Black Diamond issues recall, initiates quality control review

Black Diamond issued a voluntary recall Wednesday for some lanyard sets, Camalots and Index Ascenders, marking the second set of recalls in the past three months from its Salt Lake City factory.

No injuries have been reported in conjunction with the recall, and the number of affected units is “extremely small,” Black Diamond said in a safety notice Wednesday. Still, Black Diamond has initiated a comprehensive quality audit of the Salt Lake City facility, where manufacturing moved from Zhuhai, China, in 2014.

Some Easy Rider and Iron Cruiser lanyard were found to have been made without orange security stitching near the carabiners, some Index Ascenders have improperly formed rivets, and some Camalot and Camalot Ultralights are missing side plates and/or do not have properly formed side plates. Only units with certain manufacturing codes fall into the scope of the recall. Black Diamond has listed the codes and provided photographs of defective units on its website to help customers determine whether they should return their product to the company for a replacement.

In February, Black Diamond issued a recall of carabiners and nylon runners that were held together with masking tape rather than spliced together.

“We recently uncovered quality issues with a very low percentage of our carabiners manufactured in the United States,” Black Diamond said in its notice Wednesday. “For Black Diamond, this is unacceptable. … As a company of climbers, we know the paramount importance of trusting your equipment. We are proactively mobilizing our entire global operation to ensure the quality of our product. You can expect that we will do this with rigor, honesty and transparency.”