Hand me down safety gear

[Monkey 1,404]

So here’s a dumb question. What’s everyone’s opinion on handing down perfectly functional, but slightly less safe safety gear?  As an example, I recently replaced my old Mustang inflatable harness with a new Spinlock. I just gave the old Mustang to the new guy on the boat. I’ve tested it every year, but is there a point where good intentions go bad?  

[crankcall 206]

is it unsafe or less safe? I'd be happy to be a new guy and get a hand me down , it if was still safe just not state of the art. But giving unsafe would be really bad form.

these days what are the chances you'd be named co-defendant should anything awful happen? That's what scares me more.

[Blue Crab 1,118]

2 hours ago, crankcall said:

these days what are the chances you'd be named co-defendant should anything awful happen? That's what scares me more.

I got this: 1000%

[Borax Johnson 62]

put in in a un-named brown bag from "Santa" under the tree and call it good. I would much rather have 2000's safety gear than 1930's safety gear. Did an offshore race about 10 years ago with 90's safety gear on and felt uncomfortable.

Started offshore in the 70's. It's all relative,

[Shenanigan77 5]

Check the cartridge.  Seal intact?  Good.

Blow it up and leave it over night.  Still firm in the morning?  Good.

Beer.  Good.

[Monkey 1,404]

On 12/24/2020 at 3:16 PM, crankcall said:

is it unsafe or less safe? I'd be happy to be a new guy and get a hand me down , it if was still safe just not state of the art. But giving unsafe would be really bad form.

these days what are the chances you'd be named co-defendant should anything awful happen? That's what scares me more.

Your second paragraph is what scares me these days. It’s a sad reality these days. I did make him manually inflate it, and then we re-armed it as well. I only did that so he knew how it worked, but I suppose it helps if I ever had to cover my own ass. I’d never hand down any safety item I didn’t trust. 

[TJSoCal 141]

On 12/24/2020 at 5:59 PM, Shenanigan77 said:

Check the cartridge.  Seal intact?  Good.

Blow it up and leave it over night.  Still firm in the morning?  Good.

Beer.  Good.

I feel like weighing the cartridge is better than visual inspection. CO2 can leak through holes smaller than I can see, but the scale doesn't lie.

I agree that if you're retiring safety gear because you no longer trust it it doesn't make sense to pass it on to someone else, but if you're just upgrading because you want something newer and it's still fully functional (which is to say, you'd be comfortable using it yourself if you didn't have the new stuff) then why not? Although sadly I can see the point regarding liability - maybe ask the recipient to sign a release?