Climbing Rope Log
Retire a rope on its history, not on how it looks. Every day out, every fall held and every inspection is written against the one rope.
OP-19 2 pages
Outdoor pursuits · OP-20
Climbing Gear Inventory and Retirement Record
A free printable climbing gear register: harnesses, helmets, karabiners, slings and protection with makers' lifespans, inspections, incidents and retirement.
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2 pages. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.
Print it and write on it
Fill it in type and save
The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.
What this sheet is for
Retire ageing or damaged climbing gear on time, not when somebody notices. Each item has its mark, its dates and the life its maker states.
Who it is for
Climbers, clubs, schools, outdoor centres and anyone in charge of a pool of climbing kit.
How to use it
- Mark each item so it can be told apart, and list it with its serial and dates.
- Copy the maker's shelf life and in-use life from the leaflet, and work out the retire-by date.
- Record every inspection on page two, and every drop, hard load, heat or chemical contact, even when nothing shows.
- When an item is retired, note why and how it was made unusable.
What is on the sheet
2 pages, in this order:
Page 1
Printed under the title: Every harness, helmet, karabiner, sling, belay device and piece of protection with its mark, its dates and the life its maker states, then what each inspection and incident found, and when it was retired.
The maker's life, written in. Copy each item's shelf life and in-use life from its maker's leaflet; nothing is printed here, because both differ by maker, material and use. Work the retire-by date out from the leaflet. Gear that was dropped, loaded hard, heated or met chemicals goes on page two, even when nothing shows.
Write-on lines: Owner, club or centre · Person in charge of the kit · Kept at
Register — one line per item, marked so it can be told apart
Also printed: Maker's stated life
Table, 13 rows: No. · Item · Maker & model · Serial · Made · First use · Shelf · In use · Retire by · Kept
Page 2
Inspections and incidents — routine checks, and anything that happened to it
Table, 13 rows: Date · Item · Why · What happened or was found · Result · By
Retired — taken out of use for good
Table, 5 rows: Date · Item · Reason · Made unusable · By
Questions
Why isn't a lifespan printed for each kind of gear?
Because makers state their own shelf and in-use lives, and they differ by maker, material and how hard the gear is used. Copy them from the leaflet that came with each item.
Why record incidents that left no mark?
Because some damage cannot be seen, especially in textiles and helmets. A record of what each item has been through is part of deciding when to retire it.
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