Update: 30 year old harness test results

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 Snyggapa 22 Feb 2023

Following on (belatedly..) from here:

https://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/gear/destruction_testinga_30_year_old_tro...

I got a response from the lab when testing a ~30 year old Troll Mk7 harness:. It's a single data point so no guarantee of safety, but from the lab:

We tested the harness last week and a quick summary is : At 12.5 kN the buckle deformed slightly ( if it was flat at first) and the web/tape pulled through it. That's about 1.25 tons . We are keen to point out, though, that his machine applied a steadily increasing pull rather than a sudden shock load, the rate being as slow as 50mm per minute 

(note - this is an old skool doubled back buckle, so once the tape starts moving it will eventually pull right out)

My reply:

I am not sure what the certification or original design requirements were, but I would also suspect that the wearer would break before the harness then (at 12.5kN) , if the gear didn't rip or break at that sort of load . I also guess that the metal buckle is unlikely to have materially weakened with age and the belt was clearly stronger than the buckle so no catastrophic nylon deterioration happened with just age.

Albeit only 1 data point anyhow  that at least gives us something to learn, whereas that on the face of it appears to be a healthy 30 year old harness !

Still wouldn't be in a hurry to take a massive lead fall on it, but from a testing point of view, it seemed solid.


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