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quickdraw biners

Original Post
ze dirtbag · · Tahoe · Joined Jun 2012 · Points: 50

do you oppose biners on your draws or keep the gates on the same side?

advantages of each?

Alvaro Arnal · · Aspen, CO · Joined May 2010 · Points: 1,535
cruxslayer wrote:do you oppose biners on your draws or keep the gates on the same side? advantages of each?
It doesn't matter. At all. Go climb.
Bill C. · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Jul 2008 · Points: 110

I dont want to be "that guy", but if kind of does matter a little bit. We all know that you generally want the gate of the rope side biner facing away from the direction that you intend to climb, but what some people may not be aware of is that there have been cases of biners un-clipping themselves from bolts when the climber climbs the same direction that the gate is facing. Its pretty spooky to see it happen, and there have been a couple threads about it on here. Just to be safe, keep each biner oriented the same direction, and make sure that you are clipping it so that the gate is always AWAY from your intented direction of travel.

Everyone grab your torches and pitchforks!!!

Jeff Kent · · Sedona, Az · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 0
Alvaro Arnal wrote: It doesn't matter. At all. Go climb.
Just go climb, punter. You would think an administrator on this site might be a little more helpful. He is correct though.
Bill C. · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Jul 2008 · Points: 110

I googled it for you. Here are the top ones that popped up on the first page. Didnt even need to look on page two.

http://www.spadout.com/a/face-those-gates/

supertopo.com/climbing/thre…

books.google.com/books?id=M…

books.google.com/books?id=e…

M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911
Jeff Kent wrote: Just go climb, punter. You would think an administrator on this site might be a little more helpful. He is correct though.
I dont get it, you say the admin is not being helpful then you say he is right. I'd say he was spot on, it a personal choice. If I was worried about small issues like that I'd probably never leave my house ever.
Alan Doak · · boulder, co · Joined Oct 2007 · Points: 120

I have my gates facing the same direction, for the reasons that Bill mentioned. A wire gate on the top biner is slightly more prone to unclipping (it's happened to me once) since the flatter gate can get caught on the bolt stub a bit easier.

Also, for the top biner, the spine is stronger than the nose so it's a better to have the rope running so it naturally swings onto the spine.

It's not a big deal though, since it's not uncommon to misread a route and have your QD's sub-optimal.

john strand · · southern colo · Joined May 2008 · Points: 1,640

The admin is right.. it's not abig deal ,, get some petzl Spirits and you will be fine

Ya,ya Ya-- they are old school and heavy.. they work perfect,year after year

ze dirtbag · · Tahoe · Joined Jun 2012 · Points: 50

i have straight wire on the bolt side and opposing bent wire on the rope side. i def try to have the spine of the rope biner towards the direction i plan to climb. i had always thought it was a preference thing until i climbed with a new cat last weekend and he flipped all my draws each time he climbed. i asked why, he said it was safer.......he also said he climbed 5.12 and dog hung a handful of 5.10s

i just wanted to throw it out there and see if i had been doing it wrong or unsafe

john strand · · southern colo · Joined May 2008 · Points: 1,640

Shit- i'm pretty old and even I don't flip the biners anymore

The Ex-Engineer · · UK · Joined Dec 2012 · Points: 20

I use them opposed and have done for 17 years now. I will generally clip bolts using an inward clipping motion as I find it more efficient, so opposed draws enable the rope biner to normally be in the correct orientation.

Over the years I have been lucky enough to spend time with several of the best sport climbers in the UK and it is about 50/50 in which they prefer.

Steve McClure opposed - climber.co.uk/userfiles/McC…
Lucy Creamer same - lucycreamer.com/download/pi…
James Pearson same - jpclimbing.com/wp-content/u…
Dave McLeod opposed- 4.bp.blogspot.com/-0YD7vl5L…

Among manufacturers it is slightly different, perhaps more tend towards the same.
Opposed - DMM & Edelrid
Same - BD, WC, Camp, Grivel & Petzl

There definitely is not any safety issue and it is all personal preference as whichever you choose there are rare occasions where the bolt placement means you should switch the draw round to get the best loading.

Alvaro Arnal · · Aspen, CO · Joined May 2010 · Points: 1,535
Jeff Kent wrote: Just go climb, punter. You would think an administrator on this site might be a little more helpful. He is correct though.
Wow, Jeff Kent. Why the attitude? I was simply letting the OP know that there's no advantage/disadvantage either way; it's not worth worrying about so just go climbing with however your draws are set up. No need for name calling and attacks. I see you do agree with me though.

Oh- and I did climb today. Hope you got out too!
ze dirtbag · · Tahoe · Joined Jun 2012 · Points: 50

does anyone else have as much of a hard-on for the camp mach exp draws as i do?

The Ex-Engineer · · UK · Joined Dec 2012 · Points: 20
cruxslayer wrote:does anyone else have as much of a hard-on for the camp mach exp draws as i do?
No. They wouldn't even make my top 5.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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