UKH

Hi UKC Hive mind,

I've gone down the rabbit hole of dating how old some of my gear is (I'm sure some of you have done the same).

I've successfully dated a lot of it and will be retiring  / replacing some of it. 

I am having difficulty dating how old some of the metal work is (I'm happy with the condition it's in and know that, within reason, metal wear can last forever if in good condition. It would be nice to know if possible though.

I have successfully dated some DMM nuts, as they have codes such as 11A, 18B (2011, 2018), but some of the same set have codes such as ABP, AAU etc. I cannot seem to find anything online to help me date these codes, and am waiting a response from DMM.

A lot of my Wild Country gear have similar codes on them, including some of their quickdraws, also awaiting a response from them. 

Wondering if anyone else has gone through this long process and have had more success from me. 

Thanks in advance.

Matt

I've been vaguely working on some python code to do this. For the Wild Country stuff, I think you need to be able to vaguely date it by what it is. If it's of the right era then A = 2000, B=2001, etc. I think letter 2 is then the month (A=Jan, B=Feb). Not sure if the DMM stuff is the same.

If anyone is super-organised and has spreadsheets of their gear with info on when they bought it, and when they think it was made, then that'd help me add some more manufacturers. I've got at least 4 different formats for Petzl.

It's generally accepted that metal items are fine, regardless of age, providing they are not worn or corroded. I would base any assessment of carabiners/wires on actual use that I have go from them, combined with regular inspection, not the date of manufacture.

Soft goods (slings, harness etc) more of a grey area. Testing has shown that age is not that big a factor but wear effects can be huge. Once again I would go on the basis of inspection and the amount of use and duration of ownership rather than age based on manufacturing dates.

For DMM, modern kit seems to have a code such as 113441234A, this being YRDAY####*(# being serial number, * being a manufacturer mark), some smaller gear, such as nuts have 14A on them, 14 being the year. 

Petzl seems to be similar, with first 2 digits of serial number being the year, and either 3 figures for day of year or one figure for month of year afterwards. 

Problem is when I hae gear from DMM, Wild Country, Petzl, Clog, CAMP etc it all gets confusing haha

Yes, I'd look more at it's condition first rather than age as a retirement cariable. 

It's just frustrating when I can date some of my gear and not the rest of it......

This may help fo Wild Country gear if it has the serial number on it.

Cheers - the formats I already have are:

DMM: YYDDDNNNNA

Petzl: YYMNNNNNNNNNN

Petzl: YYDDDAANNNN

Petzl: YYDDDA

Petzl: YY MM

WildCountry: XX A MM YY

Sterling: YYDDDANNNN

Sterling: XXX-MMDDYYAAA

Sterling: YYNN

Edelrid: A-YYYY-NNNN-NNN

WildCountry: AAA

Beal: AXXXXXXXYY

Black Diamond: YDDD

Still got some others to add, like WC Friends (

https://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/gear/wildcountry_website_-_tech_friend_ba... ) but I'm sure there's plenty more.

I try and keep reciepts or make notes on the dates of purchase.

For the wires and biners inspecting the condition of the metal and gates is enough IMO. Cams are harder as you can't inspect axels etc.

If you are fairly fussy about bad condition wires (broken / deformed / badly nicked strands) and biners (any deformity, bad gate operation, deep nicks) then I very much doubt they'll be any issue in practice. Even new gear can have faults / fail.

Great stuff, I'm sure others in he future will find this incredibly useful.

Matt

I'll certainly be doing this from now on. 

Matt