Do climbing harnesses have a shelf life? I’ve got one at home that I’ve had for 5 years but I’ve used it no more than a dozen times and that’s been indoors. It’s always been stored in the original mesh bag in the cool and dry of my wardrobe. I seem to recall it cost me in the region of £80-90 so if I can get some return on it that would be handy in the CEC. Now the last thing I would want is to sell it and someone have some ghastly accident but I’m not likely to use it again and it seems a shame to just bin it, is there anywhere these can be tested? And I don’t mean by me climbing up El Capitan!

Manufacturers would probably say it’s had it. Think the safety stuff for my Black Diamond says it has a shelf life of 3 years or something.

It is almost certainly fine though and as long as you made it clear to any buyer how old it is, then its their lookout.

I tend to recall a mention of a 5 year shelf life when I used to climb a lot. However my harness is now over 5 years old and would not hesitate to use it for any level of climbing as I know it has been well looked after (no falls, etc…).
When it comes to selling it I think you might find it a bit hard to shift as climbers tend not to buy second hand kit IMO.

Climbers do buy second hand gear, but are often less keen with ropes or harnesses, as you don’t know how they have been stored etc.

Metal things like nuts etc you can generally tell by looking at them whether they are ok or not.

Try asking on ukclimbing.com – they have a classified section too.

Cheers folks

3 years for ‘software’ – harnesses, slings, ropes, HELMETS
5 years for ‘hardware’ – rocks, Friends (although not the slings on them), krabs etc

That is pretty much what you hear all the manufacturers quote and therefore what training schools will also pass on. It will be questioned over and over, as to how much degradation a rope receives if it is in contact with air, and only some exposure to UV over the course of, say, 3 years, when someone just sticks it in a cupboard somewhere.

I would seriously think twice if I was getting back into climbing about using my older kit, but only for trad leading, as the forces generated in top-roping and sport are much, much lower when you fall.

Agree with Gavin Bs advice but as others have mentioned depends on how it has been stored or used . If in doubt i probably buy a new one .

don’t worry about it too much – here’s a story that truly shocked the climbing world
http://www.rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1477879
abrasion is the enemy in regular use – UV decay in storage – resale value is pretty low