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A quick, personal review of ultralight carabiners
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Recently I needed to buy a ton of lightweight carabiners to fill out and color code my alpine draws. My previous setup included a lot of old BD Ozs as well as a mix of nano 22s, alpha trads, and other random carabiners I bought or found. In preparation for doing the cathedral traverse and in conjunction with doing big general gear overhaul new slings/runners/softgoods etc I decided to color code all my draws to 60mm orange, 120mm pink. Due to a really good deal I was able to get on Cypher gear I took a chance and ordered a ton of the Mydra Ultra Carabiners. Listed at 24 grams they are two grams per carabiner more then the nanos that are the mainstay of my racking carabiners. Overall I am pretty happy with that as they have a slight bent gate and a textured spine that make clipping a bit easier than the nano 22s. I have climbed with small carabiners long enough I don't mind them, but the added ease may well be worth the 2 oz they added over nano 22s, though I am not 100% on that yet as I only have 2 pitches using them so far.  Quick general thoughts I have about each carabiner I have to compare: Nano 22s: Actual weight 23 grams. Light, inexpensive. The hook for the gate is very well designed in that it tucks in with minimal chance for snagging.I have no issues with pulling gear from my arcteryx harness. Maybe snagging would be a problem if you have really narrow diameter gear loops but this is good as it gets for something that isn't a no hook nose like Helium/oz/angs etc. Clipping is decent but not amazing. 6/10 for the size. Have had a few get pretty sticky but I use them heavily in sand and the alpine so it is hard to blame them. These are a gold standard for a good ultralight carabiner for alpine use.  Cypher Mydas Ultra: Actual weight 25 grams Handles bigger than nano "22s" and it is. Gate opening is about 1mm bigger upon inspection (dunno about listed size) and its 2-3 mm taller. Has nobs on the spine that give some extra grip. Bent gate also makes it easier to clip. Clipping/gate tension is 8/10 for the size. Smooth/sold resistance with a bit of let up at the end. The only functional way that the nano wins is the gate hook. The Mydas is every so slightly less recessed so would be more likely to catch on a gear loop ect. Its less than 1mm difference ... and I haven't notice it is practice so far... but not much use yet. Only other complaint (and it is silly) is the anodizing is too shiny. It looks a bit ugly compared to a nice matte appearing anodization, imo. Mydas:  Nano:  Mydas:  Nano  Metolius Mini fs II: actual weight 24. Holy shit these things absolutely suck. I am so glad it was a booty and I paid zero money for this POS. Smallest gate, smallest outer dimensions (hard to handle), gate/nose hook is big and not recessed so likely to be hard to clean or take off a gear loop. Weighs MORE than a nano 22. Gate feels fine but not great. I hate this thing. I am going to use it as a bailer asap. Overall 2/10  Edelrid 19g I cant find the carabiner for a photo atm and am lazy. This thing is so tiny. Clipping sucks bad. Way too expensive (12$ ?). Funny to use on route and make your partner think you used a keychain carabiner. Non-recessed nose hook so hard to get off my gear loops. Overall these are only notable for their extreme low weight. 40 of them would save about 1/4 lb over nanos. If you have lots of money to blow they could be good cam racking carabiners but I would not use them on draws. I use mine to hold a knife.  Black Diamond Miniwire: actual weight 24g These are not bad tbh, but I see zero reason to buy one over a Nano or Mydas. MSRP is similar to other similar carabiners but it is inferior. That said I don't hate it and it perfectly passable. I bought them for the pink and just to try out. Handling and size is middle of the road and not much different than the nano. Same gate size. Gate feels like ass… like all of BDs wiregates. Stiff all the way through to the spine as you depress it. Maybe this is a bit safer and less likely to freeze up? Clipping is meh due to this AND the wire gate doesn't have a bend back at the tip like the nanos. The bend helps the rope slip past the gate easier and its absence is felt. Overall these are OK for the weight but unless you want a special color skip (and then just paint it lol).. I wouldn't buy these over a mydas or nano even at a significant price difference, but I won't replace them either as they are OK  Black diamond OZ: Actual weight 28 grams These fall under the lightweight but not ultralight category in my mind and were a major part of my initial rack as I couldn't stand the nose getting caught on my gear loops as a new climber. Too gripped to deal with that bullshit! The big thing with this carabiner is the blocked off nose hook. It works well! The downside is the MASSIVE nose which can be hard to clip into things sometimes. The Helium/Alpha trad nose setup is a bit less bulky (and a bit heavier). Once upon a time these were by far the cheapest way to get a protected nose carabiner. They were discontinued for awhile and now that they are back they are almost as expensive or worse compared to a helium which is 4 grams heavier but it is a full size carabiner and MUCH better in every metric. General use thoughts include: Middle of the road handling. Overly stiff with increasing stiffness as you push the gate in... which feels meh and adds drag while clipping. Huge nose is actually a problem sometimes. Handling is fine. Given the cost, meh handling/clipping, and weight I would personally get a helium over these any day now.  Overall thoughts: 1. Most carabiners are 1 gram heavier than listed. Seems common in other threads I have seen. 2. BD makes unimpressive wire carabiners imo. 3. Cypher makes a really nice carabiner which surprised me. I bought a few screwlock firefly 2s as well for an ultralight alpine locker (38 grams!) 4. Nano 22s are really good for the price/weight. gates get sticky easier so require cleaning/lube every year or so if used in dirty environments. 5. Recessed nose hooks are 100% required features in a wire gate. Full hoods aren't. (I sport climb on heliums/OZs)  Conclusion: If you want a slightly easier to clip ultralight carabiner the Mydas is a good option. This is the first Cypher equipment I have purchased and I am impressed. That said, if weight is your priority the nano's are really good. I would stick to nanos for racking cams since they are lighter and clipping is generally a non issue unless you carry single carabiner draws around your chest. |
Isn't that the Helium 2 though? The Helium 3 is 10 grams heavier. I'd probably go for the Camp Dyon these days. |
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Ah you are right. Seems the new heliums are heavier than mine! As a funny side note I got inspired to write this after reading the outdoorgearlab review of the miniwire. It compares it to a bunch of carabiners in the 30+ gram range and makes it sound like it is some uniquly light and amazing carabiner. “We think the Black Diamond MiniWire is the best lightweight option out there. When we say light, we mean really light, as a single carabiner weighs in at a mere 23g, which is 7g lighter than its next closest competitor” https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/climbing/carabiner/black-diamond-miniwire Not a single mention of actual competitors in a similar weight/size class. Talk about stacking the deck lol. Usually I trust outdoorgearlab but one might be tempted to think this was paid advertising. |
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I have been climbing on Cypher equipment for years. I bought their firefly II quick draw packs on sale when I was building my first sport rack and then bootied the carabiners when I wore out the rubber keepers in the draws. They are now on my alpine draws with Cypher slings and I am still very happy with there performance. Out of all the carabiners I own they have been used the most and show the least amount of wear compared to my CAMP and BD carabiners. Cypher is the only brand that I find myself going back to whenever I start looking to replace hardware For the last few years I have been super happy with their equipment. They don't try to be flashy, make quality equipment, and hit the sweet spot for me with price/weight/performance. I also like the shiny over matte finish but that's just my preference! |
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Even if you’re having a great day, it’s worth bailing just to get rid of those Metolius biners. |
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Those Metolius biners are super fat and rack like shit. I use Camp nanos for all my cams for racking, nice and tidy. And the 3 times a year I direct clip to them they're easy to operate.Nanos are great. |
Nick Baker wrote: AFAIK bent gate decreasing a breaking strength of a carabiner. |
Yury wrote: the BD mini wire and Edelrid 19g have the lowest MBS of all the carabiners listed at 20kn. The Mydas Ultra and Nano 22 have an MBS of 22kn. |
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Mydas Ultras are great carabiners. I have a substantial number of them on my rack and have been very happy. I've slowly been replacing Mammut Wall Light biners with Mydas Ultras mostly due to being able to get a better deal on Cypher. |
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IMO, the Petzl Ange S is the best small / lightweight carabiner currently available for draws. It takes a little bit of getting used to, but I think the hook free nose and more secure gate is easily worth the increased weight over other lighter options. |
Yury wrote: I had not heard that, but even so its an absolute non issue. MBS is 22kn which impossible to produce in any normal climbing scenario and as mentioned upthread is one of the strongest in class. Even if it was lower it would still not be an issue. short of factor 2ing on a dyneema pas to dyneema anchor with a single carabiner in the system attached to a bolt you aren't breaking one of these with a closed gate. |
Karl Henize wrote: These have always looked nice and I would buy one over the oz to test if I feel the need to go back to snagless gates. I find snagless gates 100% necessary for sport climbing but less so for moderate alpine climbing which is my primary focus. Weight savings are are appreciably more useful for me in that context. As an aside, I am glad everyone feels the same unbridled hatred of the metolius carabiners that I do. I would rather carry heavy ovals lol. |
Nick Baker wrote: I use the metolius mini on my Rocky Talkie. It's more compact than a lot of others so the radio rides a bit higher. It's also such a pain in the ass that I'm confident it will never accidentally unclip and fall off my pack. |
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My alpine draws have ancient, heavy carabiners probably from the 80s on them, many of which weigh close to 50 grams. I've been wanting to upgrade to lighter biners for them and wasn't sure what I should get. This has been very helpful, thank you. |
Yury wrote: All carabiners*, regardless of gate style, are required to meet the same strength standard of 20 kN in the closed-gate configuration (see UIAA-121/EN12275). Any rated carabiner will be sufficiently strong for normal climbing scenarios, regardless of gate type. (*Caveat: oval carabiners have a different minimum strength, 18 kN Specialty via ferrata tether carabiners also differ.)  Several wire gates with bends in them in this video, they're all plenty strong: https://youtu.be/Ts5bK_luHl8 Food for thought: at 20+ kN, the (formerly) bent wire gate might be pulled straight due to high tension load. |
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completely agree with this review! Nano 22's are probably the best lightweight, and then others trade better functionality for more weight. Also worth checking out are the Edelrid Mission carabiner, 29 grams for a clippy solid gate. I was only able to afford them by buying second had because they are expensive as hell. |
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I generally rack the heliums on my alpines and trango phase or heliums on my cams, but if i want to be lighter for a long alpine ill swap everything out for the petzl ange s. Ive been happy with this system as i also manage to snag carabiner hooks on everything. I do use dyons for gloves, jackets, etc as their nose is snagfree and extremely thin. Very handy for those tiny zipper cords and similar. Also those metolius biners suck |
Nick Baker wrote: I think they are good racking biners. The gates and nose feel nicer than comparable carabiners like bd litewire and the size sits compact on the harness. I agree it feels too small for a dedicated draw or sport biner, but they aren’t designed for that. Realistically you are taking both racking biners (which get the occasional rope clip) and draws as well, so it doesn’t make sense to review a carabiner as needing to fulfill both uses |
Mitch L wrote: I've seen more FS minis on key rings than I have racks. I think they just suck. |
Mitch L wrote: Oh I hate mine for racking just as much as I hate it for draws, too likely to snag gear loops. The nanos are lighter, easier to handle, and have a less snaggy nose. If it was lighter I might be more impressed. If they protected the hook on the nose I would like it most likely. I agree that the gate feels better than the litewire, but then again just about everything does lol |
Mountain Rodent wrote: Yeah it seems to be a very personal thing! my hands are average and I have no problems using nanos, but I can see how some might. They save me around 2+ lbs over full size biners and my focus is alpine climbing so thats a huge deal. For regular trad, particulary at higher grades I can see the trade off being less worthwhile for many. |
