Our Top 5 Best-Selling Ropes & Cordage Right Now

Every few months we take a look at what's actually going out the door, and the Rope & Cordage range always throws up a few surprises. These aren't picks from a marketing list — they're the five rope lines Kiwi customers have bought the most of over the last 90 days, straight off our order book.

One thing worth knowing up front: most of our rope is sold by the metre. You tell us the diameter and the length you need, we cut it. No buying a 220m coil when you need 12 metres for the bach deck.

1. Manila Rope, sold by the metre — from $0.70/m

Our number one seller by a mile. Natural manila rope runs from 4mm right up to 56mm diameter, and it goes everywhere: deck railings and handrails at the bach, garden and landscaping edging, cat scratching posts, playground swings, rustic wedding and cafe fit-outs, and plenty of farm work. People love it because it looks and feels like proper old-school rope — warm, grippy, and it weathers to a lovely grey. Buy exactly the metres you need from the manila rope range.

2. Pro-Manila Synthetic Manila Rope, by the metre — from $0.95/m

Hot on manila's heels, and for good reason. Pro-Manila is a polypropylene rope made to look like natural manila, but it doesn't rot, doesn't soak up water, and shrugs off UV far better than the real thing. That makes it the go-to for anything permanently outdoors — fence lines, jetty and wharf railings, landscaping, decorative work on a deck that cops full sun all summer. Same honest look, much longer life. See the full Pro-Manila range.

3. Fineline Classic Polyester Yacht Braid, 4mm–18mm — from $1.30/m

The sailors' pick. Classic polyester double braid is made here in New Zealand by Fineline, and it's what most keelboat and trailer-yacht owners reach for when it's time to replace sheets, halyards and control lines. Low stretch, easy on the hands, holds a splice beautifully and comes in enough colours to colour-code the cockpit. Plenty of non-sailors buy it too — it makes a tidy, strong general-purpose rope. Browse the classic double braid range.

4. Donaghys Winchline UHM12 8mm — $7.65/m

The heavy hitter of the list. Winchline UHM12 is a 12-strand ultra-high-molecular-weight braid — synthetic winch rope that replaces steel cable on 4WD and recovery winches, boat trailer winches and farm gear. It floats, it doesn't store energy like wire does if something lets go, and you can handle it without gloves full of steel splinters. Boaties use it on trailer winches, and we see a steady run of it heading to contractors. More options in winch lines and soft shackles.

5. NZ Duradan PPE Rope, 3mm–44mm, 110m & 220m coils — from $53.00

The one full-coil product that makes the top five. Duradan is New Zealand-made polypropylene — tough, buoyant and easy on the wallet, which is why it's the workhorse rope for anchor warps, mooring lines, cray pot and fishing work, and general farm and yard use. Buying a whole 110m or 220m coil is how commercial crews and lifestyle-block owners stock up for the season. Have a look at the NZ-made polypropylene anchor rope range.

Cut to length, and off to the Islands too

A good chunk of our rope work is custom: tell us the diameter, the length and what you're doing with it, and we'll cut and splice to suit. We also send a lot of rope and cordage out to the Pacific — Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and the Cooks — where it goes into fishing gear, mooring lines and pot ropes alongside our nets and mesh.

Not sure whether you want manila, Pro-Manila, polyester or polypropylene? Give us a yell with the job you've got in mind and we'll point you at the right one. The whole rope and cordage range is online, along with thimbles, shackles and splicing tools to finish the job properly.

Browse our full range at actionoutdoors.kiwi