Climbing gear retirement date
Textile gear ages even in a cupboard, and wears faster the more you climb. Enter when it was made and how often you use it, and get the latest date the makers allow, with the yearly inspection on a countdown.
Your schedule
Retire by Jan 1, 2028, in 15 months
- 1Inspect ropeEvery 1 year · By datePetzl asks for a detailed inspection by a competent person every 12 months, and after any exceptional event, besides the check before each use.
- 1Retire ropeDue Jan 1, 2028 · By dateMammut gives a rope used several times a month up to 3 years, and 10 years from manufacture at most. Counted from January of the years you entered, that’s Jan 1, 2028. Once it’s retired, set the job to the new one’s life.
- Retire it at once, whatever the date, after a hard fall, a failed inspection, contact with chemicals, extreme heat or an unknown history (Petzl, Mammut).
- Check it before every use too; GearKit reminds you of the yearly inspection and the retirement date, not the daily look.
Keep it on a countdown
GearKit counts down to every job and reminds you before it’s due. Open this schedule in the app and it adds the item with every job above.
Countdowns start the day you add it. Did a job recently? Mark it done in GearKit and set Completed on to that day.
Add at least one job with a title to make a link.
Built on this page. The schedule travels in the part of the link after the #, and our server never sees it.
How it works
Petzl: plastic and textile products (ropes, harnesses, slings, helmets) last at most 10 years from manufacture; metal products have no age limit; a detailed inspection by a competent person every 12 months. Mammut’s rope table by use: never used up to 10 years, once or twice a year up to 7, once a month up to 5, several times a month up to 3, every week up to 1, almost daily less than a year. Black Diamond: about 3 years for a harness with normal use, 10 at most. Mammut: a helmet under heavy use less than a year, used gently up to 10.
The date is the earlier of 10 years from manufacture and the use-based life from first use, both counted from January of the year you enter, so it never comes late. These are maximums: wear, a hard fall or a failed inspection ends the gear’s life sooner.
Sources
- 1 FAQ: What is the lifetime of my Petzl equipment? Petzl · Maker · Checked Oct 18, 2026
- 2 Tips for protecting your equipment: ice axes, crampons, ice screws (Petzl PDF, hosted by Papertrail) Petzl · Maker · Checked Oct 18, 2026
- 3 PPE Inspection - Inspection procedure: Professional harnesses Petzl · Maker · Checked Oct 18, 2026
- 4 Mammut ropes - instructions for use (HI-MAM-026) Mammut · Maker · Checked Oct 18, 2026
- 5 Care instructions: climbing helmets Mammut · Maker · Checked Oct 18, 2026
- 6 QC Lab: Worn Belay Loops and Retiring a Harness Black Diamond · Maker · Checked Oct 18, 2026
- 7 Tech skills: Retiring textile equipment British Mountaineering Council · Independent · Checked Oct 18, 2026
Starting points from the makers’ manuals, not a substitute for yours. Where your manual says otherwise, it wins.