Marking Carabiners and cams

I remember reading in R&I a while back about a product similar to nail polish that didn't wear off metal. anyone know what this is and where to get it? I'm getting tired of replacing the electrical tape on my biners every month when it tears and comes off.

maybe dykem? never tried it on climbing gear but should last a while.

I use a paint marker to mark gear. I had an industrial paint marker but I can't remember the brand because we lost it somewhere in the house. That industrial paint marker worked really well. It has been on our gear for years. We now use a paint marker from Sharpie which can be found at an art store. So far, the Sharpie has worked but I think the industrial paint marker works better and last longer.

To make the paint marker last longer, we tend to mark on areas that do not have contact to rock or gear and have ridges or indentation. For carabiners, we mark where the brand name is etched or raised. For the cams, we mark on the post close to the cams. Last for the nuts, we mark on the wire. Hope that helps.

Added note: I think I found online the industrial paint marker that I lost. See link below:
uniball.com/catalog/show/pr…

OfficeMax sells this paint marker for $3.29 and comes in 15 colors.

Remember what you bring and make sure you have it at the end of the day? All I know is marked gear walks just as fast as unmarked gear. What comes around goes around.

My tape and polish seems not to wear off much. It's the total count for the day that matters. If 20 cams out, 20 cams come home.

I use paint but I recomend tape.... Tape is easier to remove when you lose it or leave it behind and I stumble across it...

And Duct tape is better than electrical tape. It stays longer but is a little thicker.

I wish they had a gear marker that lasted a long time and also served as a wear indicator/age indicator. Like mark will be yellow after 2 years, orange after 4 years and red after 6 years and black after 8. That way i would know when purchased things and know when to replace them at a glance.

Ugh, I hate tape, even on booty gear I find.

Dremel tool. Easy, fast, permanent.

What tool attachment do you use for the dremel??....what about nuts... i cant visualize it for a nut...

I put my initials on all my gear with an electric engraving pencil. Not very visible but if there is a question who owns it it's easy to find out. Plus I pretty much use the same gear everywhere I go so it's easy to spot. And it's usually the oldest gear so nobody wants it anyway!

. I have this on gear, including carabiners, that has lasted 5 years.

Eric Bonin wrote:What tool attachment do you use for the dremel??....what about nuts... i cant visualize it for a nut...

Its a small ball. I believe its called an engraving cutter.

Works on any soft metal, like aluminum. For nuts (I don't worry about the small ones) and hexes, I find a surface I don't think gets as much use and buzz my name in the anodize surface. Easy to see. Even with some wear, that slight bit of writing is visible for a long time.