Would you climb on this rope?

I recently acquired a Sterling Marathon Pro Dy 10.1mm. It has never been used and is still in its original packaging. However, stickers on the packaging reveal that it was manufactured in 2010 so it is six year old but untouched. Would you whip on this thing?

Fringepaste wrote:I recently acquired a Sterling Marathon Pro Dy 10.1mm. It has never been used and is still in its original packaging. However, stickers on the packaging reveal that it was manufactured in 2010 so it is six year old but untouched. Would you whip on this thing?

Probably want to remove it from the package before using it.
Maybe even uncoil it.

And don't forget to check your knot.

No problem, the shelf life is 10yrs IIRC. Then you have 5yrs of use.

Everyday of the week and twice on Sundays.

oh oh oh ... wait for it .......

YER GONNA DIE!|!!!

but seriously, the rope is good !

Thanks gypsies

Long as it wasn't stored in somebody's trunk for the past 5 yrs, should be fine

I wonder how many people on the forum don't own any ropes older than 5 years

Finally retired two ropes from 2005.

The 10mm sterling saw light use, I just preferred a fatter lead line. It mainly was used for TR and bringing up a third.

The 10.3mm Singing Rock was my main wall climbing rope and went up about a half dozen walls from 10-18 pitches before being set aside as a cragging only line. It also got used for trad stuff along the way, but I am semi-retired from free climbing so not a ton of pitches there.

Both aged out and look great, might make a nice rug.

On a different I bought a spanking fresh 10.5mm Bluewater for a run up Mideast Crisis 2 years ago. It saw some sharp edges while jugging and got a few fuzzy spots beyond my tolerance. So it was retired after just one route.

If a rope is properly stored and cared for I'd say 10 years is fine if it sees no major falls, limited UV, and has no irregularities or nasty fuzzies.

Probably good to avoid using a really old rope, no matter if it's unused, but has anyone ever heard of an instance where a climbing rope just broke from being old without being cut or otherwise damaged?

I have a rope from 1976 &, although I would not climb with it, I suspect it would still hold a fall