UKC

Hello,

I currently have a set of Wild Country Nitro quickdraws and I am thinking of replacing one side of the quickdraw with DMM Shields.

Has anyone used the shield? If so what do you think of it?

In reply to ElBarto: they are a bit stiff in the gate. Alpha trad feel a lot nicer and are mmuch easier to
clip

In reply to thegoatstroker:
Thanks for the reply, I'm going to give them a try in store and I'll make sure to keep that in mind.

I'm mainly looking at the shield because of it's stronger open gate strength and the fact it is meant to be nearly impossible to cross load.

In reply to ElBarto:

Do they even make the Shields still? I thought the Alpha Trad (and Light, whenever that finally turns up) was replacing it.

I've got some Shields and do like them, but the gate is quite stiff as mentioned above, and I think I'd go for the Alphas if buying some new quickdraws any time soon.

In reply to nufkin:
The gate being stiff seems to be something a lot of people have a small issue with.

I think they make shields still, I'm sure I was looking at a site yesterday selling them for £9 each.

In reply to ElBarto:reply to ElBarto: These are a very good carabiner but they do have pro's and con's.I have been using the shield carabiners for the past 4 years. I have found them at there best at the rope end of slings or draws. Sure they are a bit stiffer but for clipping in the rope this is not an issue if anything their snappy closure is reassuring. They sit in the hand well for clipping in the rope At the bolt or pro end I didn't find them quite as user friendly. The gate is just not quite right and can be a bit of a hit or miss as your thumb doesn't retract the gate as easy as others or it can slip off. i haven't used the Alpha trad carabiner but would be keen to see it. I personally think that mix and match your carabiners to your hand and style of climbing is the best idea. The Wild Country is another great wire-gate carabiner.

In reply to ElBarto:

I've been using Petzl dog bones, with WC wild wires at the rope end, and Sheilds at the bolt end for a while now.
I like the snag free nose of the shields in the bolt end, and the wild wires are a nice size, and have a nicer gate action for clipping.
The one down side of the shields is that the shrouded nose can be a bit trickier to snap into a bolt, but much easier to get out from steep bolts.

I've also got some mambas which are lovely to clip, but noticeably a lot heavier as a bunch of a dozen or so.

In reply to pottsworth: I've got something similar, but taken a bit further! I originally bought a set of all-yellow WC Xenons, but found the fact that both ends were the same really confusing so bought various others to mix them up with. I now have (on a random assortment of dogbones from different companies and lengths) a mixture of yellow Xenons and Spectre 2s for the rope end (of which I fractionally prefer the Spectre), and a mixture of Shields, Alpha Trads, Prowires and Phantoms for the gear end.

Those four have ended up being arranged as follows: Phantoms for my tripled-sling draws (easier to pass through); Prowires on the ones I don't use so much; and, of relevance to the OP: Shields on the shorter ones (I find them better for sport) and Alpha Trads on the longer ones (as it says in the name, better for trad...).

Thank you all for the replies, only just checked back to this thread.

They've been very helpful and I thought I should point out that a DMM representative called Simon contacted me through this giving some useful advice. I thought I should point it out as it is pretty good customers service.

Again thanks all, I think I'm going to try them out in store but leaning more towards the Alpha trad now. Maybe once I get enough money for separate sport climbing draws I'll get the shields for them, unclipping rope always concerns me on a sport lead, even if it's a mostly unfounded fear.