how much rust is too much

[Mailed_Fist 0]

you are given gear with chipped cadmium and some rusting present on the mlw adjuster. the webbing including selvage edge has been in contact with the rust and exposed underlyng metal and shows staining and light abrasion on the selvage

how much rust on the webbing and hardware do you consider too much to choose to work on the gear? my position is that it is fine, another rigger says he would not work on it.

feelings and thoughts on acceptable amount of wear?

[davelepka 4]

Quote

how much rust on the webbing and hardware do you consider too much to choose to work on the gear?

Wear on webbing is a case by case basis, as all webbing experiences wear during use. The degree of the wear will dictate the decision.

Rust on hardware is a no-go as not all hardware experiences rust. No degree of rust is acceptable because you don't how the rig will cared for, or where it will be jumped for the next six months. If the rig is jumped, but otherwise ignored, in an oceanside setting, the rust could quickly worsen, and begin to effect the webbing.

[riggerrob 643]

The simple answer is to back the other rigger and refuse to repack it. Some customers need to hear the same - refusal - from two or three riggers before they will retire rusty gear.

On a practical note, rust rarely ruins the structural strength of steel hardware, but it does rapidly accelerate fraying on webbing. You have to decide if the rusty roughness is enough to ruin the selvage edge before the next repack. And assume a "worst case" scenario, with the user doing 1,000 in the Southern California desert before the next repack.

Another way to judge it is: if there are any broken fibers in the yellow ID line, ground that harness. Once a selvage edge has started to fray, the rest of the webbing rapidly fails, at far less than the rated strength.