I've had wear problems with sleeves from Elliot and New Tribe (black House sleeves). I can't see any difference in the exterior vinyl material, I believe they are the same spec. Since many of you are not having wear problems it may be that I'm being too aggressive with them. Treetramp has sent me some black sleeves to test, I will observe closely how my use effects wear.

I really like the black sleeves and continue to use them. My current strategy is that when I'm running a group climb I use the indestructible gray House sleeves. When I'm climbing on my own I use the black sleeves to take advantage of their light weight and portability.

The wear occurs when the sleeve is on the branch, the vinyl is abraded and eventually breaks down over many climbs. Dropping the sleeves to the ground doesn't seem to cause any problem. In other words it is a friction wear issue not an impact problem.
-moss