[leadin]Black Diamond today announced a voluntary recall for inspection of Easy Rider and Iron Cruiser Via Ferrata lanyard sets, Index Ascenders, Camalots and Camalot Ultralights. This recall is in addition to a major recall that was issued in February.[/leadin]
According to the recall, these units “may have been improperly assembled and may fail during use.” If you own any of the products listed in the recall, you should stop using the equipment immediately and inspect it according to instructions from Black Diamond.
Black Diamond Recalled Gear, April 2016
Camalots: This recall concerns all sizes of Camalots (.3 to 6) produced between May 18, 2015, and March 9, 2016, with manufacturing codes between 5133 and 6067. This recall also concerns all sizes of Camalot Ultralights (.4 to #4) produced between November 10, 2015, and March 4, 2016, with manufacturing codes between 5309 and 6061. Individual style numbers of the different sizes are listed below.
Index Ascenders: This recall concerns both the right (style number 620003) and left (style number 620004) versions of the Index Ascenders manufactured between December 22, 2014, and February 25, 2016, with manufacturing codes between 4356 and 6015.
In some Index Ascenders, the rivet attaching the toothed cam to the ascender body may not be properly finished. This could cause the cam to become detached, allowing the ascender to disconnect from the rope. There is also the potential that the rivet attaching the plastic safety catch to the cam may not be properly finished, increasing the likelihood that the ascender could become detached from the rope.
Easy Rider and Iron Cruiser Via Ferrata Lanyards: This recall concerns the Easy Rider Via Ferrata Set (style number 620105) and the Iron Cruiser Via Ferrata Set (style number 620110) manufactured between October 26, 2015, and January 18, 2016, with manufacturing codes between 5293 and 5350. Iron Cruiser Via Ferrata Packages (style number 620122) are also affected.
In a very small number of via ferrata lanyards, the security stitching (three orange bar tacks that attach the carabiners to the lanyards) may not be present, which would result in immediate failure of the lanyard under body weight.
The company added, “The number of affected units found is extremely small and no incidents or injuries have been reported. As an example, tens of thousands of Camalots have been produced in our Salt Lake City factory since repatriation, and we have found only one unit that did not meet our critical quality requirements.”
Black Diamond brought its manufacturing back to its Salt Lake City base from China in 2014. In February, it issued a voluntary safety recall of several carabiner styles.
—Check the safety recall to see if your gear is affected.