UKH

I used to climb (nothing too difficult) and bought most of my gear around 15 years ago. 

I’m starting out again. 

Superficially it looks is ok condition. Not rusty. Was stored in dark although possibly damp recently (garage). 

Some of the cams are a bit stiff and I think they answer their own question. Rocks look good. Slings look ok.

I’m aware manufacturers probably only give about 5 years on ropes/slings. 

Advice/opinions please. I’m sure others have used kit in far worse condition but doesn’t make it right! 

I'd replace all the slings, wash dry and lubricate the cams, wash all the wires to make sure there's no grit hiding in them, inspect them for any wires that have broken and chuck any you aren't certain about, and wash, dry and lubricate the krabs.  I'd also replace my harness.

Then go climbing!

T.

Your life / money.

Your call mate.

Give them a bit of TLC (lubrication) and the hardware part will probably be fine - though if they're rigid stem you could do much better anyway. I'd personally replace ropes and slings, but that's because I'm horribly susceptible to irrational doubts about anything and everything while at the sharp end.

 This is definitely not professional advice, but I'd be perfectly happy to use your rack if it looked ok. The general opinon now is that metal gear (krabs and nuts etc) is fine if it looks ok regardless how old it is. Slings and ropes are more susceptible but sitting in dark storage doesn't weaken them, it's use that wears them. 

We have toothbrushes now, you might have done things differently 15 years ago but you can’t go climbing without a toothbrush nowadays. You’ll need a new chalk bag too, one with a toothbrush holder built in. 

Best. Post. Ever.

Most of my gear is 15 years old (and more) and i still trust it.  The same probably applies to loads of climbers who are over 40. As another poster says, its wear and tear and chemicals that kill kit, not sitting in a dark garage.  Your cams  may want a clean - apparently, ultrasonic baths are really good for that. Otherwise, lube your krabs (and wipe clean).

Thanks all. Pretty much my thoughts too. No one is responsible for their comments above! 

Love the toothbrush comment! Not sure Sifta’s Quid Inside Route needs it! I wonder what else has changed! 

Can you recommend how you do this? Any companies out there who will replace cam slings? 

When I've done it, I've used a length of rope tied off with a triple fisherman's knot (like a double, but with an extra loop round).  Same thing for larger rocks (sizes 7 - 9 in my rack) too.

T.

Thanks. I did wonder about tying knots but was worried about a) the strength of them over professional stitching, and b) the knots jamming against the rock when in use, particularly where the loops are quite short.  How do you find using them in practice, when compared with stitched loops?

Some cam manufacturers will replace slings on recent versions of their own cams but I'm not aware of anybody professionally replacing slings on arbitrary old cams.

Some cam manufacturers will re-sling cams (though only cams they made, not ones from other manufacturers).

E.g. https://dmmclimbing.com/About/Returns-Servicing-Repairs

I've found them fine.  The sling will be a bit longer than the tapes you get when you buy a cam but don't make the sling too long and remember to seal the ends of the rope you use and it'll be just as good.  It's easy to have more confidence in something you've bought rather than something you've done yourself, but a properly tied knot's every bit as good.

As for knots jamming, I once in the Alps, in extremis and when I didn't have many bits of gear and nothing else would fit, used the knot on a sling as a runner.  It worked, though I should add that I didn't test its effectiveness by falling on it.  Otherwise, I've never had one jam.

T.

There have been a *lot* of threads about this on here, if you have a rummage I'm sure you could find a few to read in the archive.  Upshot of it all is.. if you want sewn slings you could send any DMM cams under ten years old back home to Wales to be done, otherwise you'd need to pack them all up and send them over to the USA for a bit of a holiday:

https://www.mtntools.com/cat/rclimb/cams/mt_camresling.htm

Personally, if the slings are in good condition I wouldn't be worrying about them on the basis of age alone.

Thanks to you both for your helpful advice. 

I'm in a similar boat,  lots of old kit,  that has been well looked after,  I know the history but is 20 yrs+

I'd just bought a new 10.5mm Beal rope when I effectively stopped climbing.  I got it in Decathlon in France before they even came to the UK.  I've used it at the climbing wall recently and one of the employees was a little taken aback when I told her its age.  It looks brand new, and I'm happy to use it.

Agree about old slings though,  as I know I've taken falls over the years on quickdraws etc so I need to replace these.

As a matter of interest if using normal nylon accessory cord, why use triple rather than double fisherman's as the former is bulkier?

Especially when using thin cord I suppose it might be stronger, or necessary to prevent slipping if using Spectra. I've never found a well tightened double to slip with normal cord.

That's just me thinking another curl of rope won't hurt, it's easily done especially with thinner cord, and with the lengths of rope I've used, I've both had enough cord to do it and it helps to keep the sling shorter .  I have abseiled a number of times on a rope tied with a double fisherman's, so I'm confident enough in the security of such a knot.

T.

If this were true Dave, the logical extension would be that . . . . . now let me see . . .  . .  . if a 40 year old has 15 year old gear . . . .  my gear would be 48 years old. Come to think of it I probably do have a couple of Simond crabs dating back to their purchase in Chamonix in '72, but they're now supporting bird feeders in the garden.

From tests of oldish ropes as long as there has been no risk of chemical attack they don't seem to degrade significantly  in dark storage . Ropes should get retired from climbing use when they show visible sheath damage (beyond light furring), from lead use if they have taken a number of big falls (when they just normally lose elasticity so will be OK for non lead purposes), or most seriously if the core starts to feel uneven if you run the rope through your hands (again retire from any climbing use).

Webbng is much less robust than a rope. Rubbing of a sling on gritstone for a few seconds can half the breaking force (say when its trapped between you and the rock as you squirm up a chimney). This is because all threads meet the surface and so  they are easily weakened when furry or after too much exposure to the sun (I've snapped a UV bleached sling on an abseil station at Red Rocks, NV just using my hands). I'd advise to retire any furry or noticably  bleached webbing  (look under covered sections on a harness). People wouldn't use webbing cut half through so its pure ignorance they tolerate the heavy furred or bleached that would be even weaker than that.

A hex will be OK as long as the holes are not burred... just rethread if the cord/sling doesn't meet the tests above. Cams often just need lube. Nuts are normally OK if the wires show no damage.  Crabs will normally be OK if there is no visible damage or stiffness on the spring mechanism.

Some very sensible advice there.  And I meant to post this earlier, and you've just reminded me . . . 

Provided it's otherwise ok, there's something to be gained from keeping one krab that has a gate that is a bit less free-moving, where the gate sometimes sticks open.  Because when you're stretching at your limit to clip a peg or similar, having a krab that has a gate that stays open makes clipping it marginally less fraught.

T.

I have replaced all my old hexcentric cords/sling with 40 cm x 6 mm (and 8 mm) new dineema slings. Just threaded it through both holes at the top and bottom of each hex (the 6 mm for the smallest sizes), you can then clip on both ends of the sling or lark foot the sling if needs to be extended. When placed, the torque seems to work as well as with the previous cords. I had no fall on any of the gear yet but I have used quite a few to set top rope anchors and abseiled on it. The hardest part was to find 40 cm slings but I guess you could also go for 30 cm (a bit short when doubled up) or 60 cm.

being satisfied, I then also replaced my cams old slings with 30 cm x 8 mm new ones.

my rack looks almost new now and I feel safer than relying on old slings!

https://www.mountaingear.com/

These people in the US will replace slings. 

I've replaced the slings on my old cams with a sown sling doubled through the normal hole. I then put one end loop over the other and secure them with a strong elastic band, rather like the end of a quick draw - so there is only one loop to put the crab through.

I would also check the UIAA or BMC recall databases, just in case some of the gear has since been recalled due to (then unknown) safety issues. These things happen. 

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/articles/tag/recall

https://www.theuiaa.org/safety-standards/recalls/ (currently not complete, though)

I though it was just a beanie, a beer towel and a dream that was needed ! 

Best thing to do with old draws is probably to split them to get a load of snapgates (which are always useful) and buy new draws.  Maybe make a slingdraw out of a couple of them with a new sling.

You can resling hexes and the likes yourself with 7mm or 8mm cord (depending on the size of the hole) and I expect you could do that with cams too, though it isn't as strong as the original Dyneema slings there seem to be enough non-dead older climbers about with cord-slung hexes, particularly the originals which didn't come with slings.

I'd check it's not corroded especially where dissimilar metals meet then I'd use it. Can't say old dark-stored slings worry me. Most of my rack is cracking on at 20 years old. Ultimately it's your call, if you're happy with it use it, if you're not, bin it.

jk

THESE PEEPS RE-SLING CAMS

https://www.mountaingear.com/

As most have said above, if it looks fine it's probably fine. I still rockclimb a couple of times a month on gear that is 20 years old, though my rope is newer, and I never take big falls.

One thing I did change though, is that I had a bunch of Petzl Express sewn 'dogbone' type quickdraws of the type that were popular in the 90s.

Somewhere deep in this page https://www.facebook.com/RichardDelaneyRopeLab/ - I can't find the post now, sorry - Richard, several years ago, tested some of these slings, of this vintage, in seemingly good condition, but they broke surprisingly easily.

I'm not saying the breaking strain was enough to be exceeded in a regular fall, just that they broke quite a bit more easily than their original rating, while still looking good. I replaced all the ones I had with new BD ones, mostly for peace of mind.

Thanks all.  I think I’ll probably go to Harrison’s first (so TR) and then work back up to grit and leading.