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Omega Pacific Doval Carabiner

Original Post
NYClimber · · New York · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 85

Does anyone have any experience with these carabiner's?

OP Doval

Ken Noyce · · Layton, UT · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 2,648
NYClimber wrote:Does anyone have any experience with these carabiner's?
I absolutely hate them, they take the worst qualities of an oval, and combine them with the worst qualities of a D and bring that all into the single worst biner ever made (IMHO).
NYClimber · · New York · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 85

OK thanks.

highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion · · Colorado · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 35

That sounded harsh but the reality is, that probably wasn't harsh enough.

I would rather spend a day indoors watching conspiracy theories on youtube than spend a day climbing with dovals.

NYClimber · · New York · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 85
nicelegs wrote:That sounded harsh but the reality is, that probably wasn't harsh enough. I would rather spend a day indoors watching conspiracy theories on youtube than spend a day climbing with dovals.
Wow! That's rough dudes! LOL.
Ray Pinpillage · · West Egg · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 180

OP makes some of the heaviest caribiners on the market.

Gif Zafred · · Pittsburgh, PA · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 5

When I first started climbing, I chewed through two Omega locking ovals in only a few top rope sessions. Put a bad taste in my mouth about the company. Call it harsh, but I wouldn't trust my life to Omega gear.

cfuttner · · Chicago, IL · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 5

I use them as racking biners. They where really cheap and light enough. Don't use them for anything else though.

NYClimber · · New York · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 85
John Wilder wrote:OP doesnt make the Doval anymore, fwiw. They make a similar carabiner called the Lava, but the Doval went away a couple years ago, i think.
John,
Campmor is still selling them!

????
Larry S · · Easton, PA · Joined May 2010 · Points: 872

Ignore the name, they're a symmetric D with a wiregate. Kinda Pointless, to be honest. If you want a good racking biner for nuts/tricams/etc get a real oval. If you want biners for draws or racking cams individually, get some normal wiregates so you can tell the orientation at a glance.

randy88fj62 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2010 · Points: 291

I do not like the two I own because you cannot at a glance tell which end is the opening end. If you get them super cheap, sure buy them, then maybe paint the opening end for visual cue?

Larry DeAngelo · · Las Vegas, NV · Joined Nov 2002 · Points: 5,285
NYClimber wrote:Does anyone have any experience with these carabiner's?
I like 'em. Probably them most versatile carabiner out there. A few are part of my "don't leave the ground without them" gear. Used them just last weekend for a carabiner brake while on a minimalist gear day.
harpo-the-climber · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 300

I have heard of people using them as light weight oval for aid.

will smith · · boulder · Joined Jan 2008 · Points: 35

Looks like they would be easy to cross load and therefore fail.

Paul Trendler · · Bend, Oregon · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 111

I never had any cross-loading issues with them more than any other carabiner, but the orientation did goof me up a bit. For a few weeks I was using them on alpine draws, but as mentioned above, i found myself trying to clip in to an upside down biner. My dovals are currently in use for hanging my rock rings off the trusses in my garage, and tying down my canoe to my car.

NYClimber · · New York · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 85

I bought 1/2 dz of the Dovals but have not used them yet per se - so I guess I will find out first hand what I think of them. I have not had any issues with Omega 'biners thus far. I put them on my dogbones for Sport Climbing and plan to try them out this week on some bolted Sport routes and see what I think of them.

Mike · · Phoenix · Joined May 2006 · Points: 2,615
kennoyce wrote: I absolutely hate them, they take the worst qualities of an oval, and combine them with the worst qualities of a D and bring that all into the single worst biner ever made (IMHO).
+1. I got 2 for free a long time ago & really wanted to like them. Eventually I had to face the reality that they suck at just about everything except use as a leaver 'biner.
NYClimber · · New York · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 85
Mike wrote: +1. I got 2 for free a long time ago & really wanted to like them. Eventually I had to face the reality that they suck at just about everything except use as a leaver 'biner.
No kidding! Gee - def discouraging for sure!
Will S · · Joshua Tree · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 1,061

When these things came out, over 10 years ago, they were relatively cutting edge. Very light for the day, wiregate, unique geometry for a light weight biner. A good, but not great, biner in it's time

But that was then, designs have moved on for the better.

Around the same time, they (Omega) had some funky shaped lightweight wiregates called the JC. I still have some of these kicking around. They managed to make a very light biner (again, for the time) with a big fat rope bearing radius, by channelizing down the spine of the biner. Kinda scary looking honestly, but again pretty much cutting edge for the day.

Petsfed 00 · · Snohomish, WA · Joined Mar 2002 · Points: 989

I really think the doval was designed by a comittee who had heard in broad strokes the advantages of oval- and d-shaped carabiners and thought "we can do that" without ever bothering to ask what design choices actually led to the advantages. Instead, you've got an ovalized exterior but the interior is still d-shaped, so there's shifting. Then they make sure the nose isn't very prominent, so its hard to tell which end is the hinge of the gate without looking at it. The only thing they got right was to give it a straight spine with a nice rounded exterior, but then they made it out forged, shaped stock so its still not as good for a carabiner brake.

The doval is literally everything that could go wrong in carabiner design that still results in a carabiner that passes UIAA certification.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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