Reviews You Can Rely On

BlueWater Dominator Review

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bluewater dominator climbing rope
Blue Water Dominator
Credit: www.bluewaterropes.com
Price:  $256 List
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Manufacturer:   Blue Water
By Chris McNamara ⋅ Founder and Editor-in-Chief  ⋅  May 14, 2010

Our Analysis

I have been using this climbing rope whenever I climb with Tommy Caldwell. He is sponsored by BlueWater and it is the only rope he uses, whether it's El Cap or sport climbs (okay, he might use a skinnier rope for the really hard sport climbs). I remember when I belayed him on the The Nose and FreeRider on El Cap-in-a-day, I was surprised he did not use a skinny rope (I think we used a 10.2 or a 10.5). He said he was being nice to me by using a big thick rope (I appreciated it). Well, Tommy is now past using the thick ropes and it's the Dominator on all the Yosemite climbs. I was a little scared when we recently set out on the South Face of Mt. Watkins and earlier when I belayed Tommy on Mescalito with the Dominator. However, after both climbs I have to admit this rope is up to the task on some big wall applications. No, I would not bring it on a serious multi-day big wall, but for one-day speed ascents it holds up in awesome fashion. Needless to say, if it survives big walls it is burly enough for just about any other application, from sport to multi-pitch trad. This rope will likely become my rope of choice for just about everything except hard aid and multi-day walls, where a thicker rope inspires more confidence.

This product has been discontinued.

Chris McNamara