UKC

The Edelrid Bullet was first introduced in 2016, and the range has since extended to include screwgates and HMS belay karabiners. We've had a selection on long-term test. Here's what we think.

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In reply to UKC Gear:

I’m surprised this hasn’t attracted more comment, although maybe this is more of a reflection on how watertight both the review and the product are.

Contrary to my posting, I’m currently on holiday on Kalymnos and have with me 2 x Bulletproof Quickdraws. The first goes on the first bolt, the other goes on the lower off. Whilst it is impossible to judge the lasting (positive) effect this will have on my rope, there is a very small price to pay (both in terms of the price, which is reasonable, and the weight, which is almost exactly the same as any other quickdraw) for the assumption that it WILL be a benefit in the long run.

What has struck me is how many people both out here, and at home, top rope directly through the anchors. If ever there were a reason to invest in a couple of Bulletproof quickdraws then this is it, particularly when the pitches are 40m long!!

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

I'm just waiting for a bullet version of a small wiregate for winter and trad use, I hope its something that they can make feasible.

The review is very nice and the product genuinely  interesting. My ice screws are eating through the alloy on my chimeras, so something like this just a little lighter would definitely be in my sights.

On a side note Edelrid actually have some really interesting gear (aimed at the indoor wall market), that is actually quite innovative.

In reply to GarethSL:

I'll see if we can get the goss when we're out at the next trade show. Seeing as they've already done screwgates + snapgates, wiregates seem like the next obvious step.

 

In reply to GarethSL:

Technically there's no reason they couldn't do a wiregate. But getting lighter? Not really because you need nearly the same amount of aluminum for strength if you want to keep the basic dimensions reasonably similar.

In reply to beardy mike:

Indeed, I just meant lighter/ smaller when compared to the current snap-gate version.

The steel plate appears to be an epoxy(?) add-on, so I figured it should be quite possible to mould/press the fitting for it to a smaller carabiner, without too much weight penalty.

In reply to GarethSL:

It's crimped in place, i.e. you cant really rely on it to add strength - clearly it does but not in a consistent way. But that said, even just a wire gate version of what they already have would make a good weightsaving...

In reply to UKC Gear:

I'm not sure I do enough sport to worry about wear (spread across 20 draws) but the HMS definitely interesting as I find abbing into to sea cliffs puts a burr in my belay Krab quite quickly.

In reply to beardy mike:

Wire gate is lighter than solid gate and better for winter which is what the guy wants.

In reply to DubyaJamesDubya:

But then alpine and trad in general is less intensive in terms of scoring protection end biners and you need to bear in mind market that the UK is a very different market to most - trad makes up a massive percentage of the market unlike vitually anywhere in Europe. So whilst I can see the benefit, I'm not sure the market would necessarily agree. To get lighter, really the only way to do that is to go smaller, and I'm not actually sure being small is a good thing. Maybe with time they will? I could ask... but I doubt they'd tell...

In reply to beardy mike:

That implies that wire gate only get used for alpine/trad. However there has been a bit of a move to solid/wire combos for sport specifically to shave a bit of weight off.  As Rob says above, if you are doing 40m pitches then having a protector on both sides of your top draws could well be worth it.

Whether the market justifies production I have no idea.

In reply to DubyaJamesDubya:

Your post got me thinking: I’d actually considered bringing out wiregates to Kalymnos but didn’t on the grounds of durability. For these long routes you’d actually be far better off with them, as it’ll almost half the weight of the you’re carrying, but they do have a habit of getting chewed up on bolts - something that a bulletproof wire gate would resolve.

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

Aye. When you can be carrying 18 to 20 draws weight starts to matter (a lot). I was looking at some sport draws recently that were 120g each. That's a lot to take on a sport route when you are climbing at your limit.

In reply to DubyaJamesDubya:

I'll suggest it to Philippe. You never know...

In reply to GarethSL:

Say what!?! Are you taking regular falls on to them?!

The only krabs that I've notched or worn badly (beside belay krabs) has been sports draws and even then only onto old style bent plate hangers. Modern glue ins don't seem to do much damage as their shape isn't sharp.

In reply to GarethSL:

How exactly are you weighting your quickdraws forcefully enough  / regularly enough to wear into them while ice climbing?!

In reply to DubyaJamesDubya:

Second that, my most worn biner is the one I use to ab dusty static lines on sea cliffs

In reply to richgac:

Beats me, afik they have never been weighted. Maybe 'eating' was a bit of a strong way to describe it, but I was surprised how quickly they burr. 

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

The weight you're carrying goes down rapidly with Kalymnos bolt spacing though. Especially if you choose to clip all six bolts on the first ten to fifteen metres of v diff scrambling on a lot of routes (which I generally don't for reasons of rope drag)