UKH

Any one else been tempted to buy the unbelievably cheap 12mm" stainless steel bolts" online from Alpine Trek. I will keep them at 50p ish each but don't think they will be going anywhere near a seacliff! At least they were right about them being metallic though!

I've purchased bolts from Alpine Trek, the stainless steel ones are not always stainless! Double check when you get them!

If I remember correctly I complained and received a refund, they didn't want the non stainless bolts returned. Sadly they are of little use...

Can you provide a link please?

I assumed the OP was talking about these: https://bit.ly/3e5Dos4

Although they're definitely not 50p, but still cheap!

Those are an older model from maybe 7 or 10 years ago and are from 304 stainless, the newer ones have completely different markings and are made from 316L. Amongst the various numbers they are marked 31611 which is the material code.

No,assumed wrong I bought bolts not hangers,same website,advertised as stainless ,pack 20 £9.40 plus post n packaging.

Looks like they have not amended the information ,still the same on their website.Like you I complained but am still waiting for resolution. My main concern was someone perhaps not recognising that they would be unsuitable for harsh,marine environments.

I wouldn't use them to bolt anything in the UK whether it's a marine environment or not....

Just a heads up, I recently bought some stuff from Alpine Trek, they are experiencing some technical issues at the moment. The payment went through (money gone out my bank account) without actually placing the order. Items still in my cart, no confirmation email etc.

I do believe that they will sort this out for me eventually but they have been surprisingly unhelpful so far and don't really seem to care very much. Support emails etc have just gone round in circles, if answered at all. They told me that I am not the only person that this has happened to recently. 

They were Fixe bolts they should be able to distinguish between different type of steel and send the correct grade out to the retailer. Excellent service from Alpine Trek,on the ball complaints resolution,full refund sorted and  feedback to fixe so they should get their distribution fixed.

I mean, AlpineTrek* say this everytimes it come up. They still keep the description and send the same bolts out though.

*which is just the UK face of Berfreunde.de which is owned by Backcountry.com I believe, for those not in the know.

I've just handled this directly on behalf of the OP as I work for Alpinetrek. 

I appreciate this isn't the first time that this has occurred, but I've made efforts to ensure it will be the last. 

I've spoken with our climbing buyer regarding these bolts and confirmed that we did order the stainless, but the subsequent stock check from logistics did confirm that the stock we've been supplied with is BZP. 

With this in mind I've taken the following steps: 

• informed our web team to update the listing to the correct BZP spec as a high priority.
• Issued a full refund to the OP. 
• Requested our buyer speak with Fixe and that he consider removing this model from our selection.

I fully agree that BZP bolts are not suitable for the UK climate. Personally I'd be happier for all of our expansion bolts to be stainless, as this is a good move for the community in general in my opinion. 

Hope this helps clarify things  

Thanks Mischa for sorting this out so quickly for me and hope the measures you have put in place do the trick and prevent any more confusion.

The UK climate is irrelevant as it is illegal to sell steel bolts for climbing use outdoors anyway, the lowest grade permitted is 1.4401 stainless steel for category 2 anchiors.

Gotta ask , where does it say the legality of bolting?? Cheers 

In the law about selling PPE based on the EU Directive.

Jim - appreciate your expertise on this - it's not something I'm personally aware of (which means very little!). Would you possibly be able to PM me the information you're referencing so I can pass it on to our buying team?

My comment on the climate was more to do with a general awareness that this kind of bolt doesn't do well in damp environments Apologies if this seemed dismissive. 

EDIT: done some reading and now a little less uninformed :') I'll have a bit of a rabbit through and make sure product descriptions seem up to date and accurate based on manufacturer spec. Cheers!

I've e-mailed you.

And there was me thinking persons selling PPE had to be trained

Upthread it says they're Fixe bolts - why are Fixe even selling them?!

For indoor use.