Last week’s post about super thick rope made me think about climbing ropes.

For safety reasons, they have to be replaced regularly – I read someone suggest they are replaced when the outer layer gets to a level of fuzziness comparable to a wool blanket or if they’ve sustained a fall – but that doesn’t mean they can’t still be used for other non-life-risking purposes.

Because they’re a thin but strong, lightweight rope, they’ll be great for a huge number of practical purposes around the home and garden – supporting tree branches, tying down roof racks, generally tying, um, things to other things…

But can they actually be recycled? They’re usually polyamide/nylon but are there any particular places that collect them for recycling?

And has anyone made any fun things with them? I wonder if they could be coiled up to make a fun basket or something… Any ideas?

We’ve had an email from Lou:

There is a load of really heavy old rope in our garage, god knows where it came from. It’s a bit mossy but seems in ok condition, we just don’t know what to use it for because it’s 4″ thick!

Unless you’ve got a big boat to tie to a quayside or something, I imagine you’d be best reusing it as a weight or a border in the garden – if you ever have to cover anything with plastic sheeting, it could be used stretched out or curled up to stop it blowing away or to stop lawns creeping into flower beds.

Any other ideas?