Rope, yeah ROPE! | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[music]. Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production of iHeart Radio. [music]. Hey, [music] and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry's. here, too. And we're going [music] to. rope you into interest in ropes in this. episode, stuff you should know [music]. on ropes. Uh yeah, I I uh had this idea and I this. is one of those where it was a very. distinct uh situation that made me think.

of it, which was um on our trip to. Nantucket when Emily and I went there. for the first time not too long ago. >> We did a sailing trip on a kind of an. old school boat um sailing boat and they. let me I volunteered to help out. So I. was uh hoisting sails and raising jibs. and things. I don't know if that's a. proper terminology. And I had that rope. in my hand and I kind of looked at it. >> and it was the old school, you know, rope rope. >> Um, not not synthetic. It was clearly.

made from natural fibers and it was. braided and very thick and heavy. And I. was like, man, rope. It's like what a. what an undersung invention. >> Had you taken mushrooms? [laughter]. >> No, not at all. Uh, well, maybe micro. dose, but uh it was it was definitely. one of those moments I was like, what. what an undersung invention. Like if you. pulled a hundred people, you would get. lots of wheels or maybe uh gears or fire. or sliced bread or the toaster or.

whatever. But like I I doubt if you. would get more than like a 10% unless. you work in like a sailing industry or. another industry that heavily relies on. rope. I doubt if you would get a ton of. people that said, "Yeah, rope that. that's up there is one of the greatest. inventions of all time." But it has. touched so much of humanity and the and. the forward uh progress of humanity. >> Yeah. I mean, you make a great point. I. hadn't thought about it either. I. probably would not have said rope, but. Julie helped us with this, I think. And.

I mean like if you want to till some. like really hard ground to try to grow. crops in it, try to do that with an ax. and a plow, but no rope, sucker. >> Yeah. If you want to uh shoot a a wild. boar from 30 feet away, uh what are you. going to shoot it with? You're going to. shoot it with a bow that has a kind of. rope. Uh and we, you know, we should. point out that we're what we're talking. about is cordage. So any kind of bun.

bundled fiber that's braided together. >> uh that that's all sort of a kind of. rope. Uh we wouldn't have had musical. instruments. We wouldn't have had. undersea cabling to make the internet. possible. Uh and then once sailing came. around that you know you think about. Yeah. big deal. It helped sailing but. sailing is what uh helped discover the. world. >> Yeah. You got to think of it beyond the. America's Cup. >> Yeah. For sure. [laughter]. >> So like you said, let's talk about rope. Let's get into it, shall we? >> Let's do it.

>> I learned a lot in this. Um, and like. you said, rope is a type of cordage. Not. all cordage is rope. Rope is essentially. made of different types of smaller ropes. bundled together. Like you said, braided. You can also twist them. And. you can make it out of everything from. synthetic fibers like jute or cy. Cyel. comes from the agave plant. Did you know. that? >> I did. >> Oh, I didn't. Uh, and you can make it. out of wire. [laughter] a little bit. You can make it out of wire. Um there's.

all sorts of stuff you can make it out. of. But the the point is is that all of. them follow essentially the same method. of making a rope that if you strip away. all like the bells and whistles that you. have today. It's they're putting this. stuff together in the same way that. people put it together from the very. outset of rope making. >> Yeah. And you know, I think that's the. other thing that appealed to me was I. was looking at this rope and saw the. like an individual strand was frayed. perhaps and I saw how just like human.

hair like that was and I just love the. idea that somebody was like, you know, this thing weak but put all this. together and it's strong. >> Yeah, it's very clever. I never thought. about it either, but the way that rope. is made strong and stable and all of. that is because they're twisted in. opposing like the fibers are twisted in. opposing directions. um held to tension. >> and that I think the I the impression I. have is that you're actually storing.

somehow some energy or force in the rope. when you start braiding it and twisting. it under tension. >> Yeah. it it creates something uh that. has high torsional stability. So, >> it can hold its shape even though rope. is moving around and being tied into. knots and it's constantly twisting. around and getting pulled on. >> Uh and you know, it depends on what kind. of rope you have, but you know, if you. see these those giant ropes that they. still use to tie in like a cruise ship.

or something. >> Yeah. >> I mean, it's still the same stuff. It's. fascinating to me. >> That's right. Let's let's talk um. specific jargon, baby. >> Listen, I love it. Unless some jargon. >> All of this stuff is cordage. >> Like we said, >> a cord is a rope that's 316 of an inch. or less. >> That's right. >> Use metric. TS. It's still a cord. You. have to use inches for that. >> That's right. Uh a rope is a rope if it. is above 316 of an inch. And then a. cable is when you have uh several ropes.

that are twisted together. Uh and these. can be made from all kinds of things. Like we said, obviously the organic. fibers, you mentioned some. We also have. uh hemp. You may have said hemp and. cotton. Uh we'll get into synthetics. When that came along, it was a real game. ch game game changer cuz that provided a. little um stretch. >> So nylon and polyester and polyropylene, stuff like that. Y. >> and then wire. Wire is usually steel. Uh. and you know, we might call something. like that a cable.

>> Uh but it it's still the same concept. It's a kind of rope. A steel cable is or. a steel rope is basically a cable. >> Yeah. wire rope is is rope. A cable is a. bunch of ropes. You can make it out of. cyol if you wanted to. A cable. >> Sure. >> And then a bunch of cables twisted. together is called a super duper rope. >> Right. [laughter] That's right. Good. jargon. >> So, um let's keep going. Let's talk. jargon in as far as construction goes. You said um you can braid ropes. You can. also twist them.

>> I never thought about this and I watched. two videos. One is it was a how it's. made video. God bless how it's made. because if you ever run into a written. or verbal explanation or something where. you're like what? >> Go find the how it's made version and. you'll see it with your own eyes. >> They they've always done a great job. There's a lot in fact there's a lot of. good rope making videos online. I. watched like three or four others. >> They're mesmerizing. >> They kind of are. >> There's another one uh we found called. How Do They Braid Rope? And it's from.

the National Film Board of Canada, the. Boards of Canada. And um it doesn't even. have narration. The only soundtrack is. the factory sounds. Like that really is. mesmerizing. And so it's you see the two different. ways rope is made. And the first how. it's made one uses twist, which is a. conventional rope. And as I was saying. when I started talking, I never realized. that most ropes I've ever seen in my. life are twisted. I always just assumed. they were braided. And that was just. wrong, wrong, wrong.

>> Yeah. And when you look at them up close. though, you can definitely see the. difference between a braid and a twist. I love a twisted rope. >> Uh this is when you have twisted strands. uh that are counter twisting around each. other. >> Uh usually it's uh three strands and. that's called a hererlade twist. >> Yeah. >> Uh but you can also have a four strander. which is shroud laid and that's if. you've ever had a rope and then you've. seen at the end of the rope a little guy. right in the center of it running. through the core. That's the fourth. strand. It's like a little core at the.

at the center of it all. Uh and that is. the shroud laid. >> Yes. And we should say another piece of. jargon. You don't make rope or produce. rope or anything like that. You lay. rope. >> That's right. Just like you lay a cable. >> Oh yeah. I never thought about that. I. thought that meant like actually putting. it down, but yeah. No, totally. >> So what about the braid? >> The braid is something to see. Watching. a braided rope being created is amazing. because there's all these little spools.

during this amazing like ballroom dance. with one another. It's really cool. >> Yeah. >> But they braiding is where you take a. bunch of strands and you you you braid. well you braid them together into an. interlocking structure. Um usually it. has a core and the core can be twisted. and have like a braided shell around it. And when you're braiding stuff, you can. use way more strands than you can. usually with a twisted uh rope. >> Yeah. And they're generally a little.

stronger and more pliable than a twisted. rope. Uh but I like a good old school. rope. >> I do too. A good natural fiber rope that. you can't even get your your thumb and. fingers to touch because it's so thick. That's amazing. >> Agreed. Uh they've been using rope for. um probably hundreds of thousands of. years. Um, part of the problem with. specifically dating rope is that, um, the early ropes were obviously organic. in their nature, in their fibers, >> and so that stuff's not going to stick.

around forever. Uh, we do have some, you. know, uh, kind of cool evidence like. 34,000 years ago in the Republic of. Georgia where they saw flax fibers. embedded in clay. And so that was like, all right, it's embedded in clay, so. it's sort of preserved. And these were. uh, twisted and knotted up. So clearly. people were using rope back then, but. there's other evidence of older stuff. too, right? >> Yeah. This is like implicit evidence. It's not direct like finding an actual. piece of cordage. This is um like they. found a weaving tool 40,000 years old in.

Germany. It's made of ivory and. essentially it was designed to um keep. the strands separate when when braiding. or twisting the rope together, which is. still a technique that's used today. >> Yeah. And then also they found beads, stone and shell beads that start. appearing in the um prehistoric record. 300,000 years back. And I mean try to. wear a bead around your neck without. some sort of cordage. You can't do it. >> No. Those puka shells are just falling. all over the floor.

>> Yeah. I mean, maybe you could hold one. under your chin, between your chin and. your neck, but who wants to walk around. like that? Just use a cord. >> That's right. Uh the idea for all of. this probably came uh from early on when. they use roots and vines for stuff like. this. Uh and you know, I've got my my. camp up in the North Georgia mountains. There are some trees that have a. >> like a like a vine hanging down that. like it might as well be a just nature's. rope, you know? >> For sure. What is that? I know exactly.

what you're talking about, but I've. never stopped and wondered what it was. >> I guess it's a vine. >> Sure. Like it can't be a root if it's. coming down like from up top, right? >> Yeah. I didn't know if you knew what. kind of vine it was. >> No, I don't know what kind of vine it. is, but you know, you can sometimes you. can like swing on that stuff if it's uh. if it's attached, but be careful. >> I mean, I guess that's what Tarzan used. in the old movies, right? >> Yeah. He wasn't carrying around rope and. slinging it over tree branches. >> No. Um, the other thing about rope is.

that it seems to have been developed. pretty much universally like like every. group. including ones that were never in. contact with one another figured out how. to make rope on their own. >> Yeah. >> And then they just used whatever local. um types of fiber was available like in. in um North America uh indigenous people. used um senue like tendons of say deer. I saw red deer senue rope making video. >> Yeah. Or hair.

>> Yeah. Hair. Papyrus and reed in Egypt. Coconut fiber and bamboo in South East. Asia. Like essentially you're like, "Okay, can you make fibers out of this?". Yes. Well, then you can make a rope out. of it, too. >> Yeah. And you know, like we mentioned, stuff like um you know, to string a bow, obviously, uh but also making netting to. catch fish, uh shelter to weave. together, you know, rope to help like. lift up a heavy frame of a of a a hut or. something.

>> Uh hauling stuff, lashing things. together. And this is one I didn't. really think of, but early bridges were. uh made of rope. If you want to get from here to there. and you can't do it, uh, one of the. earliest things you could do is build a. rope bridge. >> I would just not have gone across. I'd. be like, "Oh, well, I'd have to go. around.". >> But there was a Heroditus wrote um in. his histories about Xerxes the first's. army in the second Persian war. I failed. to look where this like when this took.

place, but this was ancient Greece. obviously. But they apparently bridged. uh something like a kilometer wide. straight using rope and their ships to. basically stretch the rope and then put. boards over these two or three rope. strands that were going all the way. across the straight to go invade Greece. >> Yeah, good use of rope. >> Cool. >> Uh so rope is being used for a ton of. things for, you know, many thousands of. years. Then all of a sudden around 3,500.

BC, sailing became a thing. >> Yeah. >> And all of a sudden it was on. Everyone. was like, "All right, rope is the key to. all of this happening. Uh can't raise a. sail without rope. Um can't tie up a. can't moore a ship or can't anchor a. ship without rope.". >> Um so it's it's key to what we're doing. And you know that people sailed around. for a little while, but then the 15th. century rolls around and the age of. discovery starts unfolding, right? And. all of a sudden, if you were um a nation.

that was really good at sailing, uh you. could, and they did, um you could go. around the world and start uh claiming. places as as your own. >> Uh yes. And so rope became a really hot. commodity during the age of discovery or. the age of colonialism, I guess. >> Yeah. Um there was um another industry. that came along after say like the the. the navies of the world had started. sailing um and that was the whaling.

industry. >> Oh yeah, for sure. >> The whaling industry needed way more. rope than a typical like you know. battleship or cutter needed. Um because. in addition to all the ropes that like. your typical sailing vessel needs, they. also needed lots and lots of rope, strong rope to connect to the harpoon. that they would harpoon a whale with and. then drag the whale around with them for. the rest of the time they were at sea. Um and there was a I guess in Moby Dick, still haven't read it yet.

>> Mhm. >> Melville talks about how um the rope was. coiled so precisely by like a. professional rope layer. in the bow of. the boat. Um, this rope that was. connected to the harpoon because if. there was any kind of like kink or loop. or something in it, it would just take. your arm clean off like if you got your. arm caught in this thing and a whale was. um rushing away with a harpoon in it. Um, it would your arm was just gone. >> Yeah. And you know what I'm remembering. now too, this was another reason for.

rope because uh in Nantucket they had. the Whailing Museum there. >> Oh yeah. So, I went to the Whailing. Museum, which I thought was super. interesting. And uh I've never been more. close than reading Moby Dick. Like, I'm. I'm right there. Uh I'm just I'm I'm. working on a book right now. Uh the next. horror book uh coming out soon from. Keith Rosson, the guy who I've been. reading lately is called Cone, by the. way. It's great. >> But Moby Dick is right there. And the. thing that really pushed me over the. edge is I just saw that Rob Delaney,

>> uh, you know, the actor and comedian Rob. Delaney, >> he's got a podcast out now called. Exploring the Great, >> um, that I haven't listened to yet, but. he and a uh, professor named Hester. Bloom are doing Moby Dick one chapter at. a time. >> Awesome. >> And I love Rob Delaney. I was like, you. know what? I think all everything in. life is telling me to to finally read. Moby Dick and maybe listen to this. podcast as I go along would be a good. way to do it. >> Okay, do it. >> So, I'm I'm right as soon as I finish. Keith Rosson's book. I'm going to.

think I'm going to dive into Moby Dick. finally. >> You can do it, man. >> Should we take a break? >> Yeah, let's take a break. >> All right, we're going to take a break. and we're going to talk about how rope. is made right after this. [music]. >> [music]. >> So, Chuck, like we were saying, um that.

uh ivory weaving tool 40,000 years ago. in Germany, the it's essentially like. it's still definitely a part of how rope. making was made um traditionally and. then still today. But there is. essentially uh if you were making a rope. say pre 20th century. >> you were following essentially four. steps. You have to prepare the fibers. You spin those fibers into yarn. You. twist the yarn into strands and then you. twist the strands into rope because like.

I was saying before a rope is actually. just increasingly large ropes twisted or. braided together. >> Yeah. And when we say yarn, that's a. term that you might think of as twine. >> Uh if you like bought it in a store, we're not talking about like crafting. yarn. >> No, but counts. >> Yeah, for sure. But maybe think twine. >> And we'll go over these steps. We're not. going to get like super super in the. weeds because we we've learned that, you. know, trying to describe a uh like a a.

process, a factory process with just. your mouth isn't the easiest thing to. do. >> It's hard. So, I would encourage. everyone to go uh look up a a rope walk. on YouTube. Uh and like we said, there. are a bunch of different videos. Uh just. pick one of them. And if that doesn't. fancy, that isn't your fancy. Isn't your. fancy? >> Cat fancy. [laughter]. >> I love your remarks just to shout out. cat fancy. Uh if that one's not to your. liking, then there will no doubt be. another one. But we're talking about uh. like up until the 1700s, they used.

something called a rope walk. >> Mhm. which was a configuration of. machines at opposite ends of a long. space. Sometimes it was an open field, sometimes it was a big huge open like. barn. >> Mh. >> Um, but you had you had a a flaming. tarpit nearby, which we'll see why in a. minute. Uh, maybe you had a water wheel. helping out, but it was generally. humanpowered. Um, and it needed to be long because. they were making long ropes. And in. order to make a long rope, you just have.

to walk this thing down hundreds and. hundreds and hundreds of feet until it's. twisted up. >> Yep. I mean, that's essentially that. Um, and you have to start with fiber. And again, whatever local fiber you had. works, but you need fiber to spin yarn. And yarn is step two. Fibers you have to. prepare. Um, you do all sorts of things. to them like you beat them, you soak. them, you call them names. Um, and then. you once they dry out, you run them. through like giant combs. You pull them.

through combs to basically individuate. them. Right. >> Yeah. >> Then you start spinning those fibers. into yarn. Now you're in the rope making. business. >> For sure. So you've got a spinning wheel. at this point. Uh, you've got a person. with a bundle of fibers coiled around. their waist. Mhm. >> It's hooked to a spindle and then they. just very slowly walk backward feeding. those fibers in until you get to the end. of the rope walk. And then you have your. yarn. Uh but in order to make that yarn.

into the strand, you got to soak that in. tar, uh ring it through a roller, and. then you've got like a usable yarn or. twine that you roll around a or wind. around a big uh bobin. >> Yes. And now that you have yarn, which. is essentially, just think of it as a. bunch of really, really thin ropes, right? >> Mhm. >> Now that you have your yarn, you got. your first component of rope. Now you. take the yarn and you twist it or you. braid it into strands, right? So you. take a bunch of different lines of yarn,

you pull it through a tube, which. smooths the fibers, compacts it, right? And then you also have it under tension. You want it to be tense. And uh again. you a machine basically pulls it down. the length of this uh rope walk which. are really long. I don't know if you. said or not. Some of them are like 1,000. ft long. >> Right. >> Yeah. Depends on how long you need your. rope. >> Sure. >> Yeah. >> Uh and then there's a there's a um. forming machine that essentially. separates the yarn and on the other side.

of the forming machine is whatever. machine they use to twist or braid it. And then as you just keep walking. backward that more and more um yarn gets. turned into rope where it all comes. together at the center and it's twisted. or braided. You get to the other end. Now you have a strand. You do that a. bunch of times. Then you have the. components you need to make a rope. >> That's right. And you're going to twist. those strands into rope. Uh three or. four of those strands are going to. stretch between a couple of twisting. machines. Mhm. >> And they had, again, you got to really.

look this thing up cuz all of this is. possible, of course, because of two. other key inventions, the wheel and the. gear. >> Yeah. >> Uh because it's, you know, it looks like. a sort of like a little horse uh cart uh. moving very slowly backwards. So that's. on wheels. >> And then you have these gears moving in. different uh directions that's um making. a a thing that the all these strands are. tied to uh goes in a circle. So, it just. starts twisting it. And uh it you got to. have this other thing though. Man, I.

forgot about the cone. >> Yeah. >> Uh this cone that's got these three. notches. Uh like you know, one at the. top and two on the sides. Like if you. looked at it from the front, it would be. a triangle. >> But it just runs through those um I. guess cutouts from the cone to kind of. keep keep everything from getting like. twisted in a bad way. >> Yeah. So on the on the back side of that. cone, which is called the laying top, it's keeping all those strands. separated. On the front side of it, that's where the strands are being. brought together and twisted into the.

rope. Right? And then again, you just. walk backwards. You pull you pull those. strands through that processor that turn. that twists them into rope. And once you. reach the end of the rope walk, you've. got the huge long length of rope that. you cut and you say presto. That's uh. tradition in rope making. You have to. shout presto when the rope is finished. >> Yeah. It's really neat though, like when. you look at uh this big like rack of. bobbins with like maybe dozens of I. guess yarns feeding through this little.

doughnut-l like tube to make a strand. and then that all being twisted together. with another. You know, these are. machines, but it's like the most basic. machines you can have. It's a gear, you. know, twisting a thing in a circle. So, it's like it's just I love the really. ingenious lowfi stuff like this. >> Yeah, for sure. That's what that um how. it's made um video features is a old. rope walk. >> Apparently, one of the oldest ones. that's still around is in the Sweden.

city of uh Carl Crona. It's from the. 18th century. It's like a thousand feet. long, 300 meters, and it's Sweden's. longest building. >> Oh, wow. >> Which makes sense. I mean, there's. probably not a lot of buildings that are. a thousand feet wide in Sweden. >> Probably just the No, never mind. Bad. joke. I was going to say the Toblerone. factory. That's Switzerland, though, isn't it? >> Oh, that that would that was great, Chuck. I love that. Uh, there was a. problem with this early rope up until. about the end of the the 18th century,

and that was you were pulling these. strands through, and they were all the. same length when they were twisted. together. The problem is is that meant. that the stuff on the outside was under. higher tension than the stuff on the. inside because they were all the same. length. >> Yeah. >> Don't look too too deeply into it. Just. trust me. >> That's what happened, right? >> Never thought about it. >> So that meant that the these ropes were. um more likely to fray and crack and in.

turn break and that you needed a really. thick heavy rope to make up for that. And then this uh captain for the East. India Company came along. His name was. Joseph Hutter, Captain Joseph Hutter. And uh at the end of the 18th century, he created the forming plate, which is. still very much in use today. >> And it is so simple and it makes so much. sense that I would love to just explain. it real quick. Are you okay with that? >> Please. >> The forming plate is a disc, a flat. disc, and there's a bunch of concent. concentric circles drilled into it from.

made out of individual holes. >> Mhm. The fibers go through each of those. holes and then they all come together at. a center point where they're twisted or. braided, right? Well, because the the. fibers going through the holes that make. up the outer circles have to technically. travel further to that center point. because they're being bowed out. They. have to go far out and then in. >> there. That means that the fibers used. in the the outside of the rope are.

longer than the fibers on the inside of. the rope, which means that they're all. under equal tension when the rope is. finished. And so basically, Joseph. Hutter made it quite possible for much. narrower, lighter ropes to do the job of. heavier ropes because they resisted. fraying and breaking because of the. different lengths of fiber used in them. again ingenious. Uh Joseph Hutter seems. like one of those guys. My brother is. kind of one of these guys.

>> and I have a good friend named John Wolf. who is one of these guys. Just really. smart people that when presented with a. uh almost like a mechanical problem like. this. >> Yeah. >> Their brains can just see it in a way. and say, "Well, why don't you just do. this?". >> And that I think Joseph Hutter might. have been one of those guys where he was. like, "Well, you should just do this.". >> Yeah. I think you're exactly right. because it's that it's that basic. Yeah, >> but it solves the problem so elegantly. It's it's beautiful. Yeah. >> But you got to have a certain kind of. brain to think that way and I don't.

>> Absolutely. I I'd be like I still don't. understand why the outer edges are. fraying when they're all the same. length. >> A quick example is I have a uh a system. at my camp where it draws water out of. the creek and there's a propane hot. water heater so we can have like hot. water in a sink. >> Awesome. >> For washing dishes. And it wasn't uh it. was too long of a of a pull at one point. and the motor I guess was getting weaker. and it wasn't pulling far enough and I. was like I don't know what to do man. This thing won't pull. Wonder if they. have a bigger one. And John Wolf was.

there and he's like you ought to just. get uh. >> like when I worked for Coke years ago. and we had really long lines. We would. just put another pump in the middle so. it would just get to that point and then. that pump would pump to the other pump. He said you should do that. I was like. that is so simple. That's either. something like Ruby tells me or that you. tell me because I would never been able. to figure that dumb thing out. >> That's awesome. >> Yeah, that kind of that kind of brain I. just really admire. >> Did you do it? >> Oh, yeah. >> And it worked. >> Worked like a charm. You should see the. flow.

>> That's awesome. That's funny. John Wolf. always works how he used to work for. Coke into every conversation. >> Oh, man. You know, Wolf. >> So, uh, is it break time yet or are we. still going? >> No, let's take a break. >> Okay, we're taking a break. Everybody. just watch us. stuff you should know. [music]. [music].

All right. So, we've covered up through. the 1700s, told everyone how rope is. made. >> Yeah. when it comes to the 1800s and the. industrial revolution starts happening. all of a sudden we have steam powered uh. machines and so uh rope is evolving at. the same time and like how it's used and. applications and stuff like that so you. need like better rope bigger rope longer. rope stronger rope. >> and all of a sudden with steam power you. could do that. >> uh and you know it's basically the same.

way you're just using um like kind of. like everything with the industrial. revolution all of a sudden you could. just do it on a much bigger scale using. machinery. >> Yeah, it's interesting. It's like the. industrial revolution changed the. demands that were put on rope and that. at the same time it changed the the ways. that rope could be made to to satisfy. those demands. Pretty cool. Good point. >> And it all comes down to steam power. Um, one of the cool things about making. rope with steam power with a um an. automated factory even like this is.

early 19th century. Um, you need rope. because they would use rope that ran. through the whole factory around like a. central steam engine. We've talked about. this before and I don't remember what it. was in. Maybe diesel generator. I don't. remember. But um that that main engine. spun, it moved the rope and the rope ran. around and moved these individual. machines. It's one long continuous thing. of rope. It's like the idiom says you. need rope to make rope. >> Yeah,

it's a good idiom. >> I think so, too. I don't know what it. means, but it it sounds like it. >> Well, they also were uh had innovations. in textiles at the time, so they were. kind of co-opting some of that stuff to. make better ropes. Uh like one uh. example I guess is uh they were able to. shrink a lot of stuff to much smaller. things. So the spinning jenny that used. to be this you know mammoth machine all. of a sudden you could fit in a room and. because it's in a room uh and you didn't. have this like 2,000 foot rope walk you.

could like fully enclose that and you. could make rope year round and it could. be heated and uh you could hire women to. work in there because they were already. had experience working in textiles so. now they could help make rope. >> Right. So yeah, the the 19th century, the. industrial revolution essentially uh. well revolutionized how rope is made. even though it's still using the same. technique. It's just now um the the work. is being done more and more by machines, right? Well, it's industrial revolution.

at its core, >> but it didn't really kind of change the. the types of rope that were being. produced as much. Um one thing that did. come out of the 19th century was wire. rope. That was a brand new thing that. the Germans gave us in the 1830s because. they needed it for their mining. industry. And now all of a sudden you. could grow, you could build bigger and. bigger ships and make them out of metal. because you didn't need to use fiber. rope any longer. You could use metal. rope, which people call cable, but. again, it's still just wire rope.

>> That's right. Uh, and things stayed. humming along pretty great until the. 1900s came along. And all of a sudden in. the 20th century um we had synthetics. upon us. So uh nylon was the next like. real big game changer. >> uh when it was introduced by the Dupont. Chemical Company in 1939 as toothbrush. bristles. >> when people were like hey if you make. these super long and they're not just. for toothbrushes uh you can we can make.

this into rope and I think it'll be. stronger. I think it'll be stretchier. >> Yep. And within a couple of years uh and. you know World War II definitely helped. when they had blocked um like using raw. materials for rope making. So that's. when nylon really had a chance to shine. >> Yeah. And then shortly after that. polyropylene and polyester followed too. And so synthetics were basically. everybody was like better living through. chemistry uh in the second half of the. 20th century. And that certainly applied. to rope making too. And it's still.

around today. I mean like synthetics are. um you can find both natural fiber rope. and synthetic rope as well but um just. because of the kind of operations that. you see in modern rope making facilities. and factories. >> Uhhuh. >> It just it'd be almost weird to see. somebody make a fiber rope in one of the. modern factories like synthetic nylon. and other kinds of material ropes just. make sense. >> Yeah, for sure. Uh, and the process is.

really similar cuz you're you're still. physically doing the same thing. Uh, but. in this case, you're starting out. instead of uh, you know, like long. fibers that you're running through a. steel comb, you're starting out with. pellets, >> uh, that came from processed crude oil, like little little riceized pellets. >> of like, you know, nylon, let's say. And. then you got to melt those down in an. extruder and push it through uh like. smaller and smaller nozzles until you. get down to the diameter of a hair, let's say. And then you have this long.

filament. And you know, you have to put. it in a cooling bath and uh so it holds. a shape and stuff like that. You stretch. it out some on some rollers. Uh. apparently the stretching causes the. polymer chains to align which is really. going to strengthen it. Mhm. >> But after that, aside from having to. treat it a little differently, it's it's. kind of the same process as an old rope. walk and then a factory as far as. twisting the stuff together. >> Exactly. Except that these are done by. machines that can spin at like a.

thousand RPMs as they're twisting these. things. It can make rope super fast. Um. they do that with yarn and then onto. strands and then onto rope. And yeah, it's essentially the same stuff again. back to that 40,000 year old ivory. weaving tool. >> Um, and but once you have the rope made, then it kind of jumps back into modern. the modern era because you have to do. things uh with nylon rope that you don't. have to do with um fiber rope, which is. like you have to heat set it with steam.

that helps keep those polymers locked in. that same direction. Um, they test them. I'm sure they do this with modern fiber. ropes, too. But they um they stretch. them, they jump on them, they beat them. up, they do all sorts of stuff, and they. have sensors that detect what's going on. within the rope. And then once the rope. passes some sort of certification, its. maximum operating capacities are stamped. on the label and it's coiled up and and. sold. >> Yeah, exactly. Um, let's talk about a.

few specific kinds of rope. Uh, because. it gets um depending on what you need to. do, you might need a rope that's like um. stretchier or um I don't know stiffer, let's say. So, if you if you want to. talk about shock cord, that is bungee. cord. >> Yeah. And that is uh you know it if I've. never bungee jumped, but um I did learn. at one point that a bungee cord was just. a lot of rubber bands twisted into a. rope. And I don't know if that made me.

feel better or worse about the whole. process. >> Well, yeah. So, this is it's silicone to. begin with, silicone rubber, and it's. vulcanized. And usually they're made of. 16 different strands. And then that's. just the core. There's this a synthetic. fiber shell that goes around the cord. >> Yeah. >> And um yeah, I think shock cords are. pretty pretty reliable for the most. part. They apparently stretch to about. 130% of their original length and then.

bend and snatch back. >> to um their original length again. without being um mold. >> without breaking. >> Sure. Or without losing their. elasticity. >> Oh yeah. Yeah. I see. >> That's what I mean. Uh, well, eventually. they do over time though, I guess, because just using regular bungee cords. around the house, like old old ones, aren't as stretchy as they used to be. >> Good point. And you probably want to you. go bungee jump at a place that's. reputable enough that they're not. overusing their bungee cords. >> Agreed.

>> Great point. >> Uh, you've also got spot cord. Uh, and. that is not not super strong or. anything, uh, but it has a high. resistance to snags. And um the cool. thing about spot cord, it's a it's a. cotton rope that's braided and it's been. produced by the Samson cordage company. for about 150 years. >> And if you go to like a a big box. hardware store or something and you just. get like a little uh 50 foot um small. thin rope um it's probably a spot cord. >> Yeah. They feel real nice because. they're cotton.

>> Yeah. >> If you've ever used a clothes line. that's not wire. >> Yeah. There you go. >> It's probably a spot cord. >> Yeah. If you've ever tied up your. neighbor. to a chair, [laughter]. >> probably using spot cord if you're not. into the duct tape thing. >> and came into the room saying, "Well, well, well, look how the tables have. turned.". >> That's right. I hope that comes across. as a joke. I know. I'm sure uh that's. real world violence. Um or although you. could just be tying them to a chair to. make them watch uh The Simpsons or. something. Let's say that's what I was. talking about. >> Okay. And then another special rope, and.

these are very special ropes, by the. way. Um, it's the lariat. And lariat is. the correct term for what a lot of. people call lassos, but I looked it up, Chuck. >> Lasso is a verb and it's what you do. with a lariat, which is a noun. >> Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. You You. lasso a horse or something? >> Yes, exactly. And you and I both have. our own lariats. Do you remember Kathy. with a K in Phoenix gave them to us at. the Phoenix?

>> Kathy, I thought it was Denver, but was. it Phoenix? >> Phoenix. >> Okay. Yeah, I still have mine. It's uh. hanging up at the camp. >> Yeah, I can't tell you how many steer. I've wrestled with mine already. [laughter]. >> Uh these are traditionally made with uh. horsehair or rawhide. Uh today they're. usually braided with uh nylon or. polyester maybe. Uh but the key to this. thing is is that it's stiff. Uh like I. said, sometimes you might need a stiff. rope. So um it, you know, if you've. never used a or tried to lasso. something, you might be surprised to.

know that it's a it's a you know, it's. it's stiff. It's very stiff. >> Super stiff. And it barely fits in your. suitcase from Phoenix back home to. Atlanta. >> I know. We managed it though. >> Yeah. The way they work though is a. Honda knot which slides up and down the. the the rigid rope or stiff rope very. easily. So when you get it around a. steer's horns, you pull it and the the. loop closes, but it doesn't close midair. on your way right. >> on its way to the steer's horns like it. would if you made it out of a spot cord.

>> That's right. There's also We can't not talk about. climbing ropes, Chuck. >> Yeah, that's that's what keeps you alive. if you're a into repelling and rock. climbing. >> Yep. >> Um they used to be made out of plant. fibers before nylon, uh just like uh any. other rope that we're talking about, of. course. >> Uh but you know, if if you've seen an. action movie from the old days, and that. rope is is being uh you know, wearing. against that rock at the top of a cliff. Yeah. >> And it starts going.

and you're worried about your action. hero, then you need to go to a nylon. rope because uh one of the important. things about a nylon rope is it's not. going to fray as much like in the movie. And also if you fall, it's going to be a. little stretchier, right? >> Um so in the old days, if you fell like. off of Everest in the in the old days. with a fiber rope, um like the entire. force of falling is just stops in an. instant because there's zero stretch and. that's no good. >> No, that produces rope trauma.

Very [laughter]. nice. >> It can cut you just clean in half. >> That's what I've heard. >> So, uh, with climbing ropes in. particular, there's this a special type. of rope construction that's used called. the kern mantle construction. And it. refers to the kern, the core, like a. kernel. >> And that's made of nylon rope. >> And then there's a mantle, the shell. that is made of braided nylon um that. protects the internal nylon rope. So the. internal kern rope is loadbearing. The.

outer shell rope protects that internal. loadbearing one. But because they're. both so strong, if one failed, the other. would be able to keep you dangling. And. they're stretchy enough that rope trauma. is brought to almost nil the possibility. of it when you fall off of a cliff. wearing a current mantle rope. >> That's right. They came around in 1953. >> Yep. the as. >> I guess that's kind of it on rope, right? >> That's it. One thing that struck me I.

could not find a um an answer for it is. that in the United States alone in 2025. 3.5 billion worth of rope was sold. Pretty impressive. But they're. projecting it to increase to six billion. in less than 10 years by 2033. I could. not find why. [laughter]. >> What do we need more rope for? >> I don't know. Maybe Gen Z is gonna. finally discover rope in 2033. I don't. know.

>> I don't know. I'm trying to think of how. like a data center uses rope or. something that's like something really. like growing fast right now. But I don't. know. >> Oh, yeah. I guess maybe if you include. fiber optic cable. >> Oh, maybe. >> fiber optic rope I should say in in that. that might account for it. >> Good call. Well, that's it for rope. everybody, which means it's time for. listener mail. Uh, this goes back to the voice of God, Dan Lefontaine, the famous movie trailer. guy in a world that we did a uh, what.

did I say? Dan. >> Mhm. >> No, that was his brother. You should. have heard his voice. [laughter]. >> Hey guys. Uh, Don Lefontaine. I think we did a. shorty on him. Wasn't it a shorty? >> Yeah. Voice of God. >> So, hey guys. Been meaning uh to write. for a while. Uh, and when I heard the. short stuff, I was like, bam, now I have. to write. because my father was a sound. editor in New York City and worked on. movie trailers [music] uh the sound. mixes for them and recording the. voiceovers. Uh he met many actors over. the years and also Don Lefontaine who.

became a good friend of our family. When. my younger brother Travis was born in. 1971, Don became his godfather even. Uh. my mother loved Don and was always said. he was such a neat guy and fun and they. spent some time partying with him uh. back in the day. Uh I have some old. pictures of Don and my parents. Uh those. little square ones with the rounded off. corners where everything looks like. shades of brown and orange and yellow. >> Yep. >> You know the ones, guys. Uh if like if I. can lay my hands on one, I'll attach it. Uh which um did not happen by the way. >> No.

>> But I'd be tickled to death if you. selected my email to be read on the air. Like you have no idea. LOL. You can even. edit down and I won't mind. Smiley face. Uh yours both of you truly. That is from. uh Teguwin Allen Stockdale or the. nickname Tag. >> What a name. That is a great name. >> Agreed. [music]. >> Well, thanks a lot, Teglin Allen. Stockdale. I don't think I would ever. say um your name other than to use all. three. >> Agreed. >> Oh, great. Uh if you want to be like.

Tegland Allen Stockdale and email us. with a great story about something we. talked about, we love that [music] kind. of thing. You can wrap it up, spank it. on the bottom, and send it off to. Stuffpodcast at iheartradio.com. Stuff you should know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For [music] more podcasts, iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio. app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. listen to your favorite [music] shows.