This is the first in a series of articles on wire rope that was presented in the months prior to the OITAF International Congress in May 1999 in San FRancisco. This introduction to the basics of wire rope was reprinted from the Wire Rope User's Manual, a publication of the Wire Rope Technical Board. The article discusses the three main components of wire rope: 1) wires that form the strand, 2) multi-wire strands, and the 3) core.