SRT kit renewal

twiglet

New member
Hi,could I ask some advice please, I have an SRT rig from the early 1990`s that has only been used a couple of dozen times. I have done a visual check of the sit harness, the stop descender & the 2 jammers, no breaks in any stitching or splits in the webbing are evident. No visible wear to the bobbins of the stop (but the red plastic cover has come off the handle) no visible wear to the cams or teeth on the jammers, no wear to the aluminium body of the jammers, but colour of both is wearing off as it is on the stop. I have replaced the footloop rope & cowstails.
  Do you think the kit should be safe to start using again, Thanks
 

PeteHall

Moderator
Personally, I would replace all fabric items, but wouldn't have the slightest worry about the metalwork. So basically, replace the harness in addition to what you've done already.
 

Cantclimbtom

Well-known member
Funny you should mention this, but I recently changed my kit for some "newer" kit that is actually something been in storage since late 90s. I'm perfectly happy to use a mid 1990s stop, shunt, and the croll is better than the plasticky **** they make now.

Make a really careful inspection of any stops though. look for looseness of corrosion around the main bobbin nut. At the start of a drop (the first drop of the job) in an access job many many years ago I had a stop disintegrate (access company supplied) thank goodness for the second rope! It had looked fine to quick pre-use inspection but not good when loaded. I'm super careful now to inspect everything especially if not mine.

Subject to careful inspection, old metal kit should be just fine. I am using a "vintage" chest harness but I wouldn't re-use any other old soft-gear (like sit harness, cows tails etc), even if it looks OK I bin it at 10 years.
 

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
You should consider history of use, storage condition, general treatment and any likely contamination when assessing the harness and other software.  Manufacturers advice will be to remove from service 10 years after manufacture date regardless.  However, I know one caver who used the same set of cowstails for 30 years and he's still alive.  In all probability the harness will not fail to the point that you have an accident but there is a greater risk with aging software.  Buy a new one if you can.  The hardware should be fine.  I'd guess the one mentioned below might have been used in more corrosive industrial conditions than a cave so give it all a thorough examination. 

At the end of the day you're the one hanging on it all.
 
With regards hardware, on my first trip underground post-lockdown I noticed that I could pick bits of aluminium off my descender crab - it looked like a Cadburys flake! I am sure it woudl have been fine but given how much of this there was - I binned it.
 

andrewmcleod

Well-known member
MJenkinson said:
With regards hardware, on my first trip underground post-lockdown I noticed that I could pick bits of aluminium off my descender crab - it looked like a Cadburys flake! I am sure it woudl have been fine but given how much of this there was - I binned it.

I would not at all be sure that would be fine - that's how aluminium corrodes and I would chuck any krab that showed signs of it. I think it's far more insidious than rust which is usually fairly harmless (until it's obvious that there's more rust than krab...)
 

twiglet

New member
Thanks everyone, I shall be looking for a new sit harness then ? Any reccomendations for a comfortable, easy to get on model ? The one I shall scrap is a Petzl Fractio, which I found a bit of a faff, with its double waist belt, but that`s probably just because I`m a bit cack handed. :-[
 

Pete K

Well-known member
Tony @ Starless River has a great range and, depending on where you are based, can possibly arrange for you to try the fit before you buy.
https://starlessriver.com/product-category/sit-harnesses-srt/

MTDE club or Petzl Super Avanti if you want a simple faff-free harness. MTDE Picos/Amazonia/Varonia if you want an SRT armchair. (IMO)
 

twiglet

New member
Sorry to pester, but it entered my tiny brain that the chest harness is webbing too, should that be replaced too ?
Big Thank you to everyone, I will shut up now. :beer:
 

Ian Ball

Well-known member
A silly question about srt safety?  not heard one of them before.

Chest harness is not weight bearing in the same way as a sit harness, more for convenience so it's fine to use but there are updated options out there now, Petzl torse, Alp design Doma and the MTDE Garma has many fans.  If you're going to be doing a lot of srt work then it's worth upgrading, other than that I wouldn't bother.
 

AR

Well-known member
Definitely try and arrange with Tony to try a few different harnesses if you can - I did exactly that, tried three different MDTE models and found I liked the Varonia best.
 

badger

Active member
maybe I look at this in a different way, I dont look at this is it safe to use, is my life for the sake of a small amount of money worth the risk, I change cow tails regularly, the probabilty is that my cows tails are ok, but for the sake of 5 or 6 quid. sit harness I would change if it showed any signs of wear and or after 10 years, again proabilty is it might be ok but is it worth it for less than a ?100.00. everyone is different on how the view things safe or not,
 

pwhole

Well-known member
Whilst definitely not an armchair caver, I love the MTDE Picos, despite what Pete says, and it being a bit bulkier and heavier - it's so comfy and also has an extremely low connection point, so it's very efficient for climbing, and super-tough - I'm replacing my current one shortly after about four years constant use. I do still use a Super Avanti for very gnarly and tight trips, or ones where I have to take the damn thing off repeatedly. The Picos won't go in a small bag! The Garma chest harness is also superb, and I add a small backstrap to connect it to the sit harness, making it stable enough to hang my drill off the central krab (an upside-down Moka). If you're not into bolting it might be slight overkill, but the Petzl strangle-strap is far too short for me, and I much prefer having more things to hang things from.
 

twiglet

New member
I am in Cornwall (mine explorer) so a trip to Yorkshire to try on kit is probably not on the cards at the moment  :(
As I am tall & skinny, with not much upper body strength, I was thinking of going for the MTDE Amazonia (Sit) & Alp Design Blitz (chest) combination. Does that sound like a good plan ?
 
Give Tony at Starless River a call. He is friendly and helpful and will give good advice, even if you can't meet up in person. In case you are unaware, he frequently visits all the caving areas with his van (aka Tardis), and his website will tell you where and when. You don't need to go to Yorkshire.
 

Ian Ball

Well-known member
I don't know Devon and Cornish mine exploration, what's the usual depth of ropework you'd be looking at?

I would say that cheapest wins if there's a chance of contamination from Cornish radioactive sea water ;-)
 

aricooperdavis

Moderator
twiglet said:
I am in Cornwall (mine explorer) so a trip to Yorkshire to try on kit is probably not on the cards at the moment  :(

Simon Mullens of ISCA Outdoors let me visit his stores near Exeter to try on kit - might be worth giving him a shout?

I am also tall and skinny (and in Cornwall), and get on with the AV Spelshoulder Pro and the Petzl Fractio.
 
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