Hey everyone! My name is Beyah, aka SLUSH, and I'm the creator of SLUSHROPES!
I've been nerding out on ALL THINGS FLOW ROPE in the last 4 years of my life and when I joined the rope flow community, it was during the time where we could only buy from 3 companies.
Before I continue, I want to make sure I establish my intentions here. My intention is to communicate how safe (or unsafe) certain features that I've been seeing people use. This is by no means to bash anyone's or company's journey. This post is written directly towards the user safety of a flow rope's design or feature.
If you don't know me this is probably something you should know: I am a flowist first, before a business. This means I use every single product that I design and think about it from a user standpoint. As much as I would appreciate your business, it is important for me to earn your trust first. And trust looks a lot like giving you my entire professional perspective rather than partial truths. I try to keep an objective point of view and even tell you truths that many would say is "bad for business". Reputation Over Revenue.
Now that you're ready, let's get into it!
If you own an RMT rope by Weckmethod, the tip is sealed with electrical tape.
The tip here is extremely safe. This is actually my first flow rope. Though throughout time, the electrical tape may show wear though it is easily fixable by simply replacing it with new electric tape.
Weckmethod also offers a premium version of this rope (orange) in which I currently do not own and can't speak of. However, based on photos via web it seems like the rope is sealed via heat without electrical tape.
Sealing the tip of a rope (when done right) is good enough. The electrical tape helps with potential frays that could arise within time and usage, though may not be needed if the rope is sealed correctly.
Overall, I rate all Weckmethod Flow Ropes 10/10 for user safety.
Winding Ropes is an Australian flow rope company that ranks high on user safety on my list.
Their ropes are sealed with heat and are all "whipped". The term "whip" is the little threads you see around the tip of the flow rope. Just like electrical tape, it saves the flow rope from any potential frays from use.
I personally own a handful ofWinding Ropes and can definitely verify that none of the whips have ever come off.
Overall, I rate all Winding Ropes Flow Ropes 10/10 for user safety.
Octomoves is a European flow rope company that used to rank high in my user safety list but recently tanked down significantly.
Octomoves offer two types of handle for their flow ropes. One of it being standard, and the other being a wooden ball handle.
With the standard handle, there is no issue with it when it comes to safety... until we look into the metal tip. This sparks hazard and unsafe in my professional opinion.
The collection I own from Octomoves is prior to the recent change that they've made with the tips. Before this change, all their tips came in "whipped" - just like Winding Ropes.. which I would have rated high for user safety.
With this metal tip integrated, this scores a 2/10 in user safety due to poor design (though great concept) and put the user at risk for injury.
The design of the tip is poor due to the nature of how flow ropes are used. It is VERY normal for people to hit their body parts (yes, including face) when using the rope. I cannot image how unsafe it could be for the user should the flow rope tip hit their face... or their eye.
This is potentially a painful bruise waiting to happen.
The other handle they offer is one with the wooden handle. The concept is great and there is potential - I can say that much. But... I don't think I need to go further into this when it comes to user safety. This can easily hurt.
With this wooden ball incorporated, this scores a 1/10 in user safety due to poor selection of material and put the user at risk for injury.
Overall, Octomoves scores a 1.5/10 for user safety. These products are great by concept, but could be executed better by using alternative materials that make it safer for people to use.
Last but not the least, we have SLUSHROPES (yep, that's me!)
All of my flow ropes are sealed and capped made with rubber material. By doing so, each rope is excluded from possible frays that could arise. The difference between a capped tip versus a whipped tip is the top portion of the tip also being protected.
Even with my heavy flow ropes, such as this SLUSHGUSH featured, the cap is present and protects all sides of the tip.
I won't rate the user safety of my products. But rather, I'd love to know what rating you would give me!
Overall: User safety for flow ropes is such an underrated topic. From the outside looking in, I am so excited for the future of rope flow and the possibilities that lie ahead! Seeing the community grow and companies innovating is so exhilarating !
If you have any questions about rope flow, jump rope, or all things Slush send me an email at info@slushropes.com ! Always glad to help!
-Slush