Your thoughts on Edelrid pure slider carabiner or other similar 'locking' carabiners?

I'm curious what your experience with the Edelrid pure slider carabiner is? Alternately, I'd appreciate thoughts on any similar 'semi-locking' carabiners (ie. a carabiner that locks but only requires a single motion to unlock, which is contrary the definition of a 'biner certified as 'locking').

Is this carabiner worth it? Does it legitimately lock, or would you still be worried about it unclipping? Can you handle it with ease with one hand?

I've read enough [freak] accident reports that I'm paranoid about carabiners unclipping on alpine draws and I'm looking for solutions besides screw-gate lockers...

Thanks,

D

It unlocks pretty easy. I use it for racking my brassies so I don’t lose $200 worth of nuts in a single swipe. I wouldn’t trust it unattended in a mission-critical spot though.

I think I'm in the minority, but I'm a big fan of the Grivel double gates. With practice they function easily with one hand too. Your unpracticed partner might hate them. I love the Lambda K7G for belay/rope-moving purposes. Otherwise the Sigma K8G Plume K3G for connector or draw purposes. I've tried the double gates with two solid gates and they are much more finnicky and harder to work with one hand as well as a snag on the nose. The combo wire gate/solid gate works well as does the double wire gate.

I've played with one but never used one in anger.

I would classify it as a very secure non-locking carabiner, and wouldn't even consider it a locker.

I use a Pure slider on my personal anchor.  I'm ok with that because it's never out of sight, there are a lot of other places I wouldn't be comfortable using it.  

I use them on my ascenders, personal anchor, racking brassies/offset nuts, cloving into the anchor. Would never use it as a belay device carabiner though. 

I like them on my locker draws because you can open with one hand. Great for securing those long runouts 

They lock fine, they are pretty easy to clip with one hand. If something caught the gate the right way it could open I suppose. Less likely to open than a non locker, more likely than a screw gate. Just depends how close to 100% you need your systems to feel happy. Ropes aren't 100% either...

Ultimately I think if your stance is insecure you have to contend with a possible fall by botching the clip mucking with a fancy locker (Slider, double gate). And if the stance is secure, you have time to twist a screw gate before moving on if you feel it is warranted (eg traverse). I would be pissed if I took a winger and got hurt because I couldn't clip my safety device that is intended to prevent an arguably less likely scenario. 

There have been some reports of the slider mechanism falling out.

see: mountainproject.com/forum/t…

I don't think they're any less secure than twist lock carabiners in most contexts. They're both "double action", but if things line up just right they can still open with one movement.

I've used it for years on my GriGri for belaying and rappelling. I don't use it for singe-device TR solo.

It's extremely easy to use one-handed. Clipping a rope into it is doable but fiddly. I've done it, but I would prefer a screwgate for that.

Their biggest problem is that the locking mechanism gets sticky and the gate doesn't close automatically. Definitely always check that it's locked when using it.

Detrick S wrote:

I'm curious what your experience with the Edelrid pure slider carabiner is? Alternately, I'd appreciate thoughts on any similar 'semi-locking' carabiners (ie. a carabiner that locks but only requires a single motion to unlock, which is contrary the definition of a 'biner certified as 'locking').

Is this carabiner worth it? Does it legitimately lock, or would you still be worried about it unclipping? Can you handle it with ease with one hand?

I've read enough [freak] accident reports that I'm paranoid about carabiners unclipping on alpine draws and I'm looking for solutions besides screw-gate lockers...

Thanks,

D

I've got a few pure sliders which I bought after reading about Wayne Crill's accident in Eldo. I mostly use them for clipping critical pieces with slings. . I also use one with my personal tether on occasion. I like them. They are certainly significantly more secure than a non-locking carabiner and probably just as good as any other locker. You do need to pay attention to make sure they close. My followers generally hate when I use them.

I’ve been using them as a first piece clip or crux clip for at least six years. Never had any issues with them and they’ve worked as advertised. I’ve taken a couple whips with no problems on crux moves. 

can't disagree with Austin on this.

as far as clipping a single strand, (assuming a gate out, basket down, orientation) I hook my middle finger in the basket, index finger lightly against the back of the gate, and use the thumb to press the rope against the slider mechanism, which both activates it and presses the gate open, allowing the rope to slip in.

Understandably, this same ease gives people concern as to how easy this could work in reverse, with the gate facing the rock. Seems to be a simple solution for that (it astounds me how many people seem flippant about always orienting their biners gate out and down), but ymmv.

I've used them for years with the only issue being that dirt and sand can cause the latch to stick to the point it won't close automatically.  Took months for that to happen though.  Keep them cleaned and lubed, they'll work fine.

Basically Pure Slider is the best tether carabiner (PAS, easy daisy, etc). It never jams. That's the only use case of Pure Slider worths mentioning.

On the negative side that slide lock is too prone to get stuck of dirt and particles. We always carry a small medical syringe filled with oil to fix slide lock issues.

In short, if you don't have any issues with screw locks there is no need in slide locks.

I use them on teathers and rappeling and belaying. am I GD??  are they not intended to be used as a locking biner?

Austin Donisan wrote:

Their biggest problem is that the locking mechanism gets sticky and the gate doesn't close automatically. Definitely always check that it's locked when using it.

This. I loved them until they got sticky 

Vaughn wrote:

I've got a few pure sliders which I bought after reading about Wayne Crill's accident in Eldo. I mostly use them for clipping critical pieces with slings. . I also use one with my personal tether on occasion. I like them. They are certainly significantly more secure than a non-locking carabiner and probably just as good as any other locker. You do need to pay attention to make sure they close. My followers generally hate when I use them.

Wow, I've never read about his accident until now. A very similar thing happened to me last season, but with only one sling unclipping, which is why I'm still here. Not related to the slider (which I love for a rap tether) but that has forced me to think about the type of carabiners I use on the rope end of alpine draws, I've found that the petzl ange seems to have the least likelihood of capturing the sling inside the gate, it also has a very lightweight gate which reduces the likelihood of gate flutter.

Christian Hesch wrote:

Seems to be a simple solution for that (it astounds me how many people seem flippant about always orienting their biners gate out and down), but ymmv.

I think the issue is that, in some alpine draw placements, the orientation of the biner can flip during a fall. It's the best explanation for some alpine draw-related unclipping accidents, and the reason I use lockers for situations in which I could see it happening.

Luke M wrote:

Wow, I've never read about his accident until now. A very similar thing happened to me last season, but with only one sling unclipping, which is why I'm still here. Not related to the slider (which I love for a rap tether) but that has forced me to think about the type of carabiners I use on the rope end of alpine draws, I've found that the petzl ange seems to have the least likelihood of capturing the sling inside the gate, it also has a very lightweight gate which reduces the likelihood of gate flutter.

Yup, one of the many accidents that has prompted me to have lockers on many of my alpine draws. Glad you're ok, did you write up the details of your fall in an accident report?

Thanks for all your perspectives! Interesting to see the range of trust people place in them. Even if I end up not liking them for alpine draws, there are still plenty of reasons to have a couple - so long as I keep them clean.

Climb safe out there y'all!

Detrick