In reply to Otis:
Hi Mike,
You have my support on this one. Yours is sound advice given to someone starting out.
If with experience they later choose to leave just a snap gate behind, on a sound looking bolt with clean rock around it then good on them, and time will teach them these judgement calls.
Anecdotally I have collected plenty maillons, several old screw gates, and the odd set of opposing QDs off sport routes, but surprisingly few snap gates.
Now before we batter poor Mike any further let's think about where we are getting this "get out of jail" snap gate from in our slimline sport rack to lower off on.
Hmm I'll just grab one out of the oldest crappy QD I have, and the free (bolt clipping) side is easier to get out as it is not restrained by that little rubber keeper, but in my haste I forget it has two lovely sharp nicks in the cradle area where my rope will be running where it has bitten into the bolt edges over the years....
Granted your screw gates may also be a bit rough but as a wise magician has taught us already, our QDSs have SNAP GATES at each end so we tend to fall on these and damage them, as opposed to our screw gates....
.... AND Jason, listen to Mick Ward, some top advice there.
Post edited at 00:12