Wiregate carabiners

[Dr_Crash]

Hi,

 

I'm looking at getting a few wiregate carabiners for two applications:

 

- Lightweight alpine draws.

- Racking.

 

I am a big fan of the keynose carabiners (Petzl, some BDs and some Kong IIRC but I don't have Kongs). For the draws, I'd like to get something similar, at least on the gear end of things.

 

It looks like DMM has a wirelock design that would do the trick, but I found a thread where people agreed that this is not a great design. Why? The weight isn't that great either I think (41 g).

 

Where can I see the Wild Country Helium Cleanwire around Seattle? Looks like another clean design with a wiregate.

 

So that was for draws... For racking, what's most important? Weight and ease of racking/unclipping? For wired nuts, looks like a clean nose would be good too.

 

drC

[Dru]

There is currently a recall on the WC Heliums.

 

A clean nose when racking can lead to dropped nuts. The BD oval wiregates are good. Ovals have more space to rack on.

 

I like the DMM wirelocks. The gate has this half-twist which makes some fumble-fingered people dislike it. Really though the ProWire is just as good.

 

The BD Livewire is another good wiregate. I like to make a quickdraw with a ProWire on the top (gear) end and a livewire on the rope end.

[specialed]

On the other hand, DRU, notched nose can lead to nuts getting hung up when you're in a tight spot. But I drop shit all the time so I shouldn't talk.

 

MC - Nelson carries all that shit.

[Bill_Simpkins]

I have a rack of Trango Superflys (30g) and a rack of BD Neutrinos(36g). The Trangos actually feel more "better".

I love them. I have them on my alpine draws too with 48", 24" and 12" Mammut Dyneema.

[Greg_W]

Neutrinos are too small for my hands. I bought some great Mammut wiregates at ProMountainSports; I like them and they are a great price.

[Rafael_H]

Keylock is superior in general, especially on the gear (not rope) side of a draw and for racking. Wait for Heliums I'd say. Dropping can occur with any 'biner. But, the devil is the details.

 

DMM Wirelock's don't fit through many chains, nor do Heliums, not a problem in alpine except for old bolt hangers, so mix with other kind. I prefer BD Hotwire, most comfortable wiregate, superb in versatility for ice climbing.

[selkirk]

Go cheap. Trango Lite weights (36 gms and i got a bunch on draws earlier this year at $4.50) or the Mammut's at Pro-mountain sports (same design but $5.25) They've worked great all year for draws and what not. Agree about racking though, definitely want something with a reasonably stiff gate for nuts (ovals etc) but i've used BD oval wiregates and a few of the Trangos for racking, tri-cams, hexes and cams on they all work fine.

I don't know why but I also don't seem to have nearly as much problem with the catching the nose notch on the wiregates as on the ovals.

 

my 2 bits.

[Dr_Crash]

I don't know why but I also don't seem to have nearly as much problem with the catching the nose notch on the wiregates as on the ovals.

 

The notch is much shallower on wiregates.

 

Thanks guys for the input. I think that I'll get a mix of wirelocks (I like them, what can I say) and Hotwires or Livewires for my alpine draws. I like the Posiwire draws and could get some for sport and crag and switch out the dogbone for a sling when going alpine (assuming I can get organized, that is ).

 

The nose on the wirelocks is huge, is that why they won't go through chains? That's a bummer. You'd think somebody would test that during design...

 

drC

[Coondog]

Frenchie-

 

I rack my cams and slings with BD Neutrinos -- they're light and have a much more substantial rope-bearing surface than most of the other 'small' wires. SierraTradingPost and some other sites seem to occasionally have blowouts on the blemishes of these that you can buy by the box for cheeap.

 

And I hate it when my nuts get hung up in a notch , so i rack nuts/hexes on keylocks.... works well for me...