Carabiners for Alpine Draws

I use BD neutrinos. Why? Because I bought new OZ bieners to rack my cams, nuts and TRICAMS with.

I have a camp nano on my red DMM cam and it always snags my gear loops. I have small hands and that thing is still a pain in the arse sometimes.

+1 on the OZ, nice light, and a really simple elegant solution to keep them from hooking on slings. They're cheaper than the petzl and grivel none hooking 'biners. I have heard of issues with the smaller holes on ice screws with the wider hoodwire nose though.

I like WC Helium for alpine draws, red for the rope end silver for the bolts/gear end. They don't have a nose and are full size - alpine draws seem to be the source of spare krabs for belays etc. so I like them big.

I use alpha lights. Dark gray and light gray. Clean nose and light without being too small for my girly hands. On mammut contact slings. Yes that's an expensive draw. I bought quickdraws for the free dogbone and then took the dogbone off.

I use a mish-mash of different biners, whatever I had, or was convenient to buy, whenever I was adding another draw or two to my collection.

I mostly use WC Astros because they are so light but WC Heliums would be my next choice (hooded nose, larger opening). I climb with a 9.2mm rope, so the smaller opening of the Astros works for me.

I like the I-Beam tech of the WC biners because I can mark the inner channel with a dab of paint and it won't wear off.

I upgraded to mostly Astros last spring (from 12-year-old REI Light D's, some miscellaneous, and even a few solid ovals). I like 'em a lot for the rack/gear end -- lightweight, thin so they don't crowd the rack, and I find them easy enough to handle. I also like them for the rope end of 12" draws (I carry two or three), or adding to an over-the-shoulder 24" when extending a nut. But I don't like them on the rope end of tripled extendy-draws -- too snag-prone when un-tripling. Right now I've got old keylock Spirits there, but I find them clumsy too; I think it's the smooth barstock, and they tend to rotate upside down easily. Haven't decided what I want there instead.

I use Camp Photon wires on the rope side and the Camp Nsno on the clip in side for all my alpine draws. They are super light and that's what I'm looking for. Plus the Photon Wire is the easiest biner out there for clipping the rope IMHO

another vote for camp nanos/photons.

All my racking 'biners and trad draw 'biners are Madrock ultralights. Cheap and light, and to me they clip great.

rogerbenton wrote:another vote for camp nanos/photons.

BD Oz for me.

Petzl Ange is hard to beat - aside from the price part, it's a great design in my opinion.

Photons and Ozs/Hoodwires.

Although I've got enough camp nanos for a lot of draws and I use them for alpine extendables and sport draws. I do not have small hands, I have no problem clipping them. I've come to find out I like the feel of the Mammut Moses wire gates more than any other 'biners out there!

No love for Metolius?

I use Infernos and just got two Bravos to test out. Might switch everything over the Bravos. Essentially just a hair smaller than Infernos but lighter and just as smooth to clip.

I also have Trango for my cams. I like them so far, but they are so light and small that they feel like toys. Might also investigate going to them for my slings but I think I still prefer Metolius over Trango.

^^^ + 1 for Metolius Bravo wiregates. Kind of a 3/4 size, light, clip well... no problems so far. I use them for quickdraws and alpine draws. I really like them.

Edit:
I just ordered a few of the lockers too. Going to use on my longer slings due to the thread discussion earlier about the carabiner coming off of the sling. I already have a few of them for other purposes and they will work well for this application I believe.

Dylan B. wrote:I have all hotwires; I bought them before I knew anything at all, and I got a good deal on them. They're heavy, but handle well. I'm no badass, so the extra weight doesn't bother me too much.

Nanos!

They are extremely lightweight. Also the narrow head makes it easier to rack more gear. I have never had any issues with them being too small. I don't use them to anchor into to stuff, I have larger biners for that.

I just swapped out my old biners for the DMM Alpha Trads and couldn't be happier. I take that back. I could be happier if they were cheaper. Anyways, they are light, feel great and are so smooth. Like most DMM products the Trads are the bomb.