Cigarette smoke bad for gear?

[cvfd1399 0]

I am on a technical rescue team that does high angle rope rescue. In our standard operating procedures it is written that there will be no smoking in a harness or around harness and rope, stepping on, or dropping a piece of equipment higher than 3 feet. This includes rescue harnesses, load bearing life rescue rope and all all hardware. If any of this is found it must be destroyed, or turned into utility rope. We were told by all the major webbing and rope material makers that cigarette smoke over time damages the rope, along with the possibility of burning it. Stepping on it damages the fibers of the webbing and the rope. Has anyone in the skydiving sport heard of this? We use the same materials.

[mjosparky 4]

I ran the USAR teams on a Fire Dept. for several years and we had the same rule on our high angle gear. To me the greatest concern was damage to the gear from a hot ember. Taking the shock load of a fall or abrasion to the rope is more likely to put is out of service. While it is true, exposer to smoke over a period of time will weaken the rope/webbing it would take so long as to not be a factor. Front line ropes will be retired to utility ropes long before the smoke would be a problem.
Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[cvfd1399 0]

Ok thanks. Our team just got accepted into the national building collapse response team.

[riggerrob 643]

Cigarette smoke makes nylon STINK something awful!
smoking is banned in most parachute lofts ... oh and the fire hazard.

[piisfish 140]

and cigarrette smoke is bad for your lungs.

Maybe nicotine can stain the fabric too.

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[mr2mk1g 10]

Isn't cigaretet smoke bad for virtually everything?

[KolinskyDC 0]

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Isn't cigaretet smoke bad for virtually everything?

Seems that way to me, kind of makes me wonder why anyone does it?

Melissa

"May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

[JohnRich 4]

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there will be no smoking in a harness or around harness and rope

Nylon melts at 475°. A glowing cigarette is burning at 1,800°. Obviously these two things don't go together.

A brief flash of flame will vaporize parachute nylon. There are cases where military pilots have ejected from crippled aircraft, only to have their parachutes vaporized by the nearby fireball of their crashed aircraft...