UKC

My rack is mostly wild wires, for no better reason than that's what I bought first. So if I was upgrading (hypothetical question what's the lightest wiregate biner on the market? And do you find them a compromise at all?

In reply to SteveM:

Probably Petzl Ange (66 grams with 17cm sling). I never even thought about buying one...

In reply to SteveM:

The lightest full strength krab on the market is probably the Edelrid 19G at, yes, nineteen grammes. They are minuscule though - I don't think I could use them as a regular everyday krab, although I know people who do.

The lightest small-but-not-miniature would be something like the DMM Phantom at 26g. Or Ocun Kestrel which looks very similar. I was climbing with somebody recently who had those and they seemed fine.

In reply to SteveM:

I use Phantom 'draws mostly and I genuinely can't tell the difference between them and the spectre 2's I have apart from the weight.

In reply to SteveM:

The Camp Nano is only 22g but they're small:

https://www.bergfreunde.co.uk/camp-nano-22-rack-pack-non-locking-carabiner/...

In reply to NaCl:


Yeah, I guess maybe if you were doing winter stuff with thick gloves on they might be a bit fiddly, but for the rest the smaller size is barely noticeable. I think I'd be tempted to go for the newer Chimera now though which is only 2g heavier and doesn't have the notched nose of the Phantom.

In reply to SteveM:

I've got 9 mammut wall express quickdraws which are VERY light!
A different world compared to wild wires.
And I love them, especially made up into extenders with 8mm slings

In reply to SteveM:

Quite a useful website for comparing weights of bits

http://weighmyrack.com/carabiner

In reply to SteveM:

I have a mix of phantoms and spectre 2s. I like them all, even in winter. I'd get Chimeras if I was in the market now.....

In reply to random_watcher:

That's exceptionally useful, thanks for the link.

All: how small is too small for winter do you think? I could always keep wild wires though, weight is a lot less of an issue when it gets cold!

In reply to AlanLittle:

I've got some camp nano 22s that I find pretty much the same as Phantoms in terms of usability. Apparently the 22s are much better design than the 23s. I'd recommend them.

Another option for going light is to use a small carabiner for the gear end, and a larger one for the rope end. I think Edelrid did (or do?) sell already made up quickdraws with the 19Gs on one end, and another on the rope end.

In reply to SteveM:

It depends how dextrous your gloves are, which is also related to how cold your hands get. I find that Phantoms are useable but they're more awkward, although I can imagine that's less of a problem if you climb in thinner gloves, and with awkwardness comes a greater risk of dropping stuff.

DMM Alpha Trad, DMM Shield's and Wild Country Heliums are the ones I've had most use of and I really like them as they fit well in your hand, even with thicker belay gloves on. Weight still makes a difference in winter but I'd far rather have something that's easy to use; I'd rather use Wild Wires over Phantom's for instance, especially as Phantoms don't even have the advantage of a clean nose.

In reply to SteveM:

Yeah I would tend to keep the wild wires for winter and concentrate on light nice summer biners separately.

Phantoms / Chimera's are both nice. The alpha trad light are quite nice, but a bit on the heavy side and in use the Chimera's seem as good to me.

In reply to SteveM: As others have said the Edelrid 19G are the absolute lightest. However they are EXPENSIVE, especially the quickdraws. They would be amazing where weight is absolutely critical but a full rack of them might not be ideal on grounds of both cost and handling.
Having a few (perhaps 4?) 18cm 19G quickdraws for serious routes where you want a really big rack with twelve to sixteen draws would be really helpful and might be a decent compromise.

However in terms of value for money and general performance I think the Ocun Kestrel at 25g in weight and £5 per krab is pretty unbeatable. I'm very likely to swap the racking krabs on some of my cams from Spectre 2s to Kestrels.

I've currently got some of the 19Gs and Kestrels as well as lots of DMM Phantoms and Spectre 2s, plus numerous WC Helium quickdraws.

In reply to The Ex-Engineer:

Thanks all - I need to get into a gear shop and get my hands (and gloves) on a few to see what they feel like. There's definitely a trade-off between cost, weight and usability but the difference is substantial enough for me to think about it, especially for racking biners. My wild wires are 38g each according to weighmyrack.com so the Edelrid 19G are half the weight of what I'm currently carrying! Something to do on a next rainy day...

In reply to SteveM:

The lightest biner for climbing out there is the Edelrid 19g. It weights 19 grams.
The lightest normal size biner is the Fly from Climbing Technology. It weights 24 grams.

In reply to SteveM:


I find that anything smaller than fullsize tends to be too small and fiddly. Which is why I use some cheap Camps in winter.