Testing GearSwap app

Hi all, I'm a grad student out of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I'm working on a project to allow our community to easier lend and borrow gear. If you've got two minutes to check out our site for it, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you! If you've got any questions, feel free to reach out below.

GearSwap app homepage

How to you verify that the gear being borrowed is legit? Especially if a newbie is borrowing the gear and doesn't know what to look at? Seems like a lot of risk. Also how do you determine acceptable use? Cant i just borrow someone's rope and use it to whip on my project over and over instead of using my own rope? Hard to prove how much something like that was used. 

I don't get it.  I am not lending gear to folks I don't know unless your site is going to guarantee a return, in similar condition to what I sent out.  And for that, you need to charge a fee, what incentive exists for me to loan out gear (am I getting rental fees for my unused gear?), and then there is shipping associated with that heavy gear, all to save a few bucks...

Now, a climbing specific used gear marketplace might be worthwhile.  Where you can auction, sell, or swap gear.  Site do their own gear swap threads and posts, but you could set something up where it would be easier to identify gear and search for what you want.  I might use that.  I am not using a gear borrow/lend site.

If you think out of the box of climbing gear this would work better. Tents, skis, crash pad, or guide book sharing is something I'd be ok with. Or think if you went on a trip on a plane and wanted to borrow a stove. But my rack?! No way. 

Also, add the word "to" in the description. 

Have you looked closely at your stock imagery?

Dude racks his cams on lockers, rappel isn't extended just begging to disengage or hopelessly jam friction hitch, and what the hell kinda hitch is that? Non-locker to the leg tie in going... somewhere, maybe the other end of the friction hitch.

Matt Himmelsteinwrote:

Now, a climbing specific used gear marketplace might be worthwhile.  Where you can auction, sell, or swap gear.  Site do their own gear swap threads and posts, but you could set something up where it would be easier to identify gear and search for what you want.  I might use that.  I am not using a gear borrow/lend site.

This is it right here. This is the website that would work. her original idea is well intentioned but horribly flawed

Actually like the idea however I agree with previous posters.   Way too much risk to my life sensitive gear.   Better suggestion would be mountain bikes or rafts/kayaks.  

I've given random AT thru hikers the keys to use my truck for the day or four, since I'm not using it when I, myself, am hiking.  All sorts of stuff like that.

But, lending out my climbing gear via an app?  Yeah, uh, this is just a bridge too far.  Way too far.

So, many businesses say they can't rent out climbing gear for liability reasons. As a lender of gear, what legal protections would I have?

You should also remove that “created by wix” stuff from your site. It makes it look cheap 

Mike Climbersonwrote:

You should also remove that “created by wix” stuff from your site. It makes it look cheap 

Cheap?  Not nearly as cheap as checking the boxes to borrow my socks and underwear for a climbing trip.