Climbing Gear Safety & Maintenance Record App - Does It Exist?

Hello Fellow MP’ers,

I’m curious to know if there’s a climbing gear App that tracks historical record usage of personal climbing gear? I’ve recently started transitioning to big wall climbing which can be gear intensive especially in hard aid.

Few key App features:
*Lists your gear inventory
*Creates historical inspection records of gear usage and condition
*Alerts when it’s time to consider replacing your soft goods (slings, webbing, cordlettes, rope, etc)

I don’t think an App like this exists, but wondering if it’s something that would be useful to you.

​I would greatly appreciate a climber’s point-of-view and input for a potential future app project.

Cheers.

Gene

It's called a spreadsheet. .runs on the phone. .easily edited

Not aware of one, but speaking for myself, I’d find little value in it for the following reasons....not a bad idea though..

• Climbing is one thing that allows me to get away from the world of apps and phones..
• There is no set time to replace soft goods. They are completely condition dependent, not time dependent.  
• A photo of my gear is an easily updated and simple inventory of my gear.  Would not take time to list it all.  
• Inspections are done real time and constantly.  If it looks bad, I take it out.  If not, I go with it.  I don’t think I’d refer back to my inspection logs.              

Mark Pilate wrote: Not aware of one, but speaking for myself, I’d find little value in it for the following reasons....not a bad idea though..

• Climbing is one thing that allows me to get away from the world of apps and phones..

I agree. Leave your phone at home, but record logs can also be reviewed before or after a trip.

• There is no set time to replace soft goods. They are completely condition dependent, not time dependent.  

I think the frequency of an incident could influence the condition of soft goods. For example, I think cycles of abrasion top-roping versus lead climbing would affect condition on a rope differently over time, but may or may not be significant till later.

• A photo of my gear is an easily updated and simple inventory of my gear.  Would not take time to list it all.  

I think a photo is good. I would probably add a feature that gives you a 1- click option to quickly annotate the specific condition of soft goods you still believe is safely usable, but needs to be tracked for future inspection. For example, if you noticed a tiny abrasion tear on the rope.

• Inspections are done real time and constantly.  If it looks bad, I take it out.  If not, I go with it.  I don’t think I’d refer back to my inspection logs.              

I inspect the same way. However, what about conditions of damage that you can not see that may or may not be significant?

Gene - Speaking for myself, way back I tried the spreadsheet thing to track similar data for all my gear for climbing, scuba, etc....I quickly lost interest and discipline to make or keep it relevant.

The effort outweighed the benefit.  I may be in the minority but likely not.  

If you go ahead with the effort, I’d be interested to see what you come up with, but I doubt I’d change my mind unless it was just too super easy and awesome to pass up.

I keep a simple spreadsheet with this to keep track of age of slings and stuff. Columns as followed.

Item   |  Date of purchase / production year / resling year | Gear Type  |  Notes

Mostly just to keep track of the age of soft goods.

I find it can also be useful to keep track of how much stuff I have. I've thought about tracking stuff like damage or cost, but that's about the point that it'd be too much effort.

Mark Pilate wrote: Gene - Speaking for myself, way back I tried the spreadsheet thing to track similar data for all my gear for climbing, scuba, etc....I quickly lost interest and discipline to make or keep it relevant.

The effort outweighed the benefit.  I may be in the minority but likely not.  

If you go ahead with the effort, I’d be interested to see what you come up with, but I doubt I’d change my mind unless it was just too super easy and awesome to pass up.

Thanks Mark for your input. I do have simplicity as the number one in my list of App features. If the App is not simple, no one will use it, including myself. Cheers.

Jonathan L wrote: I keep a simple spreadsheet with this to keep track of age of slings and stuff. Columns as followed.

Item   |  Date of purchase / production year / resling year | Gear Type  |  Notes

Mostly just to keep track of the age of soft goods.

I find it can also be useful to keep track of how much stuff I have. I've thought about tracking stuff like damage or cost, but that's about the point that it'd be too much effort.

Thanks Jonathan for your input. Soft goods is definitely what needs to be tracked for safety, giving us alerts when to consider replacing. I’m not a big fan of too much effort. Intuitive and simple Apps is a focus.

This might be what you're looking for:
GearLog

Gene Gutierrez wrote: I inspect the same way. However, what about conditions of damage that you can not see that may or may not be significant?

Just out of curiosity, what damage would not be visible and if it is not visible how would spreadsheet data inform you that it is? 

So I found an app. https://gearlog.org/home.

A gearlog could be useful for outdoor companies. 

Besides, nowadays Petzl hardware has an unique ID number.

Could be useful in case of theft.

Dynamic ropes exposed to UV and/or used for a long period of time become more static. This is not a visible change and can result in injury or death if not kept track of. Also top roping on dynamic ropes reduce the stretch of that rope permanently, little bits every time!! Until one day you are leading on an old static cord.

Travis Russell wrote:

Dynamic ropes exposed to UV and/or used for a long period of time become more static. This is not a visible change and can result in injury or death if not kept track of. Also top roping on dynamic ropes reduce the stretch of that rope permanently, little bits every time!! Until one day you are leading on an old static cord.

Umm. No. Sure, ropes lose elasticity over time and with use. But, what you said. No.