Overheard a guy at the climbing gym say something about my harness that made me double check

I was tying in and this older climber walks by and mutters "that belay loop is past its prime buddy." Looked closer and sure enough there was fraying on my Black Diamond harness that I totally missed after 4 years of use. Anyone else ever have a random stranger catch a safety issue you overlooked?

2 comments

2 Comments

irisross8h ago

Oh man, that's scary but honestly thank goodness he spoke up! I had a similar thing happen at my gym where a guy noticed my carabiner gate was sticking a little when I was clipping in. I was totally clueless and he probably saved me from a bad fall. It's wild how we get used to our gear and miss the small stuff after years of use.

skyler_craig1h ago

Three years climbing and I still say you should know your own gear well enough to spot that stuff yourself. Relying on strangers to catch your mistakes is a good way to end up in a bad spot.