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Just a follow up. I emailed the manufacturer of my rope - New England Ropes

I have a Maxim Apex rope I bought 12 years ago and never used. It's
been stored in a plastic airtight container in the dark, dry basement
the entire time. It's still coiled from the factory. Do dynamic
climbing ropes have a shelf life?

I received this email reply from an email address @teufelberger.com

Hi Paul,
Yes ropes do have a shelf life of 10 years maximum, please retire this rope it should not be used...
Thank you...

errk

What did you expect to hear from a rope manufacturer?

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf91088421.tip.html

"Nylon pantyhose has a fairly long shelf life especially if it is new /unopened / not worn. It is the pantyhose that has some spandex in it that will have a shorter shelf life as it loses it's elasticity over time. (Like support hose, light support hose or even some manufacturers add a little bit of spandex for a better fit.)

I had some pantyhose that was over 10 years old. Some of it was fine and some the elastic in the waistband 'rotted'...when stretched out it made a crackly noise and never stretched back into shape. The leg part was fine though.

I suppose it also depends on storage too. Kept away from excess heat, light, moisture etc."

yeah, it's been awhile since I've read anything about climbing in official media and even longer since I've bought new gear and read the labels..., I assume the information offered is still standardized to the 3 sigma standard or some equivalency? meaning, like, they tested their result and saw some significant deterioration at a standard exposure?

Nylon-6 rope from King Akhenaten's tomb would probably be ok. It would have been reasonably dry and in the dark. I'd check it for kangaroo-rat chew, but if that were good I'd be good to go.

People quote UV light as the bad actor in the destruction of nylon-6. I think it is singlet oxygen (O2*):
O2 + light ---> O2*
O2* + R-CH2-C=O-NH-R- ----> R-(H-O-O)CH-C=O-NH-R- ---> R-OH + O=CH-C=O-NH-R- Chain breakage. A similar process is feasible at the N atom. Thank goodness these reactions are slow.

So if you have the rope in a container that prohibits exchange with air, and just a few photons running around you should be ok. Of course you want to examine it first. If it is stiff, toss it (that's what she said).

But screw it. Start climbing again and buy a new rope. Remove the question mark. Make a rug out of the old one. Whenever I buy a new rope I review every inch of it with my eyes and fingers.

clif wrote:yeah, it's been awhile since I've read anything about climbing

This makes me wonder if all of my old climbing magazines have exceeded their shelf life. Should I retire them? Geez, I really wanted to check out all of those cool new sport climbs at Mount Rushmore, SD.

I would further add that discussing the molding deterioration of my gear is symbolic of my ongoing battle with respectability and predictability. so far I can believe examples of climbers who managed a career by professing 'philosophy' and people who write 'code', two sham professions if there ever were. yeah, go ahead and add accountant and teachers of all sorts....

what a tangled mess.