UKC

The new flagship hot-forged DMM Alpha karabiners are now available. There are four 'biners in the range - a Trad, a Trad Light, plus two sport versions designed specifically for opposite ends of a sport climbing quickdraw - but the Alpha Trad Light isn't available yet. The Alpha Trad are shaped to make them easy to clip, less likely to reverse clip, and have grippy grooves on the back to make them easier to handle. So how do they perform on the crag? Steve Long tests out some Alpha Trad quickdraws.

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=4883

In reply to UKC Gear:

Forgive me if I'm being a bit thick, but I'm finding it hard to picture how these are more difficult to clip hanging tape and micro-wires. Can you clarify this please?

Plus, I'm a lot less convinced than you are (issue "effectively eliminated") that the rope cannot unclip itself if you've death clipped!

PS. I've used the sport ones and they're excellent.

In reply to Calder: There is a bit of a "snake-head" profile to the nose end to allow the recessed hooking point for the gate. This means that you have to push that tiny bit harder into the runner if the loop is narrow, as in the case often for hanging tape and micros - combine this with the need to tip the head back to clip at full stretch, it means the tape in particular is just that little bit more likely to swing gently out of reach and (hopefully) back again - more of an issue in breezy conditions. So hardly a game-changer but a minor observation.

If I'm really worried about the unclipping issue I still double clip (i.e. 2 draws), but I've noted that I'm not doing it as often as I used to!

I guess back clipping is less likely to unclip on all draws that use a thin dyneema sling which rotates quite freely according to the rope direction. If the dogbone is thicker nylon sling like the Alpha Sport, it's stiffer and is more likely to unclip itself while falling on back clipped biner.