RBST GEAR CO sent me their new Stinger jump rope to check out.
To be honest I’ve tried a few with this type of slide lock tightening mechanism and I’ve never really been to impressed, but these are probably the best of them. The cable slips into the top of the handle with a depress of the tip making it convenient to adjust on the fly. Cable placement also make these ropes usable for x-over work since it’s a fixed outlet.
Handle spin fast and smooth, but because of the cable placement, require a little more work to rotate than something with more free rotation or a fixed plane. You can still get this rope going pretty quickly and it’s something you can still X-over with so the extra effort might be a fair trade.
A lot of these style ropes have open ends, but for this it’s a closed ball shaped end, which is nice because it comfortably fits in your palm. The handle is also rubberized for grip which is comfortable and doesn’t slip.
They also include a 2mm and 3mm cable that are PVC coated - I opted to go with the 2mm since my doubles are pretty good but if you had trouble tracking the rope, 3mm might be the better option. Cables like this tend to flex a little more in the air but are easier to untangle. I still prefer a more rigid cable/nylon coating but these work well enough.
Price is $55 - which is a little higher than I expected but isn’t terrible. If you wanted the extra utility of a rope that can do x-overs and was willing to give up a bit of speed/extra effort, this would be a good choice.
Faster ropes cost a lot more, or you’re sacrificing the ability to x-over so this is a nice little package for the money.