old biners

[ROLLACOSTA]

hi guys ,question ihave got about 10 aluminium karibiners,of about 10 years old they are all screw gate i visualy check them over myself and every six months they go for a major check with the rest of my kit i think they look ok ,i havent overloaded them or treated them too rough but i often think they should be replaced .what do you guys think

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Monthly independant testing? Wow, my stuff just gets a visual.

I would contact the manufacturer, stating that it is static suspention you use them for...

It sounds like you'ld be more comfortable on new ones though. Is the cost worth the peice of mind you would get?

 

[Tom Dunlap]

From everyting that I've ever read, a visual inspection is the most critical. Nicks and gouges lower the strength a lot.

If you know the use history then you can set your comfort level.

Hard gear doesn't have a shelf life. If the gear isn't beat up, it will have a long useful life.

Tom

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

the law over here is weekly visual inspection and 6 monthly independant .ithink ill stop using them as i prefer the twist and go style more anyway .thanks for the reply

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I find a double/triple lock much more climber freindly too. They are required here anyways.

You cannot use a screwgate and be in compliance with ANSI.

 

[dbeck]

JPS, this question has come up in conversation w/ others over time. Would a screwgate be allowed in situations where life support is not directly tied to that biner? such as redirects or backups?

 

[jamie]

fancy a 3 way

we should use a 3way locking as well over here, screw and 2ways aint enough,

as for screwgates being used on redirects???? why (apart from to use old kit) as dont they take longer to open / close????

we use 2 ways on saws but everything else is 3 way

im sure that hardware is allowed 10% cross sectional wear, then its binned

jamie

 

[Lumberjack]

Binners will last forever, as long as they recieve proper maintenance, and the internal spring doesnt break. Aluminum on steel will cause the aluminum to gouge up eventually. If you have used them for 10 years, and know that they have been takin care of, and they aint worn thinner, then IMO they are still fine.


However 3 way biners are the only ANSI compliant binner. I am still on screw binners, but when I make my next order, I am gonna get some 3 ways, along with a silky.


Carl

 

[Tom Dunlap]

If you're being supported by a biner, it needs to be auto-locking. Even in redis.

Why wouldn't you? Screw gates are a pain.

Tom

 

[tophopper]

I ran a search to see if i had posted these pics here in the past but had no luck.
First look at this pic and see if you can see the damage in both of the petzl biners

 

[tophopper]

Now look at this pic... of coarse it was obvious the biner on the right was damaged, but upon closer inspection the one on the left was also damaged in the same spot.

Also notice the one on the right was brand new(used once or twice)---They both were hairline cracks when i noticed them intially.

Now whenever i inspect the plastic collars on the balllocks I pay extra attention to this area near the seem


Also- I have only noticed this to be a problem on the williams style biner and not on the modiifed d, i dont know why they appear to have the same collar

 

[NickfromWI]

What scenarios caused them to crack? Forceful opening or closing? Droppage? Did they just crack?

love
nick

 

[tophopper]

brian- im not sure if the temp had much to do with it. The photos were taken in May so it was probably plenty warm. Like i said the one was brand new and the other...well could have been 2years old. i first noticed the damaged on the new one then decided to very closely look at all the others in my bag and sure enough I found another. Lord only knows how long the crack was there before I noticed it.

I too prefer the mod d's but for redirects you cant beat the pear shaped williams.

I have tried the new tri-act biners with the metal collars and like them alot, I will over time be phasing out the ballocks and converting to the tri's.
Another nice thing about the collar on the tri's is that they are narrower so you can slide the collar thru a pulley or such or thru small drings, hard to do with the fat ballocks

 

[tophopper]

sorry nick we were posting at the same time.

I dont know what caused the damaged. I noticed the new one while I was installing it as redirect (at that time is was a hairline crack like the biner on the left) so I chucked it down and had another sent up. that evening i gave the srewdriver test to the others, thats when i found the other one.

Youll notice that it is almost impossible to notice prior to applying a little pressure to the collar-this is why i applied pressure with a screwdriver head to make it visable for the pic

 

[Tom Dunlap]

I've done ITCC gear checks outside of MN and found Petzl sleave cracks. Look closely!

Tom

 

[NickfromWI]

One thing I don't like about the Tri-act....you can't tell when it's upside down! When up in the tree movin around, I unclip and reclip often. Since the barrell is smaller, (like tophopper said) it can get flipped around more often than the ball locks. I would often be trying to push when I shoulda been pullin' (while trying to open the gate). They should color code it or something like that. I tried painting the top half of the gate green, but the model paint I used wore off quite quickly.

Also, there are a couple sharp edges on the barrell of the gate that I noticed catching on my line and a few slings and things. The ball locks have nice, smooth plastic.

love
nick

ps- I am going to take a nice good look at the ball-locks tomorrow!