comes in is where you can easily get lost in the choices. CAMP has newly entered the rope market with their in-house designed line of ropes, and the Shadow 9.4mm has proven that it can provide a durable and well-handling rope in a small and light package.

Purpose

The Shadow 9.4mm has been used over the last two months through a wide range of use and locations. As a full-time guide in Moab, Utah, my fall is filled with single-pitch cragging days on low-angle sandstone and multipitch tower days up some of the desert’s finest summits. These days greatly vary in their style, and many climbers would choose different ropes for each day. But as a long-time veteran in the guiding world, I subscribe to the “do more with less” mentality that means I demand more out of the equipment I choose to use. The Shadow was designed for just that mentality.

After a work-filled November where the rope spent many days tied to clients, the Shadow 9.4mm earned a well-deserved vacation. December and January were filled with many pitches tied into the Shadow while I climbed over spikey limestone and platey sandstone. The Shadow was an amazing travel companion for the road as it packed light and small yet handled all the climbing I threw at it.

The Shadow is a single-rated rope that checks a lot of boxes for a climber. It sits firmly in the middle of the arsenal of ropes that CAMP now manufactures with the aspiration of allowing you to accomplish whatever your climbing goals are for the time being. At 9.4mm, this dry treated rope weighs 56 grams per meter (8.6lbs for a 70m rope). This is great news for those climbers that find themselves facing long approaches and heavy packs. Weight savings typically comes at a cost of durability but CAMP worked at making the Shadow durable for more  than just sending. This rope holds up against cragging at limestone winter-havens of Southern Arizona as well as multistage rappels of Red Rock, Nevada. 

Performance and Handling

The rope comes “tangle free” from the production facility which means you can plop it down and get to climbing. Minimal to no tangles were experienced. Out of the packaging, the Shadow was smooth and handled well all while having a firm density-feel without being rigid. Some of the partners that used the rope when it was brand new were alarmed to see it slide freely, yet slowly, through their locked grigri. Despite the 9.4mm diameter sitting squarely in the primo range of most assisted breaking devices, it is worth noting that you might expect some increased slippage compared to your old rope. This happened less and less as the rope started to break in and is no longer a concern.

As a heavier climber (225lbs), rappelling can be a challenge depending on the rope’s diameter and the device of choice. I rappel a lot and typically feel I could use a bit more friction when doing so which made me a bit leery of the 9.4mm diameter. To my surprise, the 9.4mm diameter paired with a Giga Jul in assisted-mode created the perfect balance between friction and fluidness and allowed me to smoothly descend long rappels while still feeling like the Gig Jul was still providing an assistive function.

The rope proved quite soft in lead and top rope falls, which is always nice to have in a rope (34.8% dynamic, 5.8% static elongations). The stretch in lead fall catches was not a surprise, but throughout the two months, it remained quite stretchy even in top rope situations. This is not a bad thing but was quite surprising that after 2 months of heavy use, the rope still found the ability to stretch 10 or so feet while taking on long 35-meter top ropes.

The dry treatment has held up nicely over the last two months, and the rope looks and feels quite like it did 2 months ago. I will say, using a tarp and steel wear points will go a long way in keeping your rope fresh looking and feeling but pair that with a quality dry treatment and you can expect your rope to shed dirt, sand and moisture even better. I had no information about whether the dry treatment was sheath or sheath and core, or what it was made of, chemically speaking.

Friendliness to the Earth

At the time of reviewing, there is not much information out there regarding CAMP’s production of ropes and their environmental impacts. However, CAMP is the sole designer, developer and manufacturer of their ropes. At a minimum, this sounds like their production process will be more streamlined which hopefully will result in less waste. Their manufacturing facility is in the Czech Republic and continues their vision of providing well-designed and meticulously made outdoor products to the world. And if you did not know, CAMP has been owned and run by the same family for the last 4 generations. They might be a global company, but their roots feel homegrown and local.

The rope came packaged in nearly 100 percent recycled material, which is awesome. The rope was bound with cardboard-looking strapping (no more incredibly tough plastic straps!) and a cardboard product label. It was stuck in a plastic bag, however.

Final Word

The CAMP Shadow rope is an excellently handling and surprisingly robust rope for 9.4mm that continued to prove that it was up for the work, even after two months of heavy use. The Shadow will make an excellent rope of choice for climbers that want to do more with less.

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