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Topic Date User

Looking after your gear 20-May-2009 At 4:10:45 PM flyingtraverse

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We were doing the usual back of the car negotiations about who was going to take what parts of their beloved gear to go climbing for the day. I knew my rope hadn't been out for awhile and so I offered to take mine. We strolled up to the base of our climb, beginning the usual rituals. My partner went to flake the rope to find, about 8 m from the end, a massive core shot. My first reaction was embarrassment that I had absolutely no idea about it, nor how it got there. I knew I had lent the rope to other people, however months had passed since the rope had been used, so I had not the faintest about how the rope had come to be as it was: tattered and pathetic after what must have been a pretty severe fall or some serious rubbing against some sharp rock. I got angry. I was pretty certain that there were no circumstances under which I had personally been involved in creating the damage. I became angered further by the thought that if someone had done it, they had not told me. But the truth was, I actually didn't know, so pointing the finger was going to be useless exercise.

I am sharing this story to highlight a few important lessons - 1) it is important to know closely who and for what purpose any gear you rely on is being used 2) if you do damage someone's gear, or may have damaged it, don't be a tosser and not say anything. Of course, in this instance, I have no idea what happened, and will never know (which is to a great extent my fault and responsibility). It is highly likely that the damage occurred outside anybody's awareness (in which case, not much can protect against that other than checking and retiring your gear periodically).

Thankfully, we had a wicked time on Eurydice, so any angst was quickly alleviated.