Nail Varnish to mark gear as your own?

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 JemG 09 Sep 2021

Most people use tape to mark their gear but i've recently come across climbers that use brightly coloured nail varnish to mark gear and make it distinctive from the 20 other racks at the crag. That way if racks get muddled up between friends then its easy to spot which gear is yours.

What do you think to using nail varnish to mark gear?

When it wears off could it contain anything that could be detrimental to rope/dyneema?

Does it actually stay on for a reasonable amount of time?

 Jenny C 09 Sep 2021
In reply to JemG:

Back in my student days I used it to mark cutlery and (20+yrs on) some of it is still visable, so should be long lasting and durable on metal work. I wouldn't use it on textiles though as acetone is nasty stuff.

 lithos 09 Sep 2021
In reply to JemG:

i use yellow n.v on metal work.  if i want to mark a sling (i don't) i'd mark the tag

much better than leccy tape after it gets worn

 jezb1 09 Sep 2021
In reply to JemG:

I'm a fan, but I've changed now to Humbrol model paint. Works well, loads of colours, last yonkies and easy to spot.

I mark the little tags on slings.

 steveriley 09 Sep 2021
In reply to JemG:

I found a little brush applicator for car touch up paint in the back of a drawer. The car is long gone but the paint seems to be sticking nicely. Works well if you paint in the name bit of crabs etc.

 Stegosaur 09 Sep 2021
In reply to JemG:

Toughtags. That way you stand a chance of getting it back if it gets dropped/left behind by you or one of your party.

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 tjin 09 Sep 2021

I use nailpolish to mark my hardware, but not soft goods.

I have used car touch up paint, but those seem harder and chip off more quickly.

For nut and cams; i use reflective tape. Makes finding your gear in the dark a lot easier. 

I do keep a lot of keep unmarked. I can mostly keep track of everything and something are just really specific.

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 John1458 09 Sep 2021
In reply to JemG:

I initially used electrical tape on all of my gear not knowing about anything else. The tape has slowly worn off and was a bit of a pain when it flaked off but served its purpose whilst using a mix of uni club kit and my own whilst building up my rack. 

Replaced now with nail polish which is much better. Quicker to apply. Works really well when applied on the inside groove of I-beam shaped carabiniers, no wear at all. Have to be a little more inventive on some other pieces of gear to find a place not subject to that much wear but once you've used your kit a bit it's easy to find a spot with no scratches. Its less obvious at first glance compared to tape, but I know where to look for the paint that identifies it as mine. 

Haven't bothered marking slings in any way at all. Whereas a lot of my mates all use similar dmm hardware, there's a good variety of different colour/pattern slings that there isn't a need to mark them. 

 elsewhere 09 Sep 2021
In reply to JemG:

One or two colours of those tiny humbrol enamel paint tins. Use a tiny drop on the CE strength rating stamps so it goes into the crevices of the letters. Tiny tiny tiny drop - maybe just a prod with paint on a sharpened match stick, it spreads more than you think it would.

Nail varnish should work too, in the crevices of the stamped text it doesn't wear off. Also on ends rather than sides of nut where it doesn't contact the rock much.

Post edited at 20:19
 Snyggapa 09 Sep 2021
In reply to JemG:

https://www.toughtags.co.uk/climbing-tags/ in a garish colour works for me. 

 planetmarshall 09 Sep 2021
In reply to Stegosaur:

> Toughtags. That way you stand a chance of getting it back if it gets dropped/left behind by you or one of your party.

I use toughtags. Not in expectation that I'll get the gear back if lost but just so it's distinguishable from everyone else using electrical tape.

 jkarran 09 Sep 2021
In reply to JemG:

> What do you think to using nail varnish to mark gear?

Works fine, it hangs on very well in the hollows and around embossed text over time. 

> When it wears off could it contain anything that could be detrimental to rope/dyneema?

No. It's while it's wet/drying it could have an impact. I think the solvent is acetone, you'd have to check what it does to nylon and uhmwp. Better, just paint the metal bits  

Jk

 Toerag 09 Sep 2021
In reply to JemG:

I use 'Slick writer' t-shirt paint which is essentially flexible acrylic paint. If you search my posts I've posted a link to it recently when someone asked the same question. 

 deepsoup 10 Sep 2021
In reply to jkarran:

> I think the solvent is acetone, you'd have to check what it does to nylon and uhmwp.

Nothing at all, not that you'd want nail varnish on your slings anyway.

 duchessofmalfi 10 Sep 2021
In reply to JemG:

Absolutely don't use nail varnish and absolutely don't use pink nail varnish (otherwise I'll have to resort to tape again).

 nniff 10 Sep 2021
In reply to JemG:

I've been using Humbrol enamel for about 40 years.  It lasts well-beyond the retirement age of gear.  I paint the 'stamped' lettering of krabs, the holes in cams and the wide end of wires.  Don't bother with slings as they will have a krab or two on them anyway and they're usually distinctive enough (or the similar-looking one will have the wrong krab on it).  My current tin of Humbrol bright blue was bought in a model shop in York in 1985.  I don't both with a brush - either a cocktail stick or a twist of kitchen paper 

In reply to JemG:

Nail varnish lasts well, painted in the hollows, and comes in many colours. I don't apply to slings, as others have suggested, it doesn't seem necessary.

 PaulJepson 10 Sep 2021
In reply to JemG:

I found that leccy tape lasts fine on limestone or UK mountain rock but as soon as you start climbing grit/granite it gets worn out pretty quick. I've started using a strip of climbing tape and writing my initials on it in a fine-tip permanent marker. Seems great so far and no one else I climb with does it. I imagine if everyone did it it would be a bit shite though. 

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