Buying gear: 2 biners vs a quickdraw

[Irish Guy]

I recently moved out to the Northwest from Ohio and am pumped to find everything outdoors is here. Really - everything...especially when you're coming from Ohio.

 

I've started taking the gym climbing outdoors and have been climbing with a buddy who has all the trad gear. I'm planning on buying my own gear down the road when I've saved up enough cash or robbed a bank.

 

I started pricing gear out, and it looks like if you buy a quickdraw, it's about a buck or so more than buying 2 carabiners - but you get the dogbone runner. And some of those runners are $3 to 5.

 

Is it better(cheaper) to buy a bunch of solid quickdraws then stocking up on biners? I thought this way I can use the biners for trad; and quickdraws for sport.

[counterfeitfake]

You can often find quickdraws on sale cheap. Quickdraws are good for sport and you can use them for trad too (although it is good to have some flexible/extendable draws).

 

So, I say probably go ahead and buy some quickdraws.

[spotly]

Like you said, I bought a full set of draws for sport then move the biners over to runners for trad.

[billcoe]

Damndest thing. I didn't have any draws few years back, but twice REI has sold the whole shebang for almost the price of a single biner.

 

Last month I added to my stash: they were selling Wild Country Helium draws for $9.93. I bought 10.

 

Look around and about the best price for a single Helium Carabiner is $8 and some change.

 

They sold out quick. Wish I'd bought 20.

[Thinker]

I'd buy some draws and dedicate them to clipping bolts. This is a minor case of what can happen to biners clipped to bolts when you fall, hang dog, or top rope on them. If it gets much worse than this it can start snagging or abrading your rope and other nylon gear.

 

[Irish Guy]

Thanks everyone for the advice! Thinker, great call on using dedicated biners for bolts. I'll tape them to make sure I don't mix them up when I gradudate to leading.

 

When it comes to the biner you use for the rope - do you like wire gates or the solid/bent gates?

 

With the weight savings around 0.5oz per biner, I'm not sure if it is worth the wire gate price or not.

Edited July 12, 2007 by Irish Guy

[Thinker]

most people collect their gear over time. take that time to assess the gear on other peoples' racks when you use it. you'll find out pretty quickly if you like wire gates or not. alternatively, you could buy a couple of each and work with them for awhile until you decide.

 

there's nothing that says everything on your rack has to match. in fact, all matching gear is generally a dead give away of either a sponsored climber or a poser.

 

I have friends who spend a lot of money and effort on paring down the weight of their alpine racks, and they wouldn't DREAM of carrying a solid gate biner around. Personally, I look at those extra ounces as more training weight.

[hefeweizen]

There is another advantage to using wire gates on your rope end besides the weight savings. Whiplash of the gate. The mass of a typical aluminum gate allows it to bounce open sometimes (slap the spine of a conventional biner against your hand and listen for the click of the gate opening and closing). If the impact of your fall hits the carabiner at the exact instant that your gate is open, the strength of the carabiner is greatly reduced.

 

Wire gates don't have that problem. Also, wire gates don't freeze up as easy and don't have as many moving parts.

Edited July 12, 2007 by hefeweizen

[counterfeitfake]

With the weight savings around 0.5oz per biner, I'm not sure if it is worth the wire gate price or not.

 

Maybe, maybe not- just remember you'll probably have 20+ of these on you when you climb even a medium-length pitch. That's getting close to a pound of weight.

[spotly]

...all matching gear is generally a dead give away of either a sponsored climber or a poser.

 

Or someone who took advantage of a sale or someone who likes a certain manufactures products or who likes the idea of quickly identifying gear size based on color. Just a few of the other possibilities.

[counterfeitfake]

Man I think caring about whether other people at the crag think you're a poseur is a dead giveaway of a poseur.

[Irish Guy]

I've seen some places offer gear packages where you get a set of nuts, cams and hexes - all from one brand. But adding the individual prices up, you really don't save any money.

[Irish Guy]

I'm not too interested in matching pieces - I want to build a rack that doesn't land me in jail for robbing banks. I'm cool with eating ramen noodles to pump more money into gear, and building a rack over time.

[counterfeitfake]

If you wanna go cheap, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using tied 9/16 inch slings for your trad stuff. I also dig ABC Huevos if you're looking for some cheap stoppers. Mine have been working for 3 years.

Edited July 12, 2007 by counterfeitfake

[archenemy]

Is it better(cheaper) to buy a bunch of solid quickdraws then stocking up on biners? I thought this way I can use the biners for trad; and quickdraws for sport.

Just a quick note:

you may end up using your quickdraws for trad climbing more than you might think. I am a trad climber and I use quickdraws constantly. For example, I often attach a quickdraw to a cam (rather than just clip it to a biner at the end of the cam) when I need the extension for the roap. This is common and I am sure you have seen folks do it while climbing. This may end up being your style as well.

[billcoe]

Man I think caring about whether other people at the crag think you're a poseur is a dead giveaway of a poseur.

 

People who buy it just to have it, but do not use it are posuers.

 

People who have retired their old Eiger Ovals and misc non-matched crap and ......say...bought an entire rack (on sale) of matched Red Wild Country Heliums, those types of gear whores rule. As long as they are using their stuff. Best damn biners there are.

Psssst, wanna see my rack of red biners?

[archenemy]

I bought a gri gri just to have it. I rarely use it. I am a poseur.

[still_climbin]

I climb sport in the spring but then nearly entirely trad during summer/fall. I seem to start using a few draws on the first few trad climbs but end up with all the dogbones removed by mid summer. Draws feel too stiff for me when I use them to sling a nut or cam and I tend to want as much flexibility as I can get between the pro and the rope to keep the pro in place. So, I end up carrying a few short (12") slings instead of draws. 24" slings doubled work fine also and you have the choice of using them for longer applications. I usually rack them with 2 binners like draws.

[counterfeitfake]

here's some cheap stuff

[Irish Guy]

counterfeitfake, thanks for the link! These fit much better in my price range.

[tvashtarkatena]

Wire gates are a huge improvement, especially the new curved wire gates designed to clip easily to bolt or rope. Dey be clippin so fine, the gates are way durable and reliable; you'll be thanking yourself for springing the extra chump change for them when the sweat starts to flow. I've found great deals for wire gate quickdraws that worked out to be just over $5 a biner. Definitely worth it.