Aluminium is quite susceptible to micro-fractures

You know I have discovered the truth about dropped gear. It is not microfractures or any other such crap that can cause it to fail. Actually when the gear is dropped the universe has to, for a microsecond, face an incongruent situation. IT expected you to fall, not for you to drop the gear. During that microsecond it takes for IT to adjust some of the common laws of Physics get suspended in a small area around the gear. The gear then does not "exist" anymore. Instead it enters a Schrodinger's Cat state of probable/improbable existence.

It is during that period with the gear quickly fluctuating among dimensions that it becomes possessed by demons. Yes, you have read that correctly. DEMONS!!. They intertwine with the gear and it is those demons trying to get out that cause the so called "microfractures". Man you gotta be really careful because your rack may now be a demon nest. All you can do is:

a) Destroy the gear, to prevent the demons from causing any harm. Dropping it into a volcano seems to be fashionable again due to the influence of major Hollywood productions but I suggest an easier
solution just dig a hole in the ground, put the gear in, cover with an adequate amount of thermite. Ignite a magnesium initiator on top of the pile. Watch the demons burn!

b) Exorcise the demons (please, not exercise, that'll make them fitter). Contact the local representative of the Roman Catholic Church, make sure that the Exorcist, if they send one, is properly authorized by the local bishop. There is only one authorized Exorcist by dioceses and he has to be appointed by the bishop. Wannabe exorcists are likely to compound the problem. If they are unavailable or too busy you can try the Shamanic method described below:

Take off your clothes.

-Use a permanent marker to mark the middle of your belly. But do it a few inches above or below true center: this is to avoid Demons focussing on your center. You will appear to them as a blur and if they try to posses you they are likely to come to the end of you and slip off. Unless they knot your ends first (in that case you're screwed).

-Cover the rest of your body with mysterious signs and inscriptions. They may read things like CE, EN 7306, 22KN, T, DMM, 9, C3, etc... those are there to protect you against the demons entering your body, the more you have the better.

-Cover yourself with lubricant oil, lest you get stuck in a different dimension.

-Using a rope make a circle in the ground around the gear. Drive five expansion bolts into the ground at regular intervals. Now the demons are contained. They would have also taken some of the qualities of the gear and they now hate bolts.

-Light fires around the circle. Attach headlamps to the top of ski poles and direct their beams towards the gear.

-Put a tape of "Macarena" into a jukebox and play in a loop as loud as you can!

-Get drunk and stoned (you do not need instructions for this)

-Run around the circle dancing with a bottle in one hand and an old issue of Rock and Ice on the other chanting the following formula: "Get the f*#k outta my gear you as#@&%es!!" or any other ranting of
your liking, to the rhythm of the music.

-Remember to fart as much as you can . That is to prove to the demons that you are a True Climber (tm). For an explanation of this do a Google search for "farts climber". If possible ignite a few of the
farts (you do not need instructions for this either).

-Keep on drinking!!

-Sh#t into plastic bags and toss them at the gear while crying "MUD BAT!! MUD BAAAAAT!! INCOMING!!"

-Read excerpts from the Rock and Ice mag (this is truly unbearable for the demons)

-Collapse, be taken to the ER. Wake up. Stay in a mental institution for a while. Be released (hopefully)

You can now use your gear without any fear, the demons have been now expelled to the nether regions where they lived before.

I hope you find this helpful, let us know how it all went!

Ardito.

I've heard recently that dropping an aluminium crabiner from as little as a metre high can result in hairline cracks and should then be discarded, even when no cracks are visible to the naked eye. Is this accurate? Seems a little extreme to me.