Old gear?

[mhux]

My dad gave me his old 80's trad rack recently, and seeing solid-stem cams with non-colored hexes and stoppers sketches my friends out- they'd rather climb with newer color coded stuff.

But- most of this gear has minimal to no use- only one cam has ever been fallen on, and I've put new slings on the hexes and cams. The carabiners don't have any rope grooves or other signs of wear, and I've been told they've never been dropped or beaten up either.

So...what's wrong with climbing with old (but solid!) gear? (Besides the obvious- its heavy, solid stems are a (sketchy) bitch to place horizontally, non-wired hexes are also a pain..)

Might as well suck up the weight and not spend $$$...or should I?

 

[ScaredSilly]

Get some new friends, human ones that are not so rigid (pun intended). I have gear on my rack that is 20-30 years old. It is just as reliable as the gear that is 2-3 years old.

 

In the mean time tell your partners that they are free to buy their own rack and use it if they do not like yours.

[mhux]

good one...yeah I guess that's what it comes down to- haters gonna hate, as they say Edited May 24, 2012 by mhux

[chirp]

Heavier but classic and bomber. Just replace the slings (as you have done), buy some new UL Biners to replace the heavy ones and you should be fine. Plus having an older rack, peeps won't look at you like a noob with all shiny new stuff. It's a win/win situation!

 

[mhux]

Hey heavier is good for training...right? Nah I think the college kid wielding the burly old school rack might just puzzle people...

[chirp]

[Pete_H]

Are you kidding? Hang that antique shit on your wall and buy some gear made in this century.

[montypiton]

what scaredsilly said -- your "friends" are simply exhibiting their ignorance

 

I'd have to disagree with your opinion of slung hexes. You can't use the wired ones for runners, if you run short, or prusiks, if the shit hits the fan. And when the wires fray, you gotta either send them back to BD for repair, or drill the unit to accept a rope sling after all. Wiring the hexes may have been good for marketing, but it reduced the utility of the tool - bad for climbing.

 

and I still use the original generation Friends I got in 1982 - have re-slung them all multiple times, and have had them outperform some newer, more trendy units.

 

as the man said - if they really don't like your rack, climb on theirs -- I don't see the problem.

[mhux]

 

I'd have to disagree with your opinion of slung hexes. You can't use the wired ones for runners, if you run short, or prusiks, if the shit hits the fan. And when the wires fray, you gotta either send them back to BD for repair, or drill the unit to accept a rope sling after all. Wiring the hexes may have been good for marketing, but it reduced the utility of the tool - bad for climbing.

 

didn't even think of that...nice! plus the larger wired hexes droop anyway