UKC

Sadly the arrival of children has badly curtailed my climbing recently and I'm packing up my gear to go up in the loft. I know there is a recommended 'shelf-life' for gear but I don't know what it is and I'm wondering how long I can safely store things and still use them.

Presumably the nuts will be fine because they are all metal and wire but what about hexes on dyneema tape, quickdraws, slings and rope?

Finally if I am going to store them does anyone have any guidance on where / how I should store them. Eg, will they be ok up in the loft if wrapped up in a bin bag?

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

Spanish

In reply to Spanish: IMHO i think you should give me all your gear for free and then give up climbing completely and be a boring parent until you feel rich enough to buy more kit.

In reply to airbournegrapefruit: LOL! Well yes I could just give them away....and it's true that pregnancy has addled my brain somewhat....but not that much! Besides my oldest child will be old enough to take down the climbing wall in a couple of years.

I did a search of some old threads and someone seemed to suggest only five years for slings, dyneema tape etc. Does that sound right?

In reply to Spanish:

Yes, I seem to remember 5 years is the figure that usually quoted in the labels you get on slings etc. (assuming little/no use). No doubt that's a fairly cautious figure but this is safety kit for you and your kids we're talking here so i'd personally get uncomfortable leaving it more than that.

The only other point I can think of is damp when it comes to lofts and plastic bags - I've pulled some fairly nasty-smelling things out of plastic bags in my loft before!

Steve

In reply to Steve Culverhouse:

Thanks for your advice Steve. My gear is already three years old, so now I'm wondering if I should sell it instead. But that seems so final, I mean I'd actually have to accept that I'm really not going to be doing any climbing in the near future. Whereas at the moment I can still kid myself!

In reply to Spanish:

Troll (r.i.p) used to state that soft gear should be retired 10 years after manufacture or 5 years after first use, whichever came first.

Obviously depends on what use it has seen and any responsible manufacturer is going to build in a considerable safety margin.

In reply to Spanish: Don't worry! It's just a break, and then you can take the kids climbing!

In reply to Spanish:

Not the loft, it will get very hot up there in summer and damage ropes.

Store in a dark cuboard in an unheated room if possible, should be ok for a year or two, and by then you may decide to re-sling some of them and use the old ropes for abseil use only.

In reply to Spanish: 3 years does'nt sound much. Why not log their date of purchase, and store them in a suitcase or similar in a cuboard, top of a wardrobe. Also you may still sometimes go climbing, even if it is an annual event it is nice to have your own kit.