DMM XSRE micro biners for anchors?

Anyone ever try these guys for something simple like a crevasse rescue kit? I don't know if I'm just getting old but 8g with a 4kn rating seems fine with me to set up a simple haul anchor.

Any thoughts

(yes I'm gonna die, yes nobody will miss me)

This seems like a troll but I'll post anyways, my thoughts are that looks like a toy biner, when shit goes down and you need a crevasse rescue kit, the last thing you want to have to worry about is your equipment failing. Besides, they don't look big enough to be of any use whatsoever. The camp nano is super tiny, light, and rated for climbing, it would be a good choice for when you're trying to go super light and don't need a locker.

no

Not a troll, camp nanos aren't ovals so the pulleys wouldn't line well. I've never seen anything super light in the oval department.

I've had 20 years on snow and ice and pulled a total of one person out of a crevasse. Lately I've been trying to cut some weight down so I switched out my pulleys to a micro traxion and a tibloc. I just havent found a light oval. Obviously it couldn't be used for anything else except maybe pulling a sled. My ovals are 75g, the DMM's are 8. Even doubled up it's way lighter. Keep in mind I haven't actually held one in my hand yet so I was just asking.

campsaver.com/oval-wire-car…

45 grams. Probably about as good as you're going to get for an oval. Honestly the accessory biners look too small to be useful for anything.

4kN is less than 1000lbs of force... no thanks. I'll gladly carry a few more grams for a much higher safety margin.

Yep, the BD oval wire gates were the ones I was thinking of using (of which I have many.) Then I found these DMMs and was curious if anyone had any. I'm sure I'll get a couple and when they arrive I'll decide to use the BDs. Someday though, they will make smaller biners.

Remember when we used to carry up a couple of 10mil ropes. Now I climb on a pair of Beal 8.1mil ice lines. That first rap felt like rapping on cordeletts.

Nick Turtura wrote:Anyone ever try these guys for something simple like a crevasse rescue kit? I don't know if I'm just getting old but 8g with a 4kn rating seems fine with me to set up a simple haul anchor. Any thoughts (yes I'm gonna die, yes nobody will miss me)

No way. DMM clearly states the biner is not designed for life safety.

dmmclimbing.com/products/xs…

What a great deal, they are $11 on Amazon and they only hold 4kN. You can get a real carabiner for less than that. The weight savings is not worth it to put your life in danger. You wont even feel an extra 30g in your backpack.

The XSRE makes a great dog leash.

Nick Turtura wrote:Remember when we used to carry up a couple of 10mil ropes. Now I climb on a pair of Beal 8.1mil ice lines. That first rap felt like rapping on cordeletts.

Those ice lines are nice lines. Got a pair myself and dig them immensely.

Sounds fine as long as you and your partner are aware of the risks (way i see it they are minimal) i see 0 problem with this, that being said their use is allot more limited once you're across the glacier, would probably be good for rappels.
Edit: Hauling use i really don't see the point, if you are all ready hauling you are either carrying too much to justify the ovals, or you are on some crazy hard alpine climb, they would be pretty nice for the super hard alpine climb but i don't see the point for any other situation.

Aside from the obvious risk, the DMMs are smaller than most accessory biners, only 2 1/4" long. Not sure if this is big enough for your purpose.

Just curious, why do you NEED ovals?

It should be clear to anybody and everybody that these have few if any uses in climbing. Some protection like tiny RPs are rated at less than 4kN. Seriously what is the point to save 20g?

I have a fantastic Kong keying carabiner that is rated for 1.5kN. It is strong, but it is an accessory biner that won't break. That is all.

Kong I believe makes the lightest ovals

As with everything DMM makes, the XSRE is extremely well constructed (hot forged, keylock etc), albiet obscenely expensive. If you can get over the sticker shock though, they make an excellent shoe/knife/gloves/water bottle/camera/whatever biner for multipitch for someone looking to shave every last gram. In addition to being light they are also very low profile, so they help to reduce biner clutter on your gear loops. All that being said, I likely would not use one in an anchor..

Don Ferris, that guy named seb, a 3-1 crevasse rescue hoist with pulleys is what OP is asking about

Joshua Hunt wrote:Don Ferris, that guy named seb, a 3-1 crevasse rescue hoist with pulleys is what OP is asking about

Yep, I'm not trying to freak anyone out. I just thought a 3-1 crevasse rescue anchor would never see much more weight than a body. I'm just trying to shave a little weight off a kit that I have carried over 100 times and never used.

Of course these are not meant for climbing purposes, and should never be used to catch a fall. However, I have a few bail biners on my rack that I would probably trust less than one of these DMMs to rap off of. I'm just curious if someone would rap, or set a haul anchor with these. 4kn is close to 1000lbs

Nick Turtura wrote: Yep, I'm not trying to freak anyone out. I just thought a 3-1 crevasse rescue anchor would never see much more weight than a body. I'm just trying to shave a little weight off a kit that I have carried over 100 times and never used. Of course these are not meant for climbing purposes, and should never be used to catch a fall. However, I have a few bail biners on my rack that I would probably trust less than one of these DMMs to rap off of. I'm just curious if someone would rap, or set a haul anchor with these. 4kn is close to 1000lbs

You could consider the DMM Revolvers. Those have pulleys built in so you could keep your actual pulleys at home. Another option would be to replace whatever rope you're using as a zed cord with 5.5mm tech cord. Mammut makes a device called the RescYou which you could look into. It's designed specifically for your application.

Just use the right gear. If those biners were to fail in use, the situation could go from inconvenient to life threatening really quick. You owe it to your partners to use the proper gear. Even if the kit was only for yourself, you still put your partners and the SAR team in harms way if the biners fail and you get seriously injured because of it.

I don't have any experience in crevasse rescue, but I have done many 3 to 1's on rock terrain. My typical setup is a gri-gri and a prussik with a carabiner, no pulley. I've never had any problems with this set up, up to at least 200lbs. I've also used 3 to 1 plus one (if the person is conscious and able to help.) this method makes it effortless. Is there something more to crevasse rescue that makes it much more difficult than 3 to 1's on rock? More drag going over the edge perhaps, maybe there's something I'm missing here?

Keep in mind the 4kN rating is the SAFETY rating. It is by no means the force rating at which this carabiner will break. I'm not condoning that you use these, but just consider the fact that the breaking force is higher than the safety rating, sometimes significantly.