Biners unclipping themselves from bolts

alexdavis wrote: But once you flip the top biner as described in his post, the top biner gate is now facing in the direction of travel.

The gates of both the bolt end biner and the rope end biner should be facing the same way, and you should clip them so that the spine of both biners is facing the direction that you intend to climb. Period.

This was a great thread. The content of this thread was very helpful. I just oriented all of my biners on my quick draws the same direction! The 2 links were very helpful. Way to go MP members!!!

roger fritz wrote:This was a great thread. The content of this thread was very helpful. I just oriented all of my biners on my quick draws the same direction! The 2 links were very helpful. Way to go MP members!!!

roger fritz wrote:This was a great thread. The content of this thread was very helpful. I just oriented all of my biners on my quick draws the same direction! The 2 links were very helpful. Way to go MP members!!!

Brendan Blanchard wrote: Only thing to add is that I keep a couple biners that are reversed, only for clipping pitons in corners and odd positions. That way you can clip the rope in the best way possible as well as the piton (no odd loading of the biner).

Jake D. wrote: you want to fumble trying to find those certain draws? Just flip one when you get in that situation. unless you know you will need one like that on a route it's probably best to keep them all the same way unless something comes up.

Jake D. wrote: you want to fumble trying to find those certain draws? Just flip one when you get in that situation. unless you know you will need one like that on a route it's probably best to keep them all the same way unless something comes up.

I'm thinking the spine wasn't facing you. This is one scenario of how they unclip:

You clip the bolt which is slightly to the left of your stance. The gate is closest to you. Next, the route traverses right and then up. As you move right, the gate gets caught against the nut of the bolt. ** This is the problem ** This begins to open the gate.

As you then move up, tension on the draw causes the anchor clipped biner to rotate counterclockwise (remember the gate is open). As you continue up, the biner rotates far enough for the open gate to allow the draw to completely unclip.

See this link for a good visual

alexdavis wrote:IDo wire-gates have a tendency to unclip themselves more frequently?

Alan Drennen wrote:I'm thinking the spine wasn't facing you. This is one scenario of how they unclip: You clip the bolt which is slightly to the left of your stance. The gate is closest to you. Next, the route traverses right and then up. As you move right, the gate gets caught against the nut of the bolt. ** This is the problem ** This begins to open the gate. As you then move up, tension on the draw causes the anchor clipped biner to rotate counterclockwise (remember the gate is open). As you continue up, the biner rotates far enough for the open gate to allow the draw to completely unclip. See this link for a good visual

In addition to everything already mentioned, here's another one; do not put a Petzl String or equivalent or apply tape on the bolt-end biner so as to limit the relative movement between biner and the sling/draw. If the sling cannot 'slide' along the spine of the bolt-end biner, the gate of this biner can get snagged on the hanger and open under certain situations which most likely involve the leader traversing back over hanger once above it. Petzl explicitly mentions that its String is only meant for rope end carabiner - petzl.com/us/outdoor/vertic…

I wish I could get them to clip themselves