Rope Marker

High-quality permanent markers made in Germany. Quick-drying, low-odor, refillable*, and can mark a large range of materials. The ink is waterproof and wear-resistant on almost all surfaces.

"Can I use ----- to mark my rope?" has been a topic of hot discussion. We've decided on choosing edding 3000 (3300 is just a chisel-tip) because there is already multiple sources of discussion/information on them, and we've done our own internal testing & reasoning. 

Sources on the use of edding marker:

• DAV (German) - 2023
• Mammut (Swiss)
  
• CIC Canyoning Org (German) - 2010
• Mountain Project discussion (third-hand info)
• edding

Let's discuss ink:

According to the most recent (2023) Safety Data Sheets available online, the edding 3000, 3300 and the 8040 laundry marker ink use the same chemicals. We emailed edding several times to see if we could get more current ones, but we have not received a reply as of yet. The safety data sheets are generally more applicable for dealing with larger volumes of the ink.  

• SDS edding 3000 (German)
• SDS edding 8040 

Our tests: We used 7 samples and 1 control. 6 of the samples were marked with between 0.09 g - 0.14 g of ink, (what a normal amount would be when marking the middle). 1 sample had about 2 g of ink. It was very saturated, more than what should be put on a rope and felt stiff. Samples 1, 2, 3 were left in the sun for about 1 week, while samples 4 -7 were left inside.  In our pull tests, they all broke in the knot. 

Note: Others have noticed when a large amount of any "rope marker" ink is applied, it can cause the rope to feel stiffer in that area.  UKC Forum

*The edding 3000 and 3300 markers are refillable but the 8040 is not.