UKC

hello,

so I recently got treated to some new cams (BD ones)courtesy of the father in law.

I was reading the sheet that came with it and they suggested that the lifespan of the plastic and fabric parts are max 10 years with the metal parts being indefinite (stored correctly and not used). however if used as designed and taken care of properly the metal life span can be 3-10 years and the textiles 2-5.

Now i started to think about it and I know that the cams and nuts and carabiners I'm using are all over 4 years old, the nuts I know are just becoming 10 and the majority of the cams are quick approaching that.

I've had my cams reslingged and taken reasonable care of them but I'd never thought of the finite life of the protection, only of ropes! you do see some of the older chaps using nuts from the darkages!

maybe I need to start a rolling replacements....

In reply to robal:

They've got to give some indication of lifespan, it doesn't have to be accurate, just conservative.

Up to you of course but I generally ask myself what can go wrong then can I inspect for it before throwing anything away just because it's 'old'. My kit is mostly a little older than yours.

jk

In reply to robal:
I re-started climbing a few years back after a gap of more than ten years, and a metallurgist friend of mine - also a climber, and has done forensic work for the BMC - said replace all the nylon bits on my rack but no worries at all about the metal stuff.

I have as it happens replaced a lot of things since, expecially krabs because modern ones are lighter, stronger, have better gate actions, come in pretty colours etc. But I have thirty year old wires and friends that I still use occasionally and don't worry about in the slightest. New slings on the friends obvsly.

In reply to robal:

Metal is usually fine but early BD Camalots have started failing due to stress cracks. Check out mountain project for details.

In reply to robal:

hi guys,

thanks for this, I'm going to rotate a few bits out, there are 4 slings that I'm still using that are pretty old I guess I should start with them but I'm not overly worried, I guess I was more surprised by what was stated than worried.

In reply to robal:

There's a UIAA article I saw recently which basically said that nylon ropes don't really deteriorate enough with time alone for it to be a danger. Of course a ropes's length and handling characteristics may alter with use. Modern ropes apparently also have to be less vulnerable to UV.

Possibly any rope has not been subjected to great stress, is examined for wear and that is looked after well should be OK.
Of course many people including, surprise, rope manufacturers recommend very low times before replacement. Ropes cutting on edges or knots slipping would seem to be the real danger rather than a decrease in rope strength.