Well, out of all the different types of leashes I have used, these leashes are the most comfortable on my small, sensitive hands.
Some of our customers prefer the nylon double braid leashes because they are softest to the touch.
But I, personally, prefer the rappel or mountain rope because when/if Ella pulls, I find that they are gentler on my hands because they smoothly go through my hands without burning.
But that's just my personal preference. Having said that, I use all our rope types on Ella.
Also, you have to remember that rappel ropes and mountain ropes are made and meant to go through the human hand. The makers of these ropes wouldn't probably be able to sell too many of them if they burned going through the hand.
We started Ella's Constructional Aggression Treatment at training last night. It was 1 1/2 hours of her pulling, lunging, calming down, back to lunging and pulling and being a jerkhead on leash.
My hands came out a hell of a lot better than they would have on a flat nylon leash or leather leash.
Oh, and we used one of our small leads (the same type as the new ready-to-walks that I posted in this thread) and the leash held up fine.