How to work out the date of manufacture from Sterling’s Lot number

Date of manufacture for your climbing gear is worth recording, especially for ‘soft’ goods like ropes, harnesses, slings and prusiks, as materials can degrade over time. Since the introduction of the PPE laws in Europe manufacturers have been including instructions which give guidance on obsolescence timelines. Its typically around 10 years from date of manufacturer for nylon and polyester type products but does vary so check.

Sterling’s current Lot# system (introduced in 2015) makes it easy to ascertain the date of manufacture of an item. Lot#’s consist of 4 digits, the first 2 are the year of manufacture, the second 2 are the week of manufacture in that year. Too easy!

For full details see Sterlings pdf document on the subject. It can be downloaded by clicking on the image