UKC

how important is this to people in the uk?
i've tried to do a much research as i can about this regulation but it has mixed opinions, generally due to conflicts with people in the US.

i'm wanting to buy some ocun slings, but they only carry the en 566 and ce, where as some of the other more popular names worldwide carry the uiaa too. i'm presuming this could be more to do with ocun being czech and not expanding into the us market, or would this possibly be because it doesnt meet their standards?

In reply to jonnybmac:
Shops don't stock non-ce rated gear and if it's ce rated i'm happy so for me personally uiaa is irrelevant.

I think uiaa predates ce rating so back then when uiaa was the only rating it was important.

In reply to elsewhere:

thanks for the help. i was just being abit of a safety freak, and worried that there was a lack of a standard many others carry!

In reply to jonnybmac: UIAA and CE standards are in practice almost identical. Most well established UIAA stanards now just reference the CE standard with the occasional minor variation or addition.

Historically the UIAA as subject matter experts tended to produce their standard first which was then adopted by the EU once it was well established. I think nowadays there is a more collaborative approach.

In reply to jonnybmac:

The difference between EN 566 and UIAA 104:
2. Requirements for Slings
2.1. The UIAA Label can only be granted for slings that meet all the requirements of EN 566:2006, with the following exception:
2.1.1. No EN number required.
2.2. For the award of the UIAA Label, the following additional safety requirements shall be met:
2.2.1. Safety Requirements
If slings are made from tape by stitching the tape, at least 50 % of the visible area of stitching shall contrast with the tape in colour.
2.2.2. Test Methods
Check by visual examination that the requirements according to 2.2.1. are met.

References:
http://www.theuiaa.org/upload_area/Safety/Standards/Safety-Standards/UIAA_1...
http://www.hamradio.si/~s51kq/photo_album/Climbing_and_Mountaineering/pdf_c...

TL;DR: Buy Ocun slings. They are cheap.

thanks for the help and useful infomation

In reply to jonnybmac:
As I'm a European (without turning this into an "in or out" type debate) I am interested in the European standard i.e. CE. I couldn't give a monkey's about anyone else's standards. As they are largely defined separately they won't be exactly the same, but they will all be "safe enough".

Neil

In reply to jonnybmac:

I can't remember the details, but I think there are tangible differences in standards between CE and UIAA when it comes to helmets. Maybe a few other things. Not slings, as we've seen

In reply to jonnybmac:

However, if, as you suggest, the company has no need to sell to the US, it's probably simply not worth them getting UIAA accreditation rather than that they don't meet high enough (or at least different) standards - getting things accredited is relatively expensive.