Twisted rope

It’s made in essentially the same way today as it was thousands of years ago - by twisting a bunch of fibers or yarns together to form a strand, then taking three or so of these strands and twisting them together in the opposite direction.

When long lengths of twisted rope were required for a tall mast or to hoist a load to a high place, they were formed - by hand or later with machines - in a 'rope walk' as long as the finished dimension, in order to avoid splices. To the same end, abandoned chicken coops are sometimes converted into rope making factories.

Natural fiber cordage for general use - mostly made from manila or cotton was the ‘state-of-the-art’ until the mid-twentieth century, when nylon rope was introduced. With it's superior strength, chemical resistance and ability to absorb shock loads, nylon twisted rope was soon replacing manila and cotton in farm, industrial, and military cordage applications.
Since that time, polyester and other synthetic fibers have been developed and used to produce a variety of specialty products, matching the strengths of the individual - and in some cases multiple - fibers to the needs of the work to be done.

Properties of 3 Strand Twisted Ropes
Size		Polypropylene		Nylon		Polyester		Composite		Manila
Diameter (inches)	Circum- ference (Inches)	Tensile Strength	Lbs.Per 100 Ft	Tensile Strength	Lbs.Per 100 Ft	Tensile Strength	Lbs.Per 100 Ft	Tensile Strength	Lbs.Per 100 Ft	Tensile Strength	Lbs.Per 100 Ft
3/16	5/8	750	.7	900	1.0	900	1.2	−	−	405	1.4
1/4	3/4	1,200	1.2	1,490	1.5	1,490	2.0	1,200	1.6	540	1.8
5/16	1	1,710	1.8	2,300	2.5	2,300	3.1	1,870	2.5	900	2.6
3/8	1-1/8	2,440	2.8	3,340	3.5	3,340	4.5	2,700	3.6	1,215	3.8
7/16	1-1/4	3,160	3.8	4,500	5.0	4,500	6.2	3,500	4.8	1,575	4.9
1/2	1-1/2	3,780	4.7	5,750	6.5	5,750	8.0	4,400	6.2	2,385	7.0
916	1-3/4	4,600	6.1	7,200	8.2	7,200	10.2	5,200	7.9	3,105	9.6
5/8	2	5,600	7.5	9,350	10.5	9,000	13.0	6,100	9.5	3,960	12.7
3/4	2-1/4	7,650	10.7	12,800	14.5	11,300	17.5	8,400	13.5	4,860	15.9
13/16	2-1/2	8,900	12.7	15,300	17.0	14,000	21.0	−	−	5,850	18.6
7/8	2-3/4	10,400	15.0	18,000	20.0	16,200	25.0	11,125	18.0	6,930	21.4
1	3	12,600	18.0	22,600	26.4	19,800	30.4	13,175	21.8	8,100	25.7
1-1/16	3-1/4	14,400	20.4	26,000	29.0	23,000	34.4	14,775	24.5	9,450	29.8
1-1/8	3-1/2	16,500	23.8	29,800	34.0	26,600	40.0	16,325	27.1	10,800	34.3
1-1/4	3-3/4	18,900	27.0	33,800	40.0	29,800	46.2	19,900	33.4	12,150	39.7
1-5/16	4	21,200	30.4	38,800	45.0	33,800	52.5	21,950	36.5	13,500	45.6
1-1/2	4-1/2	26,800	38.4	47,800	55.0	42,200	67.0	28,250	47.0	16,650	57.0
1-5/8	5	32,400	47.6	58,500	66.5	51,500	82.0	32,950	55.0	20,250	71.1
1-3/4	5-1/2	38,000	59.0	70,000	83.0	61,000	98.0	36,850	62.0	23,850	85.0
2	6	46,800	69.0	83,000	95.0	72,000	118.0	48,050	81.0	27,900	102.0

Twisted Rope, Line, and Twine