UKC

Used my 20 year old(?) Asolo plastic boots in Scotland this week. On the last day I took off the yeti gaiters and the boots just fell apart into little bits of plastic. The inner boots are rock solid. It was quite funny if you haven't seen it before. They are in the bin at Loch Morlich.

In reply to Phil1919:

This happened to my mate halfway up a route, it wasn't very funny as he had to walk down off the Ben with the soles gaffa'd to the inners. Perhaps a new pair of boots would have been a smart move, 20 years is perhaps expecting rather too much?

In reply to danm:

You're probably right, but the boots were covered by Yeti gaitors, and I wouldn't have believed the way the plastic just fell apart unless I'd seen it myself. They hadn't been used much in 20 years it has to be said. I got them cheap just after I 'retired'.

In reply to Phil1919:

Migration of plasticisers is probably to blame - not related to usage or slowed down by covering with a gaiter, just simply the age of the boot. These days they'd probably be sold with a warning to bin them after x no. of years.

In reply to danm:

That sounds right!

In reply to Phil1919:

It was a 'known problem' with certain models of Koflach - see e.g. http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=56052

I've had it happen to me and, in the wrong circumstances, it could be a big problem.

The BMC has done some testing on this and made some reports about it - if you're curious, check those reports out. The general recommendation, for old plastic boots, is to check them out for brittleness - *before* you use them in earnest - by freezing them overnight in your domestic freezer, and then belting them with a hammer. Sounds a bit drastic - but it's better than having them fail in the field.

In reply to Rob Parsons:

I was thinking that it must be a known condition. Not sure you'd need to belt them with a hammer! If it had been a crucial eyelet pulled out for example, it would have been annoying. As it was it made for some great photos. As I said, the inners were rock solid!

In reply to Phil1919:
That happened to a mate of mine when we were about 1/2 km from the Dix hut. Next day he walked out along the lake and got the bus back to Arolla, big mistake! The lakeside is composed of house-sized rubble and the hut custodian's Duck Tape lasted about 100 metres. I don't think he was amused either!

In reply to Rob Parsons:


And Scarpa's too - my Grinta's started breaking up after I had had them maybe 8 or 9 years and they were a couple of years old when I bought them.

Don't think any old plastics are immune.