PSA..on locking biners...which I generally hate in

[Dane]

Didn't find a thread on these. Pardon me if there is one already and feel free to delete this one if so. Old news it seems but new to me. My impression is the new Grivel Twin gate really is the chit deserving one I think. I'm very impressed. Just as easy to use as Haston shows. No magic fingers here just really good design work.

 

Call it a PSA.

 

 

 

 

 

[JasonG]

Interesting, I hadn't seen it before either. Looks like once you get the hang of it, it is pretty easy to clip.

[Alan Trick]

I saw this video posted on another forum. I think it could be pretty cool, but I'm a little skeptical that Stevie Haston just has really good fingerwork and a mere mortal like I would be fumbling all about.

 

I'd really like to get my hands on one and try it out. Seeing is believing, right?

[diepj]

Are you guys thinking to use these in place of regular lockers? Or at the rope (or both?) ends of draws/runners? The video seems to promote the latter, at least as far as I watched. To me it seems pretty fussy for that. For rare situations I am really worried about coming unclipped it's not that hard to throw in a small locker. If this was used in place of standard lockers would you use it as a master point? Belay biner? Where?

[Dane]

My thought originally was it is just Haston's magic fingers as well. It aint, trust me. 2 minutes with one and you'll be just as quick as Hastion appears to be with them. I am not chitting you here. It really is that easy.

 

Was able to pick up a few wire/solid gate samples and been playing with them. Although I thought/wanted the pear solid gate versions. Used the wire/solid combo for a few days. Then today just replaced all my glacier skiing lockers with the wire/solid Twin gate version. Kinda like a Nomic..once ya try it you aren't gonna go back to something less.

 

Here is what I think of them and the impression just keeps getting better/stronger the more I use them.

 

http://coldthistle.blogspot.fr/2014/04/grivel-twin-gate.html

 

I have never, ever liked lockers. Detest them truth be told. And only used them when required, sparingly at that. That is now gonna change. Lots of places I'd like an easy to use and fail safe locker beside the typical. Racking ice screws is a start. But there are others. Bad pro, short q-draws, bolts. List will get longer I suspect once I start looking around. Certainly going to change the profile of my Spartan rack for rock, ice or alpine. If you get some extra security with little weight penalty and virtually no extra hassle, why not?

[billcoe]

 

Looks like that might be a game changer.... Thanks for that post and the heads up Dane.

[ivan]

sure don't look too hard to use - price/weight difference?

[genepires]

video shows a pear shaped biner. is there a smaller regular sized biner version?

[montypiton]

unlike Dane, I don't detest lockers - rig half or more of my quickdraws with lockers on the rope end. if placement is secure, I don't have to screw it closed... and I use lockers on ALL screamers, because of their stiffness.

quicklocks address the disadvantages Stevie demonstrates with screwlocks - speed and unscrew hazard - but I've yet to see a truly lightweight quicklock.

looks like there could be a weight-saving for me on these, but I'd have to look at the price penalty before I could commit -- cost/benefit, y'know? And I'd have to handle one and verify Dane's rave, also. I have big hands, thick fingers, and some carabiners I just can't operate efficiently. but it sure looks like it's worth checking out.

[layton]

The Edelrid Slider locking biner is also a great locker, so low profile it can fully rotate through a GriGri or through a bolt hanger. It does get crusty after a lot of time in the desert, and I bet it blows on ice routes though.

[genepires]

It does get crusty after a lot of time in the desert, and I bet it blows on ice routes though.

 

sounds like you are talking about yourself, Mike.

 

[layton]

ha! pretty much

[Jason4]

I don't really see myself with a full rack of quickdraws with lockers at both ends but the new Grivels would have helped me out last summer. I managed to clip one of the draws on my harness to the bolt end of a draw I had just placed in the awkward chimney at the top of Prime Rib and found my upward progress suddenly halted. The fall might not have been too dangerous but it would have dumped the rest of the draws that I had on that gear loop if it had broken.

 

I'll have to pick up one of these to try out, maybe they'll find their way into my gear bin.