material comprises at least a carrier portion the binder portion and the lubricant portion the carrier portion maintains the liquid form of the coating material in a flowable state however the carrier portion evaporates when the wet coating material is exposed to the air leaving the binder portion 32 and the lubricant portion 34 to form the coating 30 when the coating material has dried to form the coating 30 the binder portion 32 adheres to the surfaces of at least some of the fibers 26 and the lubricant portion 34 is held in place by the binder portion 32 the coating material is solid but not rigid when dried as the coating 30 in the example rope structures 20 a and 20 b the coating material is formed by a mixture comprising a base forming the carrier portion and binder portion and polytetrafluoroethylene ptfe forming the lubricant portion the base of the coating material is available from s a govi n v of belgium under the tradename lago 45 and is commonly used as a coating material for rope structures alternative products that may be used as the base material include polyurethane dispersions in any event the base material should have the following properties good adhesion to fiber stickiness soft flexible the base of the coating material.