UKC

Hello all. Used to hang around UKC many years ago, then had to stop climbing for health reasons. Hopefully some activities can now be resumed, so I'm back with my first question please - which is, what can I safely do with all my old ( pretty substantial) rack?
It's been stored for, say, 8 years under the stairs: reasonably dry but a bit musty. There's nuts and rocks on wire and other stuff on dyneema like Wild Country cams, hexes and of course QDs (mostly on thicker Petzyl sewn cords). Also slings and 2 60m ropes (6 or 8mm, can't recall right now). All of these look and feel fine.
The crabs, on the whole, don't look good. Had a shed load of ( at the time brand new) lightweight ones and they've all oxidised or something, peeled and generally basically disintegrated. Obviously they can't be used except for racking. There's other older design ones, however, including screwgates, which look fine.
None of it has taken falls, none had more than about 3 summers' worth of mainly single pitch use, if that, and little to no visible wear or damage: it's just not been used for ages.
I don't intend to climb full on any more, but I want to scramble ( including some protected sections) and do ridges, easy UK mountaineering ridges/routes and some UK lower grade winter stuff. So, is any of the gear still useable, do you reckon? I know that the safe answer is no, but it seems such a shame to bin it all (never mind cost to replace) if it'll cope for what I can still do.
Thanks for any advice & suggestions.

In reply to Grizza:
Congrats on getting back to climbing, hope you have a great time.

It's a pretty personal topic when gear needs replacing, you'll get varying answers. If it's any help I still use metal gear (friends, krabs and nuts) from the 80s. I'd be reluctant to trust the fabric especially the dynema.

Just my thoughts. Good news is that gear is cheaper these days.


EDIT: do you have a photo of the 'oxidisation', that sounds interesting?

In reply to Grizza:

8 years old and kept in a dark, dry place?
Personally, I wouldn't bat an eyelid, get out there and use it.

I'm curious about those disintegrating krabs though! Pictures would be good.

In reply to Grizza:

Obviously after all these years it can't be trusted,those crumbling crabs could be just part of the story. Package it all up and post it on to me and I will reimburse when our paths cross next. Flaky crabs sound like classic seawater on aluminium action stewing over the years?

In reply to Lusk:



+1

In reply to Grizza:
Bin anything suspect or that won't give you piece of mind when hanging off it. Much of it will be ok. Start a slow time replacement of your gear, I heard a certain shop is offering 20% off for one month only. Or better still build a relationship with your nearest independent, if you buy a job lot I'm sure a little discount could be agreed.

In reply to Grizza:

8 years in the dark is just part of the story; what did you do with it before those 8 years?


"oxidised or something, peeled and generally basically disintegrated. "

Depending on how bad the look, I would either toss them or use if for a nice project (i have seen coat hooks/racks made from old carabiners...).

As for the rest, when in doubt replace it. Hanging half way a route in a crux is a bad moment to doubt about your equipment.

Thanks all.
The crabs are def to be binned. Will try to post piccy if I can work out how...

Anyone know if cams can be re-dyneemaed? Metal bits and wires are fine; rest as said looks fine, but it's the dyneema/fabric that I don't trust so much.

In reply to Grizza:

Visual inspection. if it looks sound, use it.

Really the only thing I would worry about is blown krabs from salt water. it's pretty obvious - they go like flaky pastry.

In reply to Grizza:




larksfoot a 6mm sling through them or replace with cord (triple fisherman if it's dyneema)

In reply to Deadeye: Thanks. I thought the same (larksfoot) but wondered if too simple a solution!

In reply to Deadeye:
" - they go like flaky pastry."

Exactly. And I've never been near salt (Derbyshire grit only.)
Interestingly, one type of DMM crab is badly affected ( all of them to some degree, some just mildly, some totally gone) whilst another DMM purchased on the same day, at same price and from same place, and all used and then stored together, all seem absolutely fine. Will try to post pics below.

EDIT - I have photos on my phone, but can't see how to upload them into this thread or otherwise so that you can see them. Help???

In reply to Grizza:

If your crabs have corroded, I'd be careful about other gear too. I thought salt water, but you say it's not that. So, it's a bit of a mystery - battery acid? Road grit? It's worth being very careful with other gear in case there's less obvious damage, e.g., there's damage within the nut swage or where the wire bends through the nut.

Also, a larksfoot is not an ideal way of attaching a sling to a cam, as it is a knot that tightens the sling on itself and therefore inherently weaker. I guess it would probably hold, but I wouldn't want to test it in a big fall... and I wouldn't want to do it with a 6mm sling, which is even more likely to cut through itself because of the reduced surface area.

I've also heard that quite a lot of thought goes into how to attach slings to cams, as there is the risk of the wire of the cam cutting the sling in a fall; hence all the rubber tubing and wider slings on camalots; the funky holes on the Dragons, etc. You can often get cams reslung if you contact the manufacturer; they could also check the rest of it over while they're at it, e.g. springs.

I'm not claiming particular knowledge - only that it might be worth caution and getting someone to check over some of your gear!

In reply to Grizza:

I've a bunch of DMM krabs, some of which exhibit the same problem - they've all been exposed to the same treatment over the years, including sea-cliff use.

Chunkier krabs like the solid gated Alpha & Aero have no sign of the "corrosion" you mention.

My experience of this "corrosion" is limited to lightweight, wire-gate varieties like the older Pro-wire & in particular the slinky little Phantom - could this be due to some electrolytic corrosion from two types of metal used in the karabiner body & gate?

Grizza - make a judgment & bin the ones that look ropey - my trad rack is of the same vintage as yours and i don't bat an eyelid on using it (albeit infrequently as bolt clipping is my forte nowadays)

In reply to Grizza:

I made a windchime from my broken crampons. It looks really good but that's cause it's stainless steel :^)