UKC

DMM Rhino Locking Carabiner Gear News

© DMM

DMM Rhino Screwgate Carabiner  © DMM
DMM Rhino Screwgate Carabiner
© DMM
It's time to reconsider which locking carabiner you use for belaying. The 'new kid on the block' is the DMM Rhino, a sophisticated belay biner with a range of innovative features, such as the distinctive spine 'horn' and carefully rounded top bar. These subtle design features ensure outstanding handling qualities, increased safety and impressive wear resistance.

The most obvious feature is the spine horn, which minimises dangerous cross loading by stopping belay devices such as the GriGri or Cinch from rotating off the top bar and onto the spine. The horn on the Rhino also keeps devices such as pulleys loaded correctly.

The horn aids 'identification by feel' too – just imagine reaching back blindly to un-clip it from a bunch of biners on your rear gear loop.

The Rhino is strong and compact. The spine and bottom bar feature the special DMM I-beam shape which ensures an impressive 27 kN gate closed strength.

Throughout the design and testing process we have paid specific attention to the interaction between carabiner and device.

For example, if you look closer, you'll notice that the curved top bar has a solid, fully round cross section. This beefed up feature is deliberate; the large radius of the round bar encourages the rope to flow smoothly and avoids potential 'lock downs' where the belay device jams against the biner. It gives a particularly smooth taking in action if used with a belay plate in guide mode. The extra volume of metal also helps to dissipate the heat and greatly improves resistance to wear and tear, both to the carabiner and your rope.

The wide, flat bottom of the carabiner is designed to sit flat against the belay loop and sit perpendicular to the forces generated by the ropes in the belay device – this creates a stable alignment that help stop the carabiner from twisting and cross-loading.

The Rhino works extremely well with assisted locking belay devices such as the GriGri as well as all modern tube belay devices. The broad top bar is also wide enough to comfortably handle double ropes whilst the large internal volume of the carabiner together with the wide, round top bar means Munter/Italian Hitches work smoothly.

Belay biners can sometimes get pressed into awkward positions, where three way loads and twisting pressure on the gate can occur. With this in mind we purposefully make our gate barrels 'bomb proof' – that means thicker walls, top quality metal and a whopping 5 kN 'push in' strength rating, which is 500% stronger than the required standard.

The clean nose design guarantees snag-free clipping and unclipping. There are three gate style options: the Screwgate is the lightest and gives a generous gate opening of 20mm, while the Quicklock and Locksafe versions have a gate opening of 19mm and are still only 80g.

So there you have it – the Rhino belay biner, a winning design from DMM guaranteed to enhance your belay set up.

DMM Rhino gate options  © DMM
DMM Rhino gate options
© DMM

Features:

  • Sophisticated belay biner guaranteed to enhance your belay set up
  • Spine horn prevents belay device rotation and cross loading
  • Full cross-section top bar for greater wear resistance and smooth belaying
  • High strength and compact size.
  • 27 kN gate closed strength and 72 g weight (for Screwgate)
  • Wide, flat bottom bar that resists twisting and cross-loading
  • Works extremely well with the GriGri, plus all modern tube belay devices
  • Super strong gate barrel with 5 kN 'push in' strength rating
  • Clean nose design guarantees snag-free clipping
  • Generous gate opening (20 mm on a Screwgate)
  • Available with Screwgate, Quicklock, and Locksafe locking systems
  • Prices

    • £13.00 - Screwgate
    • £15.00 - Quicklock
    • £16.00 - Locksafe

For more information DMM



12 Nov, 2013
Looks good. A question about design philosophy, given that this is primarily a belay carabiner, why not build into it one of those devices for stopping it flipping round?
12 Nov, 2013
We have been using this karabiner since July, our only criticism is the weight, The wear has been negligible (we normally manage to trash the DMM Sentinel karabiners in less than 6 months) We normally belay and abseil with an ATC but have used several types of semi-automatic belay devices. We both think the karabiner is quite excellent. Tony & Sarah Whitehouse
12 Nov, 2013
wow - you trash a biner in 6months? How much climbing do you do? D.
12 Nov, 2013
-) And I like having the horn ;-)
12 Nov, 2013
They probably do more than pretty much anyone else in the country, at least if they are still climbing as much as last time I saw them in Pembroke.
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Product News at UKC presents climbing, walking and mountaineering equipment posts that will be of interest to our readers. Please feel free to comment about the post and products on the associated thread.
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