Durability of Petzl Saddles

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Nathonicus

Hi folks, new here and looks like there's lots of great info, so I thought I'd ask for your opinion on something. I've been looking at tree saddles and it seems that there are two big groupings -- the heavy, 6-7 pounders from Weaver or Buckingham, real traditional saddles, and then the 2 pound Petzl Varios and Komet Butterfly. A guy I know says that the reason these saddles are so much lighter weight is that they are built out of thinner and less durable materials, and that they will last a couple years at most with daily climbing before needing to be replaced.

What do you guys who climb in a Petzl, Komet, or something similar think? What's the service life on your harness been with daily or near-daily tree climbing?

Thanks,
 
The light weight harnesses have a 5 year life span. Depends on how abrasive you are to them.

Lets put this into perspective; Your harness and lifeline are essential to safety and comfort at height. They have no back up. A single braid 1/2" lifeline will lose about 1/2 strength over two years, which is a sensible time to replace it (no back up remember). That = £100 divided by 484 working days = about 20 pence a day. Say 30-40 cents.

A harness like a komet or Petzl is around £150. Lets take the worse case scenario of 2 years; £150 divided 484 = about 30 pence a day.

Now i don't know about anyone else, but paying less than half a pint of the finest beer per day for essential unbacked up life support is pretty cheap.

Rather than saving a few pence, I'll go with the half weight version and retire it early every time. Especially considering it increases your safety factors, and something new comes along in that time anyway.
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It also means I can still afford that pint of fine beer
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Welcome to TreeBuzz Nathonicus
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Load bearing fibres being exposed to internal and external abrasion and UV degradation. True Kernmantles don't suffer the same.

Have a scan through this, 18 month to 5 year old single braids showed 40% strength loss in the same tests compared to new ropes:

http://www.treemettlenexus.com/pdfs/FrictionHitchCompilation.pdf

Probably why some manufacturers recommend replacing single braids between 6 and 12 months. I think 2 years is acceptable for arbs, as the rope is usually doubled. But when single its down to about a 14:1 safety factor. Thats still OK, but there are plenty of other variables to consider. I just think its prudent to retire in 24 months considering the low cost of replacing your sole means of life support.
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and not to mention climbing on the same rope after 2 years just gets boring! actually about 9 months for me!

RE lighter harnesses wearing faster....few people i know who have had buckingham harnesses werent too impressed with the wear of them. i think the weaver harnesses are a different matter, but who wants to climb in something like that? no give whatsoever. my last butterfly2 started showing signs of wear before i'd had it even a year, my butterfly1 i had previously did a whole lot better. My current harness the tree magic is probably lighter than anything currently available and is holding up fine and i do climb every day in it.
 
My butterfly 2 is going on its second year of everyday use and i'm not gentle with anything. I know guys climbing in butterfly 1 and 2's for multiple years now and the saddles are still in good shape. Scratch the petzel there's no floating bridge. If ya ask me the butterfly is well worth the money!!
 
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and not to mention climbing on the same rope after 2 years just gets boring! actually about 9 months for me!

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WOW! So you don't drink Beer Steve? Or do you go 'Tenants Super' (aka alchoholic soup) but fewer of them, cheap and effective?
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Nathonicus-

I bet you already know what I'm going to say here (I'm sure that whole "thinner and less durable material" line needs to be re-worked by now - if only for the innocent bystanders who hear it about 47 times a day), but my vote is 3 years or less. My basis for this is purely anecdotal though; no empircal tests exist that I am aware of. I'm sure interested to see what others say.

Regarding rope durability, my semi-educated guess is that diameter probably has more impact on durability than construction does. I say this because most of the degradation occuring in arborist climbing lines results from abrasion - smaller diameter means less surface area to spread the abrasion out over and so shorter wear-life. This is not to say that UV degradation does not play a part, just that it is probably roughly equal on all non-kernmantle (single and double braid) ropes.
 
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