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BD HoodWire Carabiner size?

Original Post
Mark Thesing · · Central Indiana · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 60

Does anyone know if the BD HoodWire carabiners are the size of the Neutrino or are the size of the HotWire? In other words, are they full size or smaller? Also your opinion of them?

Cor · · Sandbagging since 1989 · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 1,445

Full size.

They are nice, but I like the Oz hood better...

Ryan N · · Bellingham, WA · Joined May 2009 · Points: 195

Full size. I have about 60 of them and love em. They are kinda of big now, but when they came out they were cutting edge. I'm slowly switching to the WC Helium.

Noah Haber · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 78
Ryan N wrote:Full size. I have about 60 of them and love em. They are kinda of big now, but when they came out they were cutting edge. I'm slowly switching to the WC Helium.
You realize that the Helium cam out almost a decade before the hoodwires, right?
Ray Pinpillage · · West Egg · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 180
shoo wrote: You realize that the Helium cam out almost a decade before the hoodwires, right?
And the Helium is still better. The hoodwire sucks.
ChefMattThaner · · Lakewood, co · Joined May 2013 · Points: 246

Hoodwires are very similar size to the hotwires. I also prefer the oz hoodwires as they are smaller and lighter but not so small they are hard to use. Also the hoodwires are not a good choice for quickdraws with certain dogbones, especially the petzl spirit dogbones. The caribiner is too wide at the bottom and does not rotate freely within the dogbone. The oz does not have this issue.

Ryan N · · Bellingham, WA · Joined May 2009 · Points: 195
shoo wrote: You realize that the Helium cam out almost a decade before the hoodwires, right?
I wasn't saying one was newer than the other, just switching.
Mark Thesing · · Central Indiana · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 60

Thanks for all the input. I'm in the process of building a rack after a 30 year hiatus from climbing. Carrying a rack full of cams and carabiners with wire gates is kind of foreign to me. With that, I’m looking for something that is close to what I’m used to and some of the new small carabiners just didn’t fell right to me. I think I’ll pick up a few of the hoodwires and see how they fell.

Linnaeus · · ID · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 0

Hoodwires I would say are "almost" full size. They are certainly smaller than the new and old hotwires. If you like full size biners, which a lot of folks do, check out Wild Country Helium or Nitro biners (the Astro is their smaller cousin) which are excellent. DMM also has some great full size biners, i.e. the Thor. Great for use with gloves, although nowadays I'm so used to small biners I don't mind anything Oz size or larger. Metolius FS Mini is still too small.

M Bageant · · Los Angeles, CA · Joined Apr 2014 · Points: 70

For racking biners I've found myself in love with the DMM Alpha Light. They're what I'd call 3/4 size biners (bigger than Neutrino, smaller than Positron).

teece303 · · Highlands Ranch, CO · Joined Dec 2012 · Points: 596

The difference in size among all three isn't huge.

left (bottom?): Neutrino
middle: Oz Hoodwire
right (top?): Hoodwire

The Hoodwire is noticeably thicker (and thus stronger than the Neutrino), bit its other dimensions are not hugely different (although it is bigger).

The Oz is the weakest of the bunch in exchange for lightweight.

Black Diamond wire gate carabiners.

Max Forbes · · Colorado · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 108

Love love them them on my draws. Super solid and stand up to a beating.

reese butler · · Paris, FR · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 65

My whole rack is on hoodwires, and it starts to take up quite a bit of space on my gear loops, the nose is a little to wide. Slowly want to switch to dmm alpha trads( dopest biner ever) but it's expensive. Worth the quality and support of one of the few remaining companies of that in house production quality and heritage. Starting to come around to keylocks too

Linnaeus · · ID · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 0

Reese, re: DMM Alpha trads, I think these are actually made by Wild Country not DMM, so they aren't truly "in house" production. Wild Country of course has had the Helium clean wire nose for a while now, which is essentially the nose of the alpha trad. Both DMM and Wild Country make excellent climbing hardware. Too bad WC don't make a smaller Helium the size of the WC Astro biner.

Noah Haber · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 78
Linnaeus wrote:Reese, re: DMM Alpha trads, I think these are actually made by Wild Country not DMM, so they aren't truly "in house" production. Wild Country of course has had the Helium clean wire nose for a while now, which is essentially the nose of the alpha trad. Both DMM and Wild Country make excellent climbing hardware. Too bad WC don't make a smaller Helium the size of the WC Astro biner.
I think you have that backwards. DMM has been manufacturing many, if not most, of the complex shaped hot-forged carabiners for Wild Country and other brands for years, including the WC helium. DMM is almost certainly manufacturing all of its carabiners in house.
BigFeet · · Texas · Joined May 2014 · Points: 385

It looks like teece303 answered the OPs question best with a photo showing comparison.

The DMM Alpha Trad are, by far, my favorite. Most of my rack consists of Metolius Bravo wiregates though (quickdraws and cams). They are more of a 3/4 size carabiner. I like them.

I use the DMM Alphas to rack my stoppers/nuts. I can tell quickly and without looking which way the gate opens just by feel. No snag nose - works fantastic.

DMM carabiners freaking rock, but as others have stated, pricey.

Rob WardenSpaceLizard · · las Vegans, the cosmic void · Joined Dec 2011 · Points: 130

Big Feet, you actually have that backwards... DMM produces the WC Helium, the Hot forged lobes for the Helium friends, and a few other odds and ends for Wild country. most of Wild country's hard goods is now manufactured in Asia (nirto astro biners ect). whatever is not is made by DMM. Wild country still does most of their soft goods, Sling runners the like in the UK. DMM even prdouces goods in the UK for Petzl Mammut and other brands using DMM's Hot forging process and dies.

BigFeet · · Texas · Joined May 2014 · Points: 385

Rob Warden, Space Lizard,

You got the wrong guy. It was a set-up - framed I tell yeah! :)

reese butler · · Paris, FR · Joined Feb 2013 · Points: 65

See DMM is the dopest

Mark Thesing · · Central Indiana · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 60

I think I'm seeing that the DMM Alpha Trad biners are full size. Is that correct?

M Bageant · · Los Angeles, CA · Joined Apr 2014 · Points: 70
Mark Thesing wrote:I think I'm seeing that the DMM Alpha Trad biners are full size. Is that correct?
Yep, Alpha Trad are full size, Alpha Light are 3/4 size.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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