Patrons unable to make reservations after being granted an exception

Patrons are unable to create additional reservations during the same time frame as extended reservations (those that break rules regarding reservation length and number of equipment items).  In BMEC reservations:

Reservations # 249 and 250 are six-day reservations for the same equipment model.   These reservations required admin approval.  Patron attempted but failed to create reservation # 1108 herself for the standard three-day checkout and for a different equipment model.  It looks like equipment restrictions are extending past a single reservation?
Using `:string` might be more considerate to db, as :text is unlimited? Unsure as to how ActiveRecord converts it to database structure.