UKC

Harness shelf life

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
 Dave the Rave 16 Apr 2017
How long should a harness last?
I've got two harnesses, a Camp from 2005 and one from 1999.
They both appear in good nick with no fraying etc.
I've just been recommended at a wall that they have a shelf life of 3 years on Camp harnesses. Fair play they loaned me 2 at no cost.
Mine will now be binned and I'm sweating a bit at the possible consequences of having used them.
Are you using older harnesses?
 jimtitt 16 Apr 2017
In reply to Dave the Rave:

The guarantee on CAMP harnesses is 3 years, the life is ten years.
In reply to Dave the Rave:
Led my first E1 with a borrowed 11-year old Whillans harness and a borrowed 12-year old rope.

With such things it isn't just the age that's the issue, it's how often they've been used and where, how they've been stored and, as in my example, the mindset of the user (I was well up for that first E1 tick).

Three years at a wall seems fair enough. Two years ticking Chamonix routes on rough granite in the alpine sun might be a year too long. Eleven years for a harness that's been used every now and then, stored away somewhere out of the sun and borrowed from someone I trusted because mine was locked in a garage seemed OK to me.

T.
Post edited at 17:02
 Tom Last 16 Apr 2017
In reply to Dave the Rave:

3 years! The figure seems to get shorter each time it's quoted. I imagine 3 years old would be quite a new harness for a lot of people out and about climbing and taking falls. So notwithstanding the no doubt rigerous testing etc. on these materials, I can't help but think that real world scenarios should give you a bit more latitude than 3 years' worth of use really. Could be wrong though.
OP Dave the Rave 16 Apr 2017
In reply to Tom Last:

> 3 years! The figure seems to get shorter each time it's quoted. I imagine 3 years old would be quite a new harness for a lot of people out and about climbing and taking falls. So notwithstanding the no doubt rigerous testing etc. on these materials, I can't help but think that real world scenarios should give you a bit more latitude than 3 years' worth of use really. Could be wrong though.

I can understand it from a wall perspective and insurance that the shelf life is low and obviously suppliers want to sell them.
It was at the back of my mind that I should get new ones but as they looked in good nick I made a judgement call.
To be honest 17 years is an old bit of kit for a FB to rely on.
 Tom Last 16 Apr 2017
In reply to Dave the Rave:

Yeah, I would imagine that 17 years is pushing it a bit at the other end of the scale.

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Loading Notifications...