Kevin_Matlock Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 Anybody have any firsthand experience with the Lowe Fader carabiners? I have a few asym D's and they look like 3/4th "normal" size biners. I have a few of them (got a deal on 'em) but they remind me of a novelty carabiner like you might find on a keychain. They are much denser alumimum than the novelty crap so they seem more legitimate. They are just small and light I'm almost afraid to rack them up! Aside from the name, the only thing stamped into them is "KG <-> 1700" along the spine oposite the gate. Simply converting the KGs to LBs works out to about 3750. But most other climbing gear is not simply rated for weight, but rather impact energy (K.newtons). Does anybody know if these safe for climbing? There is almost no info on the web on them. Quote
Alpinfox Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 3750lbs is approx. 19kN Based on that, they should be fine for climbing. However, if you aren't comfortable with them, then maybe they weren't such a great deal. Quote
rock-ice Posted October 25, 2004 Posted October 25, 2004 Faders Climbing I'm kind of confused by the size differnce, but Faders biners are lighter than many other brands. Smoothest clipping biners in my humble opinion. See if you can't find your's on their site. Where did you pick them up at, they might be designed for construction or the like? Good Luck. Quote
Kevin_Matlock Posted October 25, 2004 Author Posted October 25, 2004 Thanks for the link. Don't see mine on there though. They are smaller (I'm guessing) just to minimize weight. I can only imagine what they would be like if they were wire gates!!! And they DO have super smooth gates, that's for sure. If they really are rate for 19kN then I should be ok. They just have such little hinge pins and seem so dainty. I guess I'll just use them as backup to my backup. I got 6 of them off of ebay for something like $10... so even if I just use them to hang crap off my pack then it was still an OK deal. Quote
chriss Posted October 26, 2004 Posted October 26, 2004 Fader used the claim "Best weight-resistance ratio in the world" when making those biners. That was in ~'87. They were said to weigh in at 25gr. And currently manufacturers have only got into the low 30s (gr)in weight. chris Quote
Dru Posted October 26, 2004 Posted October 26, 2004 The probs with those small Faders are 1) weaker than a regular biner. Check again on that 1700 kg, the ones I saw were rated to 1200 did someone file off the bottom of the 2 to make it into a 7. Anyways, 1700 Kg = 17 kN not 19. The other problem is thin radius. Take a big fall thru one of those biners and prepare for serious rope damage. Quote
Kevin_Matlock Posted October 27, 2004 Author Posted October 27, 2004 Check again on that 1700 kg, the ones I saw were rated to 1200 did someone file off the bottom of the 2 to make it into a 7. The other problem is thin radius. Take a big fall thru one of those biners and prepare for serious rope damage. No, sir... the biners are practically new so it is a nice, crisp, clean "7". You give me an idea though, I should just add a "1" to the front of it making it "11700" thus increasing their strenth substantially! Oh, good point on the thin radius; hadn't thunk that. Yeah, these bad boys are going to have to be used only in special occasions (i.e. desparation, ran out of other biners, etc). Quote
Dr_Crash Posted November 2, 2004 Posted November 2, 2004 1 700 (kg) * 0.00980665204821735 (1 kg as kN on Earth's surface) = 16.6713085 (kN) drC Quote
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