Wire gate carabiners are usually lighter than solid gate ones, don't suffer the same gate freeze problems in winter, often have a wider gate opening, and some people just simply prefer the gate action. However solid gate carabiners can easily have double the life of a wire gate as they have an 'internal gate rebound spring' - wire gates can lose springiness over time as they typically have a simpler spring system.

Ange carabiners open and close smoothly with Petzl's MonoFil Keylock system, which uses a spring mechanism similar to that found in solid gate carabiners. This mechanism apparently lasts twice as long as that found on standard wire gate carabiners.

We'll have some on review soon - Mick Ryan had an early peep at the Ange last year: FIRST LOOK WITH VIDEO: The Petzl Ange: a new type of karabiner. The S Ange is in the shops and the L Ange is available from September.

The Ange comes in two carabiner versions:

• An ultra-light, compact version: Ange S (£10)
• A standard size version: Ange L (£11)

And four quickdraw versions:

• 10 cm Ange Finesse S+S (£21) - With two S Ange, this quickdraw is for climbers looking for the lightest and most compact combination S - 63g
• 17 cm Ange Finesse S+S (£22) - The longer sling makes this quickdraw more multipurpose, while still being ultra light - 66g
• 17 cm Ange Finesse S+L (£23) - The ANGE L on the rope side make clipping quick and easy, while the ANGE S on the anchor side keeps weight down - 72g
• 17 cm Ange Finesse L+L (£24) - designed for easy and fast clipping, even when wearing gloves - 78g

A video about the Ange Quickdraws:

Arnaud Petit, Stephanie Bodet and Pierre Plaze (Petzl product manager) take you up on the Grand Capucin (in the Mont-Blanc massif) to introduce the Ange carabiner.