UKC

With all the benifits of Wire Gates being for the most part lighter stronger faster etc etc, and the only down side I can see being the way the gate becomes invisible when you a distance a way. I was wondering why people still buy solid gate non locking Karbs? Answers on a quickdraw please.

In reply to Ricky Martin:

Perhaps the feel more comfortable with a solid gate rather than a thin flimsy looking wire gate. Even if they're the same rating or stronger it might be a mind of matter issue.

In reply to Ricky Martin: Some people find them easier to clip.

In reply to Ricky Martin: I use clean-nose types for racking.

In reply to Ricky Martin: I use them because they are cheap.

In reply to Ricky Martin:

Because they're cheaper and nicer to touch and look better... but mostly the first reason.

In reply to fishy1: Are they really any cheaper though? Needlesports have DMM Prowires for £3.99, we're selling off Faders Plus Wires for £2.98, Joe Browns has Clog Wiregates at £3.50, field & trek has WC Techgates at £4. You're certainly not saving a great deal...

In reply to Ricky Martin: stronger??? faster?? how come??

In reply to Ricky Martin:

for racking nuts - try putting a nut on your wire gate and twisting it. You will find that if you twist a certain way it will come off, with a solid gate that wont generally happen. Think about the last time you had to do a bit of good old fashioned gritstone chimney thrutching, I have seen nuts fall of people's harnesses in this situation most probably because of the wire gate they had them racked on.

for sport climbing - since weight is not so much of an issue (no rack to carry) it makes sense to go with a carabiner on your quickdraw that feels the best and is quickest to clip. Also sport quickdraws take a lot more abuse on the whole, taking more frequent falls and being clipped to metal shredding bolts. For this purpose I have a set of simple solid gate (DMM Proclip) quickdraws and they are very nice to clip, and chunky enough to take the abuse.

for anything else - wire gates all the way!

In reply to sihills: stronger - Because i read it some where think it was either on needlesports web sight or in High? The Steel wire is stronger than and alloy gate but as the Krab bodys originally were just solid gates bodies with a wire gate so manufactures didnt change the moldings as it was too expensive. for example WC Wild Wire and Blaze

I think it was .........
The gate pin is the weak point that fails in a lab and as that is removed the closed strength is high

Faster - kind of fit with the lighter stronger bit

In reply to Ricky Martin: never ever heard before that they are stronger.

plus points for me are that they are lighter and dont freeze in winter, but to be honest im not climbing hard enough to care whether I have to carry a little less weight.

I like my solid gates, they do everything, they look nice, and they are alot nicer to clip either onto bolts or onto the rope.

In reply to rock gobbler:

Yes it will I've just tried it

If the Nut twists on to the gate with the krab up side down and it gets pulled doent make any difference what the gate is made of

In reply to sihills: I did read it in a mag but it was Mr Kirkpatrick so I would be more beliveing of it the whole articals on Pshycovertical


WHY ARE WIRE GATES CARABINERS SO STRONG?
Wire gates are stronger because their stainless steel sprung-steel gate significantly exceeds the strength of a aluminium gate, the weak point in any carabiner. The stainless steel wire is actually the strongest part of the carabiner body - with the aluminium body failing before the gate breaks, closed, open or miner axis, and in every test the wire gives a higher test result then a conventional gated crab. A lot of the carabiners that are old school solid models that have been modified to wire gates (Wild Country Wild Wire, BD Quickwire) are stronger then their solid traditional gated cousins, although have the same rated strengths because it's too expensive to change the body's of the crabs. The key strength difference in Wire gates is in there ability to reduce the 'whiplash' affect on the gate in a fall.

In reply to Ricky Martin: i wasnt questioning you btw, just had never heard it before. cheers for that.

In reply to sihills: no worries didn't want to appear to be making it up

In reply to Ricky Martin:

Because slings and wires hook in the nose of wire gate krabs.

In reply to Lemony: I can buy used solid gates for £1. I can't get that for wiregates.

In reply to fishy1: used being the key word there.

In reply to Ricky Martin:
I have a load of wire gates, but on sport they are not nearly as easy / nice to clip as dmm mambas, or a mates old dmm solid gate draws

In reply to Ricky Martin:
The place NOT to use wiregates is as the top krab in a quickdraw if you are on sports routes with bolt-ins. The wire has an unfortunate habit of catching in the protruding threads and if you fall the gate is ripped apart. There are threads about this on rockclimbing.com for example.
Re. strength, all the krabs I´ve broken while testing have failed when the gate nose broke off, not the pin failing but these are generally older ones, perhaps more modern solid gates use thinner pins.

In reply to Ricky Martin:

Becase one of the best krabs around only comes in solid gate: petzl spirit - they're beeeeuuudiful, regardless of how heavy they are.

Some seem to suggest solids are easier to clip on sport - certainly feels like it to me but I'm sure its a personal preference really.

In reply to Ricky Martin:

"I was wondering why people still buy solid gate non locking Karbs? Answers on a quickdraw please. "

i like them sound they make when they flick shut, strange but true. the sound of a proper krab flicking shut is very reassuring to me (mental trick to help me relax when climbing)