Mountain Project Logo

Camp 22 Nanos (the best small carabiner?)

Max Tepfer · · Bend, OR · Joined Oct 2007 · Points: 3,349

FWIW the Edelrid 19 gram carabiner is significantly harder to operate than the Nano 22. (it actually feels like a micro carabiner) The best part about the 22 is that it's a micro carabiner that doesn't feel like one when you're using it. (and is a dramatic step up from the 23 which is most certainly not easy to operate)

coppolillo · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2009 · Points: 70

What Max said!

that guy named seb · · Britland · Joined Oct 2015 · Points: 236
slucas wrote: I just picked up some Photons and used them yesterday: They are very light and easy to maneuver. However, the build-quality difference is very apparent when side-by-side to my Heliums. Because of the flex in the wire gate there is more lateral play at the hinge. The mushroom caps protrude easily and sometimes by default. My Oz and Helium biners of a similar gate design do not do this (keyless nose feature not being considered here). For the price range I'd say they take the cake; time will tell if these traits I just mentioned are simply aesthetic or affect function. At the end of the day, I suppose the adage rings true, "ya git what ye pay for." So for now, I have a hand full of photons and heliums. And all these FS minis... I just keep using them because I have so many.
Everysingle wire gate I have owned does this, zero issues.
Jacob Ireland · · NY · Joined Jan 2020 · Points: 340
Rob WardenSpaceLizard wrote: I'm experimenting with a few drops of Plasti Dip on the exposed end of the gate wire, to keep it from snagging slings. Nail Polish will cover the sharp rivets and not effect function. It also lasts for years

How did this work out over time? The Nail Polish? I just picked up a bunch of Phantoms and Nanos and the noticed the sharp rivet snagging my slings. This sounds like a good trick.

Jacob Ireland · · NY · Joined Jan 2020 · Points: 340
Rob WardenSpaceLizard wrote: I'm experimenting with a few drops of Plasti Dip on the exposed end of the gate wire, to keep it from snagging slings. Nail Polish will cover the sharp rivets and not effect function. It also lasts for years

How did this work out over time? The Nail Polish? I just picked up a bunch of Phantoms and Nanos and the noticed the sharp rivet snagging my slings. This sounds like a good trick.

Petey Gil-Montllor · · Brooklyn NY · Joined Mar 2013 · Points: 1
Max Tepfer wrote: FWIW the Edelrid 19 gram carabiner is significantly harder to operate than the Nano 22. (it actually feels like a micro carabiner) The best part about the 22 is that it's a micro carabiner that doesn't feel like one when you're using it. (and is a dramatic step up from the 23 which is most certainly not easy to operate)

100% agree. The 19g is too small AND very snaggy. In my hands, the curve in the spine of the 19g makes it very hard to hold steady without smothering the opening. The Nano 22 has none of these problems. 

johndrico · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2014 · Points: 0

Camp 22 Nanos are great, lightweight biners that I use to rack all of my cams. The only downside is that they're a bit small.

I tried them for gear side on alpine draws and did not like them because I found that my larger rope side biners did not easily pass through the smaller centre of the nanos to re-triple the sling for racking. It was a bit of a hassle when cleaning. 

For my alpine draws, I've since switched to large biners for both gear and rope side. It's been a small increase in weight, but easier to use with gloves and easier to re-rack. If I only did summer rock climbing, I might have prioritized the lighter weight and resolved the racking issue by choosing a smaller rope-side biner.

Rexford Nesakwatch · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2018 · Points: 0

The Nano 22 used to be my favorite lightweight carabiner, that was not too small and finicky. But this year Black Diamond came out with the mini wire which weighs the same as the 22 (they both weight 23g on my scale) but is a little nicer all the way around, better gate action, and more colors.

The 22's gates don't get sticky and wimpy as fast as the 23s did, but I still think the gate action on the 22 is not really that inspiring and does get wimpier over time.

Edit - I originally typed BD "lightwire" but I meant to type "mini wire"

Adam Gallimore · · Greensboro · Joined Mar 2018 · Points: 410

Personally I hate how small the 22 Nanos are. I'm really cheap so I just use the trango phase carabiners. They don't really get stuck on my harness either despite not having anything over the nose. 

Hangdog Steve · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2020 · Points: 0

I bought an assortment of small biners to try them out.

Edelrid 19g: Impressive feat of engineering, but too small for me to use.

Nano 22: Very light and small (a bit too small), but with decent handling still. If lightness is your priority, I would say this is the one to get.

BD Miniwire: Very similar to the Nano 22, but with worse handling. The big difference is that the Miniwire has a slightly convex spine, and the Nano 22 has a slightly concave spine. As a result, the Miniwire feels far more likely to slip out of your grip. You can see the difference in this photo I took with the spines backlit (top: Nano, bottom: Miniwire):


DMM Chimera: Size and handling are similar to the Nano, but the nose is snagless like the DMM Alpha Trad. Like all DMM biners, the quality is top notch, and it just feels snappier. Definitely my favorite of the bunch, and possibly the best lightweight (30g) biner you can buy. The main downside is the price: about $15 per biner! This is like the luxury car of biners. Another downside is that the biner is pretty fat on the gear loop, and the nose is very wide. However, one benefit to the wide nose is that it stops it from going through the wiregates of other biners.

Cypher Ceres (rebranded Trango Phase I believe): Inexpensive ($5 each), good handling, 30g, and comes in colored rack packs of 6 or 8. The ridges make them easier to hold on to. I bought these for racking my cams.

Nick Goldsmith · · NEK · Joined Aug 2009 · Points: 460

tech tip for your sticky wire gates. Rem Oil is a Remington brand silicon based gun oil that is the best IMOP for lubing cams and sticky biners. Works well on the nanos.

Garfield LovesFood · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2020 · Points: 0

CT Fly Weight EVO with 25.7g and its "Fullsize" (like the DMM Chimmera) would be some recommendation by my side too.

That sayed: I just handled the NANO22, Edelrid 19G, the Ocun Kestrel (27g, similar size like NANO22), the Edelrid Mission (25g),

and as far as I can tell the NANO and 19G are "impossible" to use for an adult male with regular hand size even in summer times without gloves.

I would choose for the CT Fly Weight EVO for minimum, no matter how much I would need to trim the weight.

Anyways: Silicon Oil is Silicon oil - there are just different viscositys and different additives. Just get ANY Silicon Oil with a higher viscosity and you are fine - no need to spend 10x the price on some Remington product - and If I remember right many Remington Silicon Oils have PTFE Additives, which makes them more expensive.

You can get Silicon Oil online, instead of 1 oz you get a Gallon for the same price, and it does not perform less, or you can get it at car shops/stores, harbor stores, hardware stores or even Walmart, so there is definitly no need to stay with the Remington brand.

Nick Goldsmith · · NEK · Joined Aug 2009 · Points: 460

Don't really  know anything about it other than it works  better than anything else I have tried for  cams,  biners and plow  cables.   I  don't really  like it for  gun  oil.  It is fine for modern  striker fired  pistols like glock  but  no good for  1911s or  ARs  Break  free  is the medicine  for  them.  

coppolillo · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2009 · Points: 70
Nick Goldsmith wrote:

tech tip for your sticky wire gates. Rem Oil is a Remington brand silicon based gun oil that is the best IMOP for lubing cams and sticky biners. Works well on the nanos.

great tip, dude, i'll try this. my only grip with Nano 22 has been sticky gates. i used bike lube on them and it worked well enough....but silicone-based stuff sounds cleaner.....right on.

Nick Goldsmith · · NEK · Joined Aug 2009 · Points: 460

Rem oil is available in  Wall mart.  Green and yellow  spray can.  

that guy named seb · · Britland · Joined Oct 2015 · Points: 236

So from left to right

Ocun kestrel, camp 22, bd OZ dmm spectre 2

I have also used edelrid 19g's a lot but I keep loosing them. 

The 19g is by far the least usable out of all of the biners listed, fine for use on a cordelette and accessories but I wouldn't rack cams on them. 

The kestrel is not great for its weight 26g it's really small for what it is and the gate opening is pretty small I currently rack most of my cams on them, I wouldn't say they're really comparable to camps offering they really do feel so much smaller, only a bit better than a 19g.

The camp 22 is great, super easy to use handles almost as well as a full sized biner, while being crazy light, no issues with gate operation at all, recently bought a pack for more cams and will probably end up replacing my kestrels with them or more likely just use these to rack future cams. 

Bd oz sadly discontinued but imo it handles as well as a full sized biner but still manages to be a bit lighter at 28g even with that clean nose considering the weight I think dmm chimeras are pretty poor value in comparison. 

The spectre 2, full sized at 32g, my baseline handles great. 

Of course non of these handle as well as a sporty biner like a spirit or djinn.

Stephen L · · South + Van · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 166

I was curious why they discontinued the Oz. Especially when BDE doesn't seem to have a comparable replacement in their lineup (i.g. snag free light-weight biner). I have a doubles racked on those and they've been great; sure, gates stiffen over time like anything else. 

Those Chimera is one sexy little biner, but damn they're spendy. 

edit:  does BDE have a comparable replacement in their lineup? I haven't been shopping  

that guy named seb · · Britland · Joined Oct 2015 · Points: 236
Stephen L wrote:

edit:  does BDE have a comparable replacement in their lineup? I haven't been shopping  

Not currently, they've been saying "soon" since the oz was discontinued years ago. 

Buck Rio · · MN · Joined Jul 2015 · Points: 16

Why anybody uses those mini's is beyond me. They don't work for anyone with arthritis or really big hands. An if you look below, they aren't really all that much smaller/lighter than the DMM Chimera/Phantom, which is big enough to be usable but not overly heavy. 

Jared Chrysostom · · Clemson, SC · Joined Oct 2017 · Points: 5

I have the Nano 22 on all of my cams and have never once found myself wishing for a larger carabiner. Am I missing an opportunity to complain? How can I teach myself to be dissatisfied with small carabiners?

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Climbing Gear Discussion
Post a Reply to "Camp 22 Nanos (the best small carabiner?)"

Log In to Reply
Welcome

Join the Community! It's FREE

Already have an account? Login to close this notice.