UKH

We need your stories! Have you purchased/used what you suspect or know to be Counterfeit, unsafe or falsely certified climbing equipment of any kind or brand? Have you had any of this equipment fail while using it?

If this is you, the BBC1 Fake Britain team are keen to speak with you. Please contact James at: fakebritain@screenchanneltv.co.uk

For more information, read: https://www.thebmc.co.uk/buying-climbing-equipment-gear-online

In reply to Team BMC:
I once bought a "smoothie" in the cafe above a well known gear shop in the Peak. It turned out to be a milkshake!! Maybe I should phone the BBC...

Mind you, it was a decent milkshake

In reply to tri-nitro-tuolumne:

I feel your pain, I once got a cappuccino which didn't have the chocolate sprinkled on top.

More seriously, this is an important issue. The walker who bought some crampons only for them to fold into flat useless pieces of metal was in real danger as he precariously made his way back down to safety.

Since the CEN standards came in to play in the 90's, gear failure has become extremely rare, and a reversal of this because cheap un-certified imports get onto the market isn't something I'm happy about. At the moment education is the best weapon we have to fight this, so some publicity on TV can only be a good thing in my view.

You can read more in my article here: https://www.thebmc.co.uk/buying-climbing-equipment-gear-online

If you have had any experiences with fake or un-certified equipment, please do get in touch with James or myself.

In reply to Dan Middleton, BMC:

Apologies Dan - I didn't mean to make light of a serious issue.

Will the CEN requirement disappear after Brexit?

In reply to tri-nitro-tuolumne:

It's OK, your post made me laugh to be honest! My biggest concern really is that the people most at risk of buying some of this stuff are people new to climbing and mountaineering, who might not know what to look out for.

My understanding, based on discussions with our representatives on the CEN working group for mountaineering equipment, is that the CEN requirements will remain after Brexit, because like other EU regulations, they are enshrined in local/national law. It would take a repeal of the existing UK law covering the PPE directive to change that.

In reply to Dan Middleton, BMC:

I can't really imagine much would change even if the CEN standards no longer applied to the UK. I can't see DMM wanting to make gear to one specification for the UK and another for export to Europe. I'm sure they would continue to manufacture to CEN standards even if it were no longer a legal requirement.

Of course, I suppose it's possible that the EU and UK could have incompatible standards following Brexit - frankly nothing would surprise me.