What To Do With Your Old Gear
If you’ve been climbing as long as some of our staff here at Waterstone, chances are you’ve got a few pieces of gear that are ready to retire. But here’s the thing—gear gets retired for the best reason: because it’s done its job, and done it well. So don’t mourn your fraying sling or core-shot rope. Instead, celebrate the sends it’s seen and the falls it’s caught. And once you’ve moved from denial to acceptance, fear not, your gear’s life doesn’t have to end here! Like a champion racehorse skipping the glue factory and heading to greener pastures, your well-loved gear can also find a second life!
*Inspection*
Just a quick note on proper maintenance and inspection. Climbing gear is built to be durable and wear down slowly with proper maintenance, this can make it hard to know when it has crossed the line from trustworthy to dangerous. It is always best to defer to manufacturers recommendations on gear lifespan, but you may also want to check out our spring blog post which is a sort of prequel to this post.
Hard Gear
For all hard gear like carabiners, nuts, belay devices ect. that are still safe to use, considering donating to the following to an outdoor engagement organization like Gearfund Collective, or bring them into Waterstone to be resold in our consignment section! For hard gear that is no longer functional or poses a potential safety risk there are options for those as well. Consider using old carabiners to…
Hang gear (or anything else) in your garage, car, or shed.
Tape or tie onto water bottes to give them a clip on handle.
If you want to look super tuff, use one as a key ring and clip it onto your belt loop.
Really, with a carabiner, the options are seemingly endless. I can’t say the same for nuts and belay devices, however. Here at Waterstone, we have some old hard gear hanging up as decoration around the shop, which is a great way to repurpose them!
Soft Gear
Slings, dogbones, and harnesses can be used in all sorts of ways too!
Slings can be used to hang bikes, paddleboards and other toys. They can also be used as a chalk bag belt loop.
Dogbones can be turned into, well, dogbones by tying a ball of knotted rope onto either end.
Ropes are perhaps the most versatile item to repurpose. They can be used to make all sorts of practical household items and even more art projects. Most of these directions call for a glue gun but using a lighter to melt strands together works as well. Also if you would like to cut your rope without the hassle, come by Waterstone and ask to use our rope cutter!
Rug/welcome mat: https://youtu.be/uX9DJp_pfgM
String an old chair: If you have a chair with old fabric or upholstery but a solid frame, pull that old fabric off and restring it with your old rope
Coaster or pot polder: Super easy to make and very practical as well.
Coozy: If you don’t have an old chalk bag to use then you can quickly make a rope cozy. Here is a video link with instructions!
Make a dog leash! If you have walked the crags around Fayetteville you have probably seen this one.
Be creative: there are seemingly endless uses for old rope, come up with your own ideas!
Summary
If you aren’t into reading and skipped through all of those words up there, then here is the main point: When you can’t climb on your gear anymore, there are other options.
Donate
Repurpose
Recycle
I hope this blog has inspired some creative projects and gives your old gear a second life!
