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What's everyone fav wire gate 'biners?

Original Post
NYClimber · · New York · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 85

I am looking to add wire gates to my rack and I have seen SO many brands of them out there now I am not sure who's to go with.

I see BD, Petzl, Omega, Trango, Camp, Metolius just to name a few!

What's everyone's experience been with wire gates and brands?

Ken Noyce · · Layton, UT · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 2,648
NYClimber wrote:I am looking to add wire gates to my rack and I have seen SO many brands of them out there now I am not sure who's to go with. I see BD, Petzl, Omega, Trango, Camp, Metolius just to name a few! What's everyone's experience been with wire gates and brands?
I think the general concensus is that the WC Helium is the best all around wire gate biner. IMHO, anything made by DMM is pretty much amazing. That being said, my rack consists mainly of BD Hotwires (old cold forged version) and Neutrinos due to the price.
M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911

bootied ones

NYClimber · · New York · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 85

OK thanks....the Neutrino's seems to be priced well at my local EMS shop - and I get discounts being I buy a lot of my gear there as well. :)

http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3659346&lmdn=Gate%20Type&cp=3677347.11360113.3686934

NYClimber · · New York · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 85
Fall Guy wrote:bootied ones
: D
KathyS · · Poughkeepsie, NY · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 125
kennoyce wrote: I think the general concensus is that the WC Helium is the best all around wire gate biner. IMHO, anything made by DMM is pretty much amazing. That being said, my rack consists mainly of BD Hotwires (old cold forged version) and Nutrinos due to the price.
+1 for Heliums. Light, big enough to handle easily, even with gloves (ice climbing), wide gate opening and a no-snag nose.
Jeremy Riesberg · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2012 · Points: 5

My wire gates consist of hoodwires and neutrinos.

NYClimber · · New York · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 85
KathyS wrote: +1 for Heliums. Light, big enough to handle easily, even with gloves (ice climbing), wide gate opening and a no-snag nose.
Who sells the Heliums? I can't find anyone selling them thus far!

???
Ray Pinpillage · · West Egg · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 180

Heliums or Nitros.

Matt N · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2010 · Points: 415

Heliums on my trad draws - clip great, light & full size, no snag, strong... expensive.

OZs for racking - recently replaced my neutrinos, but if you want cheap neutrinos, I've got a thread selling some... ;)

NYClimber · · New York · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 85

Where's the thread Matt?

NYClimber · · New York · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 85
John Marsella wrote:+1 for neutrinos (for color coded racking) and heliums (for draws). Also, WC astros are nice; smaller (like neutrino size) but not annoyingly small like the metolius fs minis or the camp nanos. Gearexpress.com has all of the above mentioned styles.
Thanks John.
I ordered sen slings from them before at amazing prices!
Will S · · Joshua Tree · Joined Nov 2006 · Points: 1,061

IMO, Heliums suck. Seriously overhyped unless you're an ice/alpine climber where the giant size is an asset instead of a detriment.

For everyday rock climbing, heliums are too big for me. Pinch clipping is a PITA. Even the bone std BD Hotwire is very slightly too large for ideal pinch clips...I've still got about 15 of them on the rope end of beater draws.

I prefer the trango superfly for best tradeoff of weight/size/clipability. But it does have drawbacks too, most obvious that there is no hooded nose or really anything at the nose to keep from brushing the gate against the rock and opening. BD hoodwire seems to remedy that issue in a similar size and weight. For me, it's a non-issue, but some people may really want that feature.

Neutrinos are heavier and smaller than superflys, and basically heaveier but the same size as the hoodwire/OZ. Mammut moses have a few too many documented cases of breaking for me to ever use them.

The madrocks are pretty good for a cheapy, but ime will have variations between gate tension from biner to biner. Decent design and price if you're really broke

Camp nano feels too small when trying to remove from gear loops, but surprisingly is easier to clip rope into than you'd probably expect. I have a few for stuff like clipping shoes, water etc to harness.

randy88fj62 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2010 · Points: 291

BD Neutrino: Good size (not too big or small), relatively light, and priced well.

Petzl Ange: My favorite wiregate because the keylock gate doesn't snag. Comes in small and large to fit your needs. Has a better spring / closing force than the BD hoodwires.

Op Five-O: My favorite wiregate for racking nuts. Has a wide mouth opening making it easy to use with gloves.

Those are my key favorites. The rest of my wiregates all fit somewhere in between those specialty three above.

KathyS · · Poughkeepsie, NY · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 125
NYClimber wrote: Who sells the Heliums? I can't find anyone selling them thus far! ???
Heliums
mattm · · TX · Joined Jun 2006 · Points: 1,885
NYClimber wrote:I am looking to add wire gates to my rack and I have seen SO many brands of them out there now I am not sure who's to go with. I see BD, Petzl, Omega, Trango, Camp, Metolius just to name a few! What's everyone's experience been with wire gates and brands?
What are you planning on using them for? Racking? General Purpose? Rope Side on a QD?

Fast answer is probably Heliums/Nitros/Spectres/Hotwires
John D · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2010 · Points: 10

check out madrocks wire gates I'm pretty sure wild country makes them and they're cheap. I love trango classic wire gates, but they're not the lightest

bearbreeder · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 3,065

whatever feels best in your hand and is at the price you want ...

its that simple

fancy $$$$, or cheap budget biners are all good these days ... they wont make you climb any better or worse in general ...

ZackB · · Littleton, CO · Joined Aug 2012 · Points: 0

I like Neutrinos to rack, or the Oz.

Recently, I have really liked the Yellow Camp Photon Wire carabiners. For some reason, only the yellow ones. Don't like how the others clip.

A. Everhart · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2013 · Points: 0

+1 for booty... but if you are working too much and climbing too little like I was for far tooooooo long:

The stuff to not buy: Neutrinos and Heliums are heavy and so 2000. The Helium has far to small of a area for the webbing when trippled up. Nanos gate action is way too stiff and the photon is way to big and has way to weak action. Omega, uhhh no. The FS mini has a huge snag'n nose but is great for cams if your color coding... btw don't color code your rack your partners are way too stupid and scared to figure out how to keep the red biner on the red cam, just get silver biners unless your rad enough to put Petzl strings on your cams. Petzl single wire biners are difficult to use w/ tripple up runners cus of the ball at the end of the wire snag'n when clipping a free runner to it but are great for clipping bolts/pins on a quickdraw.
What to buy in my dirthead opinion: Dmm Phantoms! They are available in colors and silver. The Alpha light is so awsome but I have two alpha trads on my draws and the gate action drags in the hooded nose so I'm not sure about the Alpha light's durability and the wacky gate area makes them hog rack space. Edelrid just came out with a 19 gram biner. And finally the BD getto wire biners. If I was doing it all at once for some wack reason like my house burnt down and I had a ton of insurance coin: Color coded Phantoms on my cams, Petzl one wire guy on the bolt end of my quickdraws and Edlerid 19gs on the rope end of my quickdraws and on my runners. That's a lie tho I would just use my partners rack and buy lots of weed

Eric and Lucie · · Boulder, CO · Joined Oct 2004 · Points: 140

Heliums!
Been using them for everything from cragging to ice climbing to alpine routes etc for many years now, and I wouldn't trade them for anything else.
What's that comment about too small for tripled slings? Works great for me.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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