A quick note on harness age and why we can’t let someone use an old harness in the gym.
Manufacturers set a lifespan for their products and no climbing company (to my knowledge) has a harness recommendation of longer than ten years. So: a harness older than ten years is a harness that the manufacturer has declared unfit for climbing. While people are of course free to do whatever they want outside the gym, inside Crag X things are a little different.
Our rule is pretty simple: Climbing equipment must be used according to manufacturers directions.
For harnesses this means only climbing rated harnesses of the correct age and condition can be used. While a harness might in fact be safe, there is no way for us to know, so we follow the recommendations of the people that made the harness.
There are a wide range of harnesses under $60 and most of them are way more comfortable than harnesses of ten years ago.
Are gear companies shortening their recommended life spans just to sell more harnesses? Maybe. Does buying a new harness every ten years contribute to waste? Yep. Can you continue to use your old harness outside for years and suffer no ill-efects? Totally possible.
As a business with a responsibility to both the climber with the old harness and the people below them who might be landed on if the harness breaks, we really have no choice. The old harness can’t be used.
So, get yourself one of those comfy new $55 harnesses and hangdog in the gym with the rest of us.