WC Helium 3.0 Carabiner Update: Slimmer Nose but Heavier

Recently realized Wild Country updated the Helium biners.  They slimmed up the nose (good) at the expense of 5g of mass (less good). My buddy emailed WC to ask for more info and this is the response:

The weight difference is accurate. The 3.0 helium has an enhanced nose design, so basically it is more narrow.  In order to still have the hood nose design, and make it more narrow they had to elongate the structure of the nose to ensure the strength would be the same, so there was a few grams of added material to improve the design.

All other key dimensions appear to be the same as before. I'm surprised the nose change would lead to a 15% mass increase... I'd be curious to know how much slimmer the nose actually is.

Helium 2:
33g

Helium 3:
38g

Take a look at the messages following Helium 2.0 Quickdraw in mid page. It might be helpful. 

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/118199620/great-online-deals-of-2020?page=36

My friend noticed that on my all my Helium draws, if you run your finger across the nose, the edge is actually really sharp.  It was the same on 10 draws so it isn't an issue with wear on any one piece I have.  I do think it would be difficult to orient the rope or sling in a way that it would rub, but seemed like a big miss on the manufacturing end to have a sharp edge on a carabiner nose.  It isn't bad enough to want to replace them, the heliums are my favorite non lockers and I'm a big WC fan in general - but has anyone else observed this, curious if it was resolved in this update.

The Helium 3.0 is heavier and it’s a bummer. The nose difference to me hasn’t been noticeable. The 3.0 is noticeably thicker in the I-beam recess, and does feel heavier in the hand. It also lost 1kn in ‘open-gate’ strength. Their website has an explanation Saying the change was to make the gate/nose more secure, but it seems like DMM just went cheap if you ask me.
[2.0 on the left, 3.0 on the right]

If I were you I’d snag you the 2.0s while they’re still around and discounted. 

If the make a lighter carabiner than the helium they should call it hydrogen

Joseph Brody wrote:

If the make a lighter carabiner than the helium they should call it hydrogen

Those ones will explode at some point.

Bryce Ungersma wrote:

The Helium 3.0 is heavier and it’s a bummer. The nose difference to me hasn’t been noticeable. The 3.0 is noticeably thicker in the I-beam recess, and does feel heavier in the hand. It also lost 1kn in ‘open-gate’ strength. Their website has an explanation Saying the change was to make the gate/nose more secure, but it seems like DMM just went cheap if you ask me.
[2.0 on the left, 3.0 on the right]

If I were you I’d snag you the 2.0s while they’re still around and discounted. 

The Helium hasn't been made by DMM for a while. The Helium 3 is made in one of the many Taiwanese factories that make climbing gear for several brands.

Khoi wrote:

The Helium hasn't been made by DMM for a while. The Helium 3 is made in one of the many Taiwanese factories that make climbing gear for several brands.

Not uncommon in 2020.  Many brands have have globalized manufacturing.  I'm new to the climbing industry, but I would assume that US and UK brands are doing the majority of their manufacturing globally.  The opposite would be a surprise to me.  

Oops I meant Wild Country* anyways, not DMM. 

Helium is made in Taiwan. Most Grivel, Petzl and DMM are still made in Italy, France and Wales. 

But don't be fool, Taiwan makes very good biners. 

Marc-Olivier Chabot wrote:

Helium is made in Taiwan. Most Grivel, Petzl and DMM are still made in Italy, France and Wales. 

But don't be fool, Taiwan makes very good biners. 

Petzl?  France, Malaysia, all over...

Kurth says the company owns several factories in France and also works in other countries. "We have manufacturing in Malaysia, but like any global company we have lots of contractors all over the world."   companyweek.com/article/pet…

and mountainproject.com/forum/t…

Joseph Brody wrote:

Petzl?  France, Malaysia, all over...

I was talking about biners. I think 99% of all the harness in the world are made in Asia.