Best 'Biner for Ice Screw Racking?

[Dane]

Following up on Layton's suggestion...what do ya think about something like this out of aluminum @ $15 a piece?

More here.

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/951119/Would_you_buy_this_racking_bin#Post951119

 

[Coldfinger]

BD Fin biner!

 

Hasn't been available for a LONG time but has a huge basket and great gate clearance. And I have a few spares to sell!

 

[Le Piston]

Also dating myself...I still use these. I think they work just fine and they won't break. Nice to see someone else has some gear as old as mine.

[sobo]

From

BD Fin biner!

 

Hasn't been available for a LONG time but has a huge basket and great gate clearance. And I have a few spares to sell!

and

Also dating myself...I still use these. I think they work just fine and they won't break. Nice to see someone else has some gear as old as mine.

There's a reason why they haven't been available for a long time. It's because they do break.

I was climbing one day with Carlos Buhler in late 1995, just before he headed out to the NR of K2 with a Polish team in 1996, and he was demoing BD's new Fin biner that weekend. He handed me a few and I led up a steep 5.10 bolted slab. Took a whipper on a Fin about 5-6 feet above a bolt, and the thing shattered and I fell to the next bolt. I was OK, and Carlos was duly surprised by the biner failure. He sent the pieces of the broken one back to the testing guy at BD (can't remember his name now). I heard from Carlos after he came back from K2 that there was a problem with the Fin biners, that they were prone to failure by design, and it wasn't long after that BD took them off the market.

 

Now, all that said, if you're just going to use it to rack screws and tools and shit, then go for it.

But others have commented about why would you have a piece of gear on your rack that wasn't full climbing strength, as it could mistakenly be employed in a protection system. For those folks, I'd say leave the Fins at home.

 

My $0.02.

 

PS: I use a couple Trango Ice Clips that came out about 12 years ago. As you can see, it's an aluminum thingy that screws to a thin backing plate, sandwiching the harness belt in between, and has a spring steel tang that keeps the screws in the clip. Pretty basic.

 

PPS: Had to add this letter from Carlos's website about the K2 NR climb. Sad...

 

[Pilchuck71]

Sobo -

Thanks for posting the link to the Carlos letter.

A very sad story indeed.

 

[Coldfinger]

Well, maybe we should call BD and see if the Fins are covered under warranty or recall if they do break........

 

I only use one to rack screws and for that it is great, probably WAY stronger than any clipper design ever made.

[sobo]

As I said above, if all you're using it for is to rack screws, tools, and shit, I say go for it.

I would not include it in any protection system, from my own first-hand experience.

 

And it's been so long since they've been off the market, I doubt highly if there is any warranty that would still be honored after all this time.

[Le Piston]

Good point about carrying something not full strength, but I only use it for racking ice screws...not clipping, and then on climbs close to the trailhead. They are certainly stronger than the plastic racking biners. If I'm doing a multiday trip, everything is full strength in case I have to bail.

[Zakzak]

Gotta be a wiregate for Ice. Regular gate carabiners get iced up and hard to open...