the present invention relates generally to hoists such as cranes which instead of steel wire ropes use high - strength fiber ropes . the invention relates in particular to an arrangement for detecting the discard state of a high - strength fiber rope when used on such hoists , with a means for detecting at least one rope parameter and an evaluation unit for evaluating the rope parameter , and providing a discard signal depending upon the evaluation of the rope parameters . according to the invention , the detection means comprises torsional stiffness detection means to determine the torsional stiffness of the rope , whereby the evaluation unit provides the discard signal depending on the determined torsional stiffness of the rope .