The 5 Best Rope Bags for Climbing

Best Overall Rope Bag

DMM Classic

Tarp size (inches)	43" x 51"
Bag Design	Burrito
Accessory Pockets	1
Number Shoulder Straps	2
Compression Straps	Yes

The DMM Classic is an outstanding rope bag that sports some of the best features we have seen and works well for all types of climbing. Its large removable tarp keeps your cord out of the dirt, and we love the space-efficient closure system. Our testers appreciated the comfortable backpack straps on long approaches, and one of these straps is removable if you prefer messenger bag-style carrying. We could pack a 70m rope and all the essentials into the main compartment, including a harness, chalk, and one pair of shoes.

Really, we had minimal gripes about the DMM Classic. One minor issue is that the main compartment closes with a zipper, which isn't as fast or durable as the more popular drawstring closures. We would not recommend using it as an indoor-only climbing pack. It is much better suited for cragging or long approaches due to the large tarp and compression straps, which may feel excessive for gym climbing. If you're in the market for an impressively functional crag bag that is easy to use and comfortable to carry, the DMM Classic is tough to beat.

Read more: DMM Classic review

Best Bang for the Buck

Metolius Dirt Bag II

Tarp size (inches)	52" x 58"
Bag Design	Burrito
Accessory Pockets	0
Number Shoulder Straps	1
Compression Straps	No

The Metolius Dirt Bag II is the best choice for those on a budget due to its solid performance and low cost. It's a fantastic option for climbers who want a functional rope bag and no-frills. The Dirt Bag II has a durable construction, a huge tarp, and enough space for some extra gear. This makes it “dirtbag cheap,” as the name implies, and a great bargain considering what it offers. It costs about as much as a large pizza in Yosemite, but it will last much longer.

The spacious zippered opening makes it easy enough to pack and unpack the rope, but it definitely has less volume than other packs we tested. The single shoulder strap isn't great for long approaches, so you probably wouldn't want to carry it for more than 20 minutes or so. Despite being limited in pack space and features, the Dirt Bag II is a solid budget option, and we recommend it to anyone on the fence about whether or not to buy a rope bag.

Read more: Metolius Dirt Bag II

Best Buy

Edelrid Liner

Tarp size (inches)	40" x 44"
Bag Design	Burrito
Accessory Pockets	0
Number Shoulder Straps	1
Compression Straps	Yes

The Edelrid Liner rope bag is the perfect entry level rope bag that offers a simple and lightweight design that's available at an affordable price. The tarp is big enough to accommodate an 80 meter rope and offers loops within the tarp that allow you to tie in with both of your ends. When ready to use simply unfasten the plastic buckles from the compression straps and unroll the tarp into position below the climb. When you're pooped at the end of the day, simply roll up the tarp in a burrito style and clasp the compression straps before pulling the green webbing to synch the bag down tight.

This minimalist design doesn't come without a few caveats. The single shoulder strap is constructed from webbing without any padding, though it is adjustable to different lengths. The volume of this bag is also limited and if you plan to include anything more than your rope, chalk bag, and 12 quickdraws, you will need to fasten other gear to the exterior of the bag. Our testers often found themselves stuffing this bag inside or on top of a larger crag pack in order to include enough space for a helmet, layers, food, and water. Furthermore, the bag doesn't feature any additional pockets for small items like keys or bars. The Edelrid Liner is perfect for those seeking more affordable rope bag with a simple design that prioritizes rope protection above any other bells and whistles.

Best for Gym to Crag

Petzl Kliff

Tarp size (inches)	55" x 55"
Bag Design	Burrito
Accessory Pockets	1
Number Shoulder Straps	2
Compression Straps	No

The Petzl Kliff rope bag is perfect for those considering a rope bag that will offer enough performance to take them from the gym to the crag. The thoughtful design is constructed from abrasion-resistant fabric that showed minimal signs of wear and tear after significant use in places like the Owens River Gorge and Indian Creek. The backpack-style design is minimally padded with foam on the straps to enhance comfort while carrying for long distances and the vertical compression strap helps stabilize your gear on the approach. The design features a spacious tarp that measures 55 inches by 55 inches, and, is easy to fully detach should you want to use the tarp or the bag independently.

To be honest, it was difficult to criticize the overall design of the Petzl Kliff, however, there are a few details worth mentioning. First, this rope bag is one of the more expensive bags that we tested and the limited volume (36 liters) isn't quite enough to pack for a full day at the crag. However, if you're looking to easily transport all the gear you need for an awesome gym session, 36 liters is more than enough space. Though the design is one of the more comfortable options that we tested, it would be greatly improved with a waistbelt to help offset some of the load. Overall, this rope bag offers a thoughtful design and more features than most, whether you're hitting the gym in a big city or headed out to your favorite crag.

Simple Design That's Easy to Use

Black Diamond Full Rope Burrito

Tarp size (inches)	40" x 40"
Bag Design	Burrito
Accessory Pockets	0
Number Shoulder Straps	0
Compression Straps	No

The Black Diamond Full Rope Burrito has found a place in our hearts because of how incredibly simple and easy it is to use. With its giant tarp and a super-easy elastic rim enclosure, there is no rope bag that is easier to stuff or unstuff than this one. Just about everyone we have climbed with has commented on how easy it is use. Our testers really appreciated this ease after trying to roll up, stuff, and attach the buckles on other rope bags day after day. It also comes at a nearly unbeatable price and has no fixed shape, so it's a cinch to stuff into your crag pack any which way it needs to go.

There are a few downsides to the Black Diamond Full Rope Burrito. For instance, it lacks carrying straps besides simple handles, so one must carry it inside a separate crag pack. If you have a small crag pack, it might not fit. Also, it doesn't come with any extra pockets for carrying items like some other models offer. Basically, it is not a self-contained pack. Instead, it serves as a lightweight, bare-bones, simple rope bag and tarp. If that's all you need, we wouldn't point you in any other direction.

Compare Products

Compare select up to 5 products to compare

	Score	Product	Price
	82	DMM Classic Best Overall Rope Bag	$65
	80	Petzl Kliff Best for Gym to Crag	$70
	75	Edelrid Drone II	$45
	64	Metolius Speedster	$60
	57	Metolius Ropemaster HC	$50
	55	Black Diamond Super Chute	$60
	53	Metolius Dirt Bag II Best Bang for the Buck	$40
	51	Trango Antidote	$40
	50	Edelrid Liner Best Buy	$33
	41	Black Diamond Full Rope Burrito Simple Design That's Easy to Use	$40

How We Tested

Before cinching any bags or flaking any ropes, we had to decide which ones to test. We purchased the ten most promising rope bags to put through a gamut of field tests. We then tested each one by using them heavily, laying them out next to each other to get a relative sense of their size, dragging them across the dirt, stuffing them into packs, and filling them with rope and gear to see which organizational schemes worked best with each bag. What we ended up with is a comprehensive review that will ensure you get the best bag to protect and transport your climbing lifeline.

Our testing of rope bags is divided across four rating metrics:

• Packability (30% of overall score weighting)

• Carrying Comfort (25% weighting)

• Rope Protection (25% weighting)

• Ease of Use (20% weighting)

For more on our test process, check out our full How We Test article.

Why Trust GearLab

Our expert panel behind this review consists of professional mountain guide Ian Nicholson, avid climber Steven Tata, and outdoor educator Graham Williams. Ian is internationally licensed by IFMGA/UIAGM and has spent over 3,000 days guiding in the European Alps and the Pacific Northwest. Ian has guided over 1,000 clients, many of whom he has assisted in selecting gear for climbing, backpacking, and ski trips. Graham is an outdoor educator who works with college students. He is also an avid climber, backcountry skier, surfer, and fitness enthusiast. He holds a BS in Nutrition, Health and Exercise from the University of Nebraska. Steven has climbed thousands of routes across the country and enjoys everything from big wall nail-ups on El Cap to limestone sport cragging in Catalonia. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts and lives in Yosemite National Park as a Climbing Steward. Trish Matheny is obsessed with rock climbing and spends most of her waking hours pursuing her passion. She understands the importance of protecting your rope from the dirt so that you can get the most use out of your investment. She hopes that her experience and testing perspectives help you to make an informed decision for your next purchase.

Analysis and Test Results

If you're going to climb outside, you should have a bag — or at the very least, a tarp — to put your rope on. This will help extend the life of your rope by keeping it out of the dirt and grit at the crag. When dirt gets onto a rope, the grains can work themselves into the fibers and accelerate wear on those fibers. If left uncleaned, this can shorten a rope's lifespan significantly. Climbing ropes are expensive pieces of equipment and a non-redundant lifeline for most climbers. When used properly, rope bags can protect this lifeline, and they're relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of a rope. The last thing that you want to be doing when you're trying to climb is dealing with a mess of tangled rope or constantly flaking and restacking your cord. Rope bags make it easier to pack and unpack your rope and allow you to store your rope flaked rather than coiled, which can increase your efficiency at the crag. This has the potential to let you squeeze in another pitch or two before the day is over, and take another burn on your project to get you that much closer to sending.

What's the Best Value?

Despite a wide range of costs, all of the rope bags we tested have the same basic components. Even the cheapest ones will protect your rope during travel and keep it off the ground when you're climbing. Most of the more expensive models come with additional features to improve ease of use and carrying comfort, yet they don't offer much more in terms of rope protection than even the cheapest models. If you only want to keep your rope clean, don't waste cash on the highest-performing models. For example, options like the Metolius Dirt Bag II and the Edelrid Liner are excellent choices for the budget-minded climber and get the job done if you want a no-frills model to keep your rope clean and tidy. The Black Diamond Full Rope Burrito is another affordable option that functions great as a rope bag that's carried inside a larger crag pack.

Some of the higher-scoring models in our review are twice as expensive but only advantageous for those desiring additional features like a removable tarp, padded backpack straps, and zippered pockets. The DMM Classic is in the middle of the pack when it comes to cost. It offers a great dollar-for-dollar value. And if you're looking to invest in a durable rope bag with a thoughtful and versatile design, the Petzl Kliff tops the list.

Packability

We tested each bag side-by-side to determine how difficult it is to pack and unpack a rope and some gear. We used a 9.8-millimeter 70-meter line as our main testing rope to ensure that each bag could fit a rope that is relatively long and thick by modern standards. The ideal bag for outdoor use would be one that can fit a rope, shoes, harness, quickdraws, chalk, water, and some snacks for a day of climbing. High scorers in the packability metric have a large volume and can be neatly packed for long approaches. The most common use for rope bags is outdoor single-pitch sport climbing, so we mainly focused on this application in our testing. We also considered gym climbing in our testing and chose to highlight models that stand out for their indoor performance.

Models with large removable tarps are usually the easiest to pack, and our testers preferred these for outdoor cragging. The two main styles of rope bags are “funnel” and “burrito.” Funnel-style bags are packed by sliding the rope off of the tarp into the main pack, while burrito-style bags are packed by rolling the rope inside the tarp and then into the main pack. We tested several bags of each style and found that the main pack design is more significant when it came to assessing packability.

Of the models we tested, the DMM Classic is the easiest to pack. It's unparalleled when it comes to efficiently loading a rope and a modest amount of gear. It is one of the few backpack-style models with multiple compression straps, which eliminates loose space and helps to consolidate the load. The Edelrid Drone II also scored well here. It has a traditional drawstring closure for the main compartment in conjunction with compression straps to keep the load compact. Another notable mention is the Petzl Kliff which offers a full-zip and a durable compression strap with metal buckles on the backside of the pack for easy access as well as creating a more sturdy load.

Several over-the-shoulder burrito-style models tied with slightly lower scores in packability, including the Edelrid Liner, the Metolius Ropemaster HC, the Trango Antidote, and the Black Diamond Super Chute. These all share a similar design that can cinch down well if you're only carrying a rope. The Metolius Speedster and Metolius Dirt Bag II didn't perform as well in packability because they lack compression straps and can't hold a ton of gear. This makes them a bit more cumbersome to load, and they can feel awkward to carry when not properly filled.

Carrying Comfort

Carrying comfort is a very significant attribute when it comes to outdoor cragging, especially when the approach is long. We evaluated carrying comfort by getting outside and taking each bag on long approaches. We paid attention to how breathable each pack's carrying straps were and took note of any that felt too narrow or cumbersome. Packs with two backpack-style straps scored higher in this metric, and we subjectively evaluated the back padding for comfort and breathability.

The backpack-style bags led the field in terms of carrying comfort. These included the DMM Classic, Petzl Kliff, and Edelrid Drone. All feature a pair of straps for wearing as a backpack and are great options if your favorite crag is far from the trailhead. The Kliff, Classic, and Drone feel similar to lightweight hiking backpacks with minimally padded foam in the straps. The Metolius Speedster is another model with backpack straps, but is not as comfortable as the others.

For urban use and indoor climbing, messenger bag-style packs with single carrying straps can be comfortable to carry. This is also a niche use for packs like the Petzl Kliff that don't quite offer enough capacity for a full day of cragging but are perfect for transporting gear to the gym. Many of the simpler models that we tested only include single carrying straps. These are good enough for short approaches or carrying inside of a larger backpack but inadequate for distances beyond a quarter-mile. The Black Diamond Super Chute and Metolius Dirt Bag II are some of our favorite simple bags that have single carrying straps. The Super Chute is more spacious than the Dirt Bag II but is also more expensive.

Rope Protection

The main purpose of a rope bag is to protect your rope during travel and to keep your rope out of the dirt while you climb. We scored each bag's rope protection abilities based upon tarp size and shape, and for how durable each bag felt for traveling. Despite being a significant rating metric, most of the models performed well in rope protection testing, and the results were not as differentiating as those of Packability and Carrying Comfort. Using a rope bag is a simple way to prolong the life of your rope and mitigate its exposure to potentially hazardous dirt or moisture.

Naturally, products with larger tarps have more to offer in the way of rope protection. Tarps that are more rectangular in shape also tend to lie flatter, which corresponds to more surface area to catch a falling cord after pulling it through the chains, and more space to flake your rope before and after climbing. The highest-scoring models in our rope protection metric all have large tarps and spacious packs that can accommodate 70-meter ropes. Bags that scored poorly either have small tarps or flimsy packs. All of the models in our review perform adequately when it comes to keeping your rope safe, but some stand out for having especially large tarps.

The three Metolius models, the Dirt Bag II, Speedster, and Ropemaster HC, all have 52" x 58" rectangular tarps, which are the largest tarps of any bags in our review. Each bag is unique, but the Dirt Bag II stands out because it is one of the most affordable bags and provides you with the most tarp per dollar. Close behind is the Petzl Kliff that features a 55" x 55" inch tarp that provided ample space to pull and flake the rope. The tarp is also removable from the bag should you want to use either piece of gear independently. The lowest scoring bag for rope protection is the Black Diamond Full Rope Burrito, which only has a 40" x 40" tarp. Although this is relatively small, it can still be enough space if you flake your rope neatly. All other models are durable enough to last for many years and supply adequate tarp space to accommodate a wide variety of ropes.

Ease of Use

We evaluated Ease of Use by paying attention to design attributes that make bags more user-friendly while climbing, hiking, and in daily use outside of climbing. These include zippered pouches for valuables, removable tarps, additional straps for gear, and organizational pouches within the main pack compartment. Although none of the bags are particularly difficult to use, some of the simpler models left us wishing for more. We consider bags with tarps that are not removable less versatile for cragging because it's usually easier to move the rope between climbs when it is on a tarp that is not attached to a pack. We also prefer bags with zippered pouches because climbing with keys can be annoying. It's nice to have a place for small items that might otherwise get lost inside a backpack.

The DMM Classic earned the top score in our ease of use testing because it has a convenient zippered pocket, spacious removable tarp, and compression straps that can accommodate extra gear on the outside of the pack. The Petzl Kliff also stood apart from the rest thanks to a zippered pocket on top of the pack, a large big zip on the back for easy access, a durable compression strap, and removable full-sized tarp for additional versatility. The Kliff also features an adjustable sternum strap as well as adjustable backpack straps to distribute the weight of the load and customize the sizing.

The Metolius Dirt Bag II didn't stand out for being easy to use, and its small opening is a bit of an annoyance when packing larger ropes. Burrito-style packs like the Metolius Ropemaster HC and Black Diamond Super Chute are easy to pack, but neither has removable tarps or spacious zippered pouches.

Tie-in loops are a great feature that enhances ease of use. They allow you to secure the ends of a rope so you can pack up a flaked rope without worrying about losing an end and creating a knotted mess. This can save time at the crag and gym because you can unroll your bag with your cord already flaked and ready to go. All of the products we tested have tie-in loops in one form or another; however, we prefer colored loops because they make it easier to identify the top and bottom of a rope. Our favorite tie-in loops also double as handles to ease the chore of moving the rope tarp between neighboring routes. The Edelrid Drone features a particularly nice set of tie-in loops that also work as transport handles.

Conclusion

After meticulous research and thoughtful selection of our bags, combined with heavy testing of each model, this review is one of the most thorough and comprehensive available. We paid out thousands of feet of rope in our testing and hiked hundreds of approach miles. The best rope bag purchase for you depends on what you're looking for in a bag and what types of climbing you engage in. Regardless of which model you choose, it's always smart to keep your rope safe and use a rope bag. We hope you have fun climbing.