Gear care, as each maker states it.

Every statement below is one maker's guidance for its own products, with the date of the document it comes from. It is reported here, not recommended for other products. The instructions that came with a particular item are the authority for that item, and a competent person decides whether it is still fit for use.

Ropes

UIAA 101 (version 9.1, July 2025) requires rope makers to state minimum and maximum storage temperatures in their care instructions, and to warn that ropes may shrink in normal use. What makers then say differs.

• Sterling (November 2019) says ropes are to be stored dry, dark and cool, never exposed above 50 C, carried in a rope bag or pack, and kept away from sunlight, chemicals, heat and mechanical damage. It recommends washing in warm to hot water with a mild soap, rinsing well and drying in shade, without a dryer. It says wet or frozen ropes are seriously weakened and may stretch more, that harsh chemicals, especially acids, destroy nylon, and that chemical damage can be invisible.
• Beal (December 2014) says a dirty rope may be washed in clear cold water, with a cleaner for delicate textiles and a synthetic-bristle brush if needed, then dried somewhere cool and shaded. It says storage or use temperature must never exceed 80 C, and gives 230 C as the melting point of polyamide.
• Edelrid (October 2013) says ropes are best stored cool, dry and dark, outside transport containers, without mechanical stress and away from chemicals, especially battery acid. It allows halogen-free commercial disinfectants and says ageing and moisture can make a rope shrink. Its care pictograms show a maximum washing temperature of 40 C, and it gives a dry use range of about -35 C to +55 C.
• Petzl (March 2024) warns that poor storage can age a rope prematurely, and that wet conditions combined with temperatures below 0 C may affect how the product works.

Where rope makers disagree

Each figure applies to that maker's ropes. The differences are the makers' own; this page does not reconcile them.

Harnesses

Beal (2019 harness notice) says harnesses should avoid unnecessary ultraviolet exposure and be stored in shade away from damp and heat. If dirty, it says they may be washed in clean cold water at no more than 30 C with a cleaner for delicate fabrics and dried somewhere cool and shaded. Its harness notice gives 80 C as a limit for storage or use and 215 C as the melting point of polyamide, a different figure from the 230 C in its 2014 rope document.

Slings and other textiles

DMM (undated instructions) says soiled slings and lanyards may be rinsed in clean water of domestic quality at no more than 25 C with a mild detergent of pH 5.5 to 8.5, rinsed again and dried naturally away from direct heat, and that they should be cleaned after every use in a marine environment. It says textiles are to be stored unpacked in a cool, dry, dark and chemically neutral place, away from heat, high humidity, sharp edges and corrosives, and never stored wet. For disinfecting its textile products it names quaternary ammonium compounds with chlorhexidine at no more than 25 C.

Helmets

Black Diamond (2019) recommends retiring a helmet that needs disinfecting rather than exposing it to harsh chemicals, and lists heat, sunlight, corrosives, solvents, fuels and battery acid or fumes as things that shorten its life. The same instructions say that after contact with salt water or salt air, textile products are to be rinsed and dried, and metal products rinsed, dried and lubricated.

The user information that EN 12492 requires, as Edelrid summarises the 2012 edition, says paint, solvents, adhesives or stickers are to be applied only as the helmet maker instructs, and that cleaning agents must not harm the helmet or the wearer.

Metal gear

• The BMC text distributed by the UIAA (2001) says karabiners need little maintenance if kept away from sea cliffs and salt water, reports cases of seawater corrosion from lack of care, and says karabiners are best stored dry and airy. Quickdraws and other connectors with textile parts, it adds, are best kept cool and dark as well.
• Blue Ice (undated) says crampons should be fully dried before long-term storage, and that corrosion, chemicals, prolonged sunlight and extreme temperatures shorten their life.
• Edelrid (2025) says its MAGO 8 belay device is to be stored cool, dry and out of daylight, away from chemicals.

Care and lifespan

Makers tie care to lifespan: Petzl says poor storage ages a rope early, and Black Diamond says a long shelf life reduces a helmet's useful life. The gear lifespan page compares makers' stated lifespans and retirement triggers.