The other day I found a Black Diamond product called an Ice Clipper.

http://www.bdel.com/gear/ice_clipper.php

It's a non-load bearing plastic wiregate which has a little hook on the top to hold ice screws (or wires) up while you remove the one you want.

Does anyone have any experience using this to rack wires on?

Thanks,
Glenn

I think that would be a spectacular pain in the ass.

Thanks for that pic. I didn't realize its entire function. What I liked about it was that little hook on type.

I'm new to trad and have been racking my wires on two oval biners, gates outward and opening down. I still feel kinda clumsy when trying to remove the right piece from the biner. Even though I haven't dropped any (yet) it seems like some means of holding some pieces up and out of the way would be helpful.

-Glenn

Usually when I place a stopper I grab the whole bunch (about 6-8 per biner), slot the one that fits, give it a yank to set it. Then I flop all of the stoppers on my racking biner out of the way so that I can then unclip it and then put them back on my harness. Most people I've seen climb do more or less the same thing.

Where you are making the mistake is in leaving your racking oval on your harness.

Take the whole thing off, find the nut that works and put it in, give it a tug (or more, depending on your preference and the placement), then unclip the oval. Now take a draw and attach it.

This seems like a lot of steps but it's really the quickest and simplest way out there.

Thanks for the tip! That will certainly make things a little easier. :)

-Glenn

Is there an echo in here?

As a side note I have used the ice clipper to hold 3-4 tricams. Its a bit easier to judge which cam will work in a crack over nuts and with the right practice you can get the tricam off without a problem. I would imagine its a pain in the ass with 6-10 nuts though.

pitons?

It might not be bad for pitons. I haven't even gotten close to wanting to mess with the ones I bought yet.

The ice clipper works nice for pin if you only have a few on your harness, other wise I treat them like nuts a few to a biner.

and I would only add that IME, avoid racking those wires on a key-lock style carabiner.

a wiregate oval is my favorite. Cheap too, though not as cheap as that leaver-biner I use for some wires.

Ice Clippers (or their Petzl equivalent) are also handy for racking ice tools when lowering off, scrambling, or other times when you want hands rather than tools. I know a couple people who rack nuts on there, but they're usually nuts on biners on the clippers. Not sure of their rational, but it seems to work for them.

I've grown to hate ovals. More than once, I've dropped stuff off of them because I got confused which way the gate was pointed at when unclipping blindly from the harness.

I'm all about using Petzl Spirits for racking my stoppers and I'm also a gate-in guy.

The ice clipper is a good idea, but it's too flimsy. Especially with a tool on it, it's easy to torque it while chimneying, or just against a wall. I've lost a tool while rapping, and two screws while leading and hip scumming. The plastic twists enough to have the gate pop right out.

OTOH, a Wild Country helium biner works even better. Profile works perfect for screws and tools. And you've got a couple extra biners instead of some plastic toys.

I rack a complete set of stoppers on one oval without much trouble. I also bring the whole mess to the point where I'm looking to place a piece, like most everyone here. I used to worry about dropping the whole set and would tie a lanyard on, or keep them on a separate long sling over my shoulder. Experience has bought me some confidence since then and I don't use a lanyard anymore.

As for the Ice Clipper... I don't want to carry much of anything that can't take a load, just in case I'm running out of gear. I've had to use my accessory and racking 'biners to finish a pitch more than once. If I can't use it as a 'biner in a pinch, I don't care how light or convenient it is, I don't want it.

Just keep doing what you're doing and practice will make it easier.

Oh hell, I throw in a few thoughts:

Wire gates for racking wires: hate them because of exactly what someone already said - too many unclipped stoppers lost, plus the stopper wires get caught between the wires on the gates creating a cluster. I've also lost screws because wire gates are so easy to open. No wire gates for racking for me now.

Ovals: love them, especially for aid. Don't have a problem with gate orientation because all mine have that little beak on them that shows you the gate lock point.

Ice clippers: great for screws, but not much else. Pitons get racked on ovals for me.

Stoppers get racked on ovals, I split them up into big, medium, and tiny RPs on separate biners. I take the whole thing off and slot a nut, unclip then attach a draw as others have said.