Is Your Outdoor Gear Ready for the Season?
Recreational safety suffers when users bring unmaintained gear back into the field after a season off. Before you hit the trails or the water, use our thorough evaluation tool to inspect, clean, and test your equipment.
Seasonal Gear Evaluator Tool
Select your upcoming activity to generate a specialized pre-season equipment audit checklist. We break down the evaluation into soft goods, hardware, and electronics.
The Importance of Seasonal Gear Audits
Outdoor recreation spikes seasonally, but people often forget that gear sitting in a closet, garage, or attic degrades over time. Temperature fluctuations, humidity, and simple time can cause microscopic damage that isn't obvious at first glance. Performing a pre-season audit ensures that your equipment won't fail when you need it most, keeping you and your family safe during your adventures.
Evaluating Soft Goods
Soft goods include items like tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, harnesses, and apparel. When auditing soft goods, the primary threats are dry rot, mold, and seam failure. Carefully inspect every inch of fabric for discoloration or unusual odors, which often indicate mildew. Test all zippers and drawstrings. For items designed to bear weight or provide safety, such as climbing harnesses or heavy pack straps, scrutinize the stitching. If you tug on a seam and hear popping, the threads have become compromised and the item must be evaluated by a professional or replaced.
Testing Hardware and Metals
Hardware encompasses carabiners, tent poles, camp stoves, hiking poles, and diving regulators. Wait out the effects of oxidation and physical stress. For aluminum and steel items, check for micro-fractures, rust, or bending. Tent poles often lose the elasticity in their shock cords after sitting folded for months; replace the cord if it sags. Moving parts, such as the gates on carabiners or the hinges in multi-tools, should be cleaned and lubricated if they feel gritty or stick open.
Checking Safety Electronics
Headlamps, GPS units, emergency beacons, and electric pumps are critical to outdoor safety. Leaving batteries inside electronics over the off-season is the most common cause of failure, as alkaline batteries can leak acid and destroy the contacts. Inspect the battery housing for white or green powdery residue. Always start the new season with fresh batteries. Power on each device and run it for at least ten minutes to ensure the circuits are stable and there are no thermal issues. For lithium-ion rechargeable devices, ensure you top off the charge, as deeply discharged lithium batteries can lose their capacity permanently.