UKC

Hi

What screwgates do instructors tend to buy? Functional and cheap perhaps? I need to buy quite a few but I'm worried that cheap = poor quality in terms of longevity (I know they need to meet certain CE requirement.

In reply to iamaclimber:

What do you want to use them for? To be honest, I suspect you'll most likely get a lot of different answers and none that are conclusive! Certainly most instructors will have some normal d shaped crabs, some HMS's some oval/d steel crabs, and as long as the shut and lock it doesn't matter too much...

In reply to iamaclimber:

Has anyone ever used Austri Alpin gates?

In reply to iamaclimber:

I get the lightest ones I can. I like to carry a boa too if climbing in a three.

In reply to iamaclimber: FWIW, I've a dozen DMM Zodiacs for rigging, eight DMM Shadows for personal climbing, teaching leading and multi-pitch instructing, three DMM Belaymasters and a slack handful of other krabs

The DMM Zodiacs were on special offer 4-5 years ago direct from DMM and the DMM Shadows were available for less than the very similar BD Positrons, couple of which I was using previously. DMM krabs would generally be my first choice but I'd always check out the cost compared to other options. For instance, if I'd been in the market for loads of krabs last year, I might have bought Wild Country Ions as they were available at a much better price.

In reply to iamaclimber:

I like the Petzl crabs with the red marking on the gate to warn that it's not locked.

In reply to mikeyratty:


These ones are nice to use but I find they tend to unscrew themselves for some reasons.

In reply to iamaclimber:

If you got time to waste... What i do when i need to buy loads for work is trawl the internet for offers and mix&match.

Usually going through climbing/trekking/outdoor shops website and checking through their sale section, or using "google shopping" either looking for specific models or just typing "screwgate", "locking carabiner", etc.

You can save a fortune that way, for example, DMM Boa for £7 at r+r right now

http://www.rockrun.com/dmm-boa-hms-screwgate-silver?gclid=COHam_eSmL4CFQvHt...

Or Lynx @£6.50 if you want HMS

http://www.joe-brown.com/10932/products/dmm-lynx-screwgate-karabiner.aspx?o...

In reply to iamaclimber:

As per Mr Lopez, I go with whatever I can get on a good deal!

I've got a combination of Edelweiss Links, AustriAlpin Evo HMS (both great 'value' connectors), DMM Aeros & Boas.

In reply to RomTheBear:


You can draw a red line with a sharpie on other screwgates too, or use red tape.

In reply to iamaclimber:

I like to buy British, live a mile from the factory... DMM for me

In reply to iamaclimber:

Big cheap ones.

In reply to iamaclimber:

When I was an instructor, big cheap ones.
Now I'm not an instructor, big cheap ones. (although I'm probably still using my instructor ones)