22. Product Safety Advisory 12/10/12 IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE VOLUNTARY RECALL NOTICE - WILD COUNTRY HELIUM KARABINER AND QUICKDRAWS - December 10th, 2012 For the safety of all of our customers we are issuing an immediate recall of certain batches of the Wild Country Helium karabiner and Helium quickdraws made with these karabiners. It has been established that all of the affected karabiners were delivered after July 15th 2012. If you own a Wild Country Helium karabiner or Helium quickdraw that was purchased after the 15th July 2012, please read this notice carefully and follow the instructions “How to Identify the Product” so that you can identify whether your product is from one of the affected batches. Reason for the recall- The Helium karabiner is one of the lightest full size karabiners in the world, featuring the Wild Country patented “clean-wire” snag free nose and exhibiting an extremely high gate open strength. The Helium karabiner has been manufactured in the UK since 2004. Upon receipt of the latest delivery at Wild Country we identified anomalies with the ‘Major Axis Gate Closed Tensile Test’ results. An immediate investigation together with our long term manufacturing partner revealed a series of issues with the manufacturing process that could lead to problems in the forging of the nose of the karabiner. In those karabiners affected by the problem the gate may not engage properly with the nose causing the gate to slip off the nose under load and thereby significantly reducing the strength of the karabiner. As we cannot guarantee that the karabiners with the identified batch codes meet the European Standard for karabiners (EN12275) we are issuing an immediate notice to recall. We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause and thank you in advance for your cooperation in helping us to recover as many of the identified karabiners as possible. Our first priority is the safety of our climbing and mountaineering colleagues and customers, therefore we have taken the decision to recall the Helium karabiners with the identified batch codes. We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause and thank you in advance for your cooperation in helping us to recover as many of the affected karabiners as possible. How to identify the product- The product affected is the Helium karabiner with any of the following batch codes; MAG-T2, MMF-T2, MAH-T2, MAJ-T2, MAK-T2, MMG-T2, MMH-T2, MMJ-T2, MMK-T2. Affected products, product codes and sales dates - This recall affects karabiners delivered after July 15, 2012 so there is no need to worry if your karabiners or quickdraws were purchased before that date. Affected products made and sold after that date may have been sold under any of the following product descriptions and stock codes: Product Description Stock Code EAN Barcode - HELIUM 10mm DYNEEMA 10cm QD 13HELI10QD10 5033286030817 HELIUM 10mm DYNEEMA 15cm QD 13HELI10QD15 5033286030824 HELIUM 10mm DYNEEMA 20cm QD 13HELI10QD20 5033286030831 HELIUM 5 PACK QD (5 x 10cm) 13HELI10QD510 5033286030855 HELIUM 10MM DYN QD 5 X 13 CM 13HELI10QD513 5033286030800 HELIUM 5 PACK (2x10 1x15 2x20) 13HELI10QD5ASS 5033286030848 HELIUM 5 PACK (1x10 3x15 1x20) 13HELI10QDNSASS 5033286031388 HELIUM WIRE POLISHED 5 PACK 13HELI5 5033286030756 HELIUM - CLEAN WIRE - RED 13HELIA 5033286030527 HELIUM WIRE ANODISED 5 PACK 13HELIA5 5033286031111 HELIUM 5 COLOURS 5 PACK 13HELIA5C 5033286031838 HELIUM - CLEAN WIRE - BLUE 13HELIB 5033286031845 HELIUM - CLEAN WIRE - GOLD 13HELIG 5033286031852 HELIUM - CLEAN WIRE – POLISHED 13HELIP 5033286030510 HELIUM - CLEAN WIRE - PURPLE 13HELIPUR 5033286031869 Returning the product - It is important that you only return karabiners which are identified as having the relevant batch codes - once identified correctly follow the instructions below. Dealing with quickdraws - If you have a quickdraw where one of the karabiners is affected please remove and return only the affected karabiner and keep the rest of the quickdraw assembly ready for your replacement karabiner. If you have a quickdraw where both karabiners are affected please return the full unit to Wild Country for a like replacement. Where to send the product - Please return your Wild Country Helium karabiner either; 1. To the retailer where you purchased the karabiner. 2. Directly to Wild Country headquarters in the UK. 3. To the Wild Country or national distributor. You can find more information concerning contact addresses in “Return Addresses” Information for the return of your replacement product – Please make sure you securely attach your address, your e-mail and telephone number to any karabiner returned. Postage Costs - As a compensation for shipping cost, you will receive a complimentary Wild Country Wild Country International Via the link below you can find your nearest store or national distributor; http://www.wildcountry.co.uk/store-locator/ What will happen with my returned product? We will replace your returned product as quickly and efficiently as possible with a new Helium karabiner. This karabiner will have been produced with a revised manufacturing processes and an enhanced testing program. For more information, do not hesitate to contact us: http://www.wildcountry.co.uk/ Via e-mail : info@wildcountry.co.uk Via Phone : + 44 (0) 1298 871010 The Wild Country Quality Team Tideswell, Derbyshire 12.12/2012 Contact Information for USA Customers - Excalibur - 801.942.8471 PO Box 1007, Sandy, UT 84091 xcalibur@mindspring.com