Hemp Lines

You can find information on Hemp Flying here Hemp Flying

All hemp within the Conservatoire has been measured and marked to stock sizes of 12-15m, 20m, 30m, 44m and 80m. What we use for this is standard 14mm Manila with a breaking strain of 1450kg (reference, Flints Online Catalogue here).

These 3 strand ropes are manufactutred to ISO 1181-2004 which has replaced BS EN 698, Grade 1. The ropes are suitable for hand hauled flying in theatres. Manila is quite hard on the hands and can leave small fibre splinters in soft skin. Manila has about one third the strength of polyester but it will not melt when left near a hot lamp [Burns at 711°F]. Manila has poor resistance to shock loads because of its low stretch properties. The natural appearance of the rope makes them useful for set dressings.

The markings used take the form of traditional finishing terms called whipping and serves two purposes;
1: Easy identification of rope lengths when laid out or coiled, and
2: Prevention of fraying and damage, thereby reducing the need to cut and therefore shorten the rope to retidy the ends

This form of rope finishing is preferable to using electrical tape in that it does not come off easily and will not leave a residue. For an emergency repair electrical tape can be used but must be replaced with the appropriate colour of whipping twine.
Please see your Lecturer or a Venue Technician if you are unsure on how to do this or would like instruction.

The two common types found are the common/standard/simple whipping which is a basic simple process of finishing rope and sailmakers whipping, which is a stronger, more durable form of finishing rope which is the preferable method for finishing rope in the conservatoire.

All Images below will show Sailmakers Whipping.

All the hemp has been colour coded to enable easy identification of length. These are marked as;

Orange - 80m
Blue - 44m
White - 30m
Red - 20m
Green - 12-15m
AGOS, Chandler, Guinness Room, Stevenson Hall only

Here is an example of common whipping


As a bit of trivia;
All measurements added together equal 2,118 metres or 2.1 kilometres or 1.53 miles!!
So there is no excuse of there being not enough rope!! :)