
197© 2008 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
8
Textiles in Ropes
8.1 Introduction
Ropes are one of the oldest human artifacts. It has been in use for a long
time and has played a useful role in the progress of civilization. One of the
earliest examples of articial cordage is a piece of a shing net made 10,000
years ago in Mesolithic times. Most of the early ropes were relatively short
and hand twisted or braided. The expansion of shipping and the increase
in ship size drove the necessity for longer ropes. It has a unique property
of resisting large axial load in comparison to bending and torsional loads.
A variety of natural bers has been used as a ...