If you are a gear junkie, like my boyfriend, you will look for any excuse to buy new climbing equipment. What’s that, a fray? Time for a new rope! But gear is expensive, and it’s important for both your safety and your wallet that it lives a long and full filling lifespan.

With proper care, storage, and maintenance, your gear can last years longer but be diligent, and always retire any unsafe equipment. Sometimes a rope or piece of pro can become damaged and needs to be retired after the first couple months, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Salt water and salty ocean air causes corrosion of any metal protection or harness buckles. It is recommended to completely wash any metal after exposure to salt water. Lubricant can also be applied before exposure to salty air to provide a short term shield, but it is still recommended to clean after.

UV rays will degrade slings, harnesses, shoes, ropes, etc. Store gear out of sunlight whenever possible.

Deet, bleach, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, ammonia, and other harsh chemicals can affect the nylon in harnesses, slings, and rope. Metolius notes that: “[e]ven fumes from a car battery can reduce the strength of your slings by as much as 90%.” Check out this interesting

Extend slings to keep the rope from running over sharp edges in the rock whenever possible.

Pull the rope all the way through after leading in the gym, and switch sides for each lead (creates even stress on both sides of the rope).

Keep the rope on top of a rope bag, out of the dirt, as much as possible. Washing a rope is Air Jordan CDP very simple:

1) Fill your bathtub or a bucket with water and mild soap.

2) Submerge the rope and knead the sheath to remove any dirt.

Try blowing out any dirt from camming mechanisms using compressed air.

You can wash cams in Air Jordan 2s near boiling water by swishing the cam in the water, pouring dish soap directly onto the cam, and scrubbing with an old toothbrush. Rinse and dry completely, and add lubricant to the mechanisms. Metolius Cam Lube is specially designed for use on cams.

Rock Climbing Shoe Care and RepairGeneral Use

Don’t wear your shoes unless you are climbing! First, it stretches and deforms the shoe as you stand with a flat foot on the ground, and second, dirt wears down the sole and interferes with the ‘stickiness’ of the rubber. It’s even worse to bend the heel down and keep your toes in the shoes because it flattens the heel cups.

Bring a pair of flip flops or crocks with you to the crag to wear in between climbs so that you aren’t tempted to wear your climbing shoes.

It’s not a bad idea to have several pairs of climbing shoes: an expensive, tight fitting aggressive pair that you use only on climbs you really need them for, and a less expensive, less aggressive shoe to wear for everything else. This drastically prolongs the life of your expensive climbing shoes and can save you a lot of money in the long run.

Practice clean footwork, and stop Air Jordan 5s dragging your toe against the wall Air Jordan 6s when flagging. Dragging your toe will unnecessarily wear out the toes of climbing shoes.

Don’t leave shoes stuffed in your pack where they will get misshapen, and super stinky. Hang shoes from a Air Jordan 23s carabiner on the outside of your bag.