By JustinS
Feb 13, 2013
| Guess it's time to buy my first set of quickdraws!
Not sure if i want the oval or Neutrino, suggestions?
Would rather have them new.
Thanks guys! | 
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By frankstoneline
Feb 13, 2013
| oop didnt read your last line,
standby for better recommendations.
The positrons from the pack are good, as are the freewire. I disagree with the above statement about 12cm draws. if they need to be longer 12cm draws are short enough you can chain them, if anything buy 8 or 10 12cm's a pair of 18cm's and a pair of 24cm's, but realistically I havent carried anything longer than 12cm's in a couple years and havent had any problems. |
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By JustinS
Feb 16, 2013
| so from my eperience, the wiregate on the bolt side has always allowed for more maneuverability. So i guess i'd prefer the Freewire over the hot wire.
I don't see what makes the Positrons a "keylock"?
doesn't that mean it can lock? those look like just normal carabiners?
So i guess i don't see what "keylock functionality" means then, cause i've looked at the picture of the hoods real close, and i don't see what they could do. |
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By Michael Schneiter
From Glenwood Springs, CO
Feb 16, 2013
| JustinS wrote: so from my eperience, the wiregate on the bolt side has always allowed for more maneuverability. So i guess i'd prefer the Freewire over the hot wire. I don't see what makes the Positrons a "keylock"? doesn't that mean it can lock? those look like just normal carabiners? So i guess i don't see what "keylock functionality" means then, cause i've looked at the picture of the hoods real close, and i don't see what they could do.
Keylock doesn't mean they are a locking gate. Keylock refers to the shape made where the gate goes into the nose. A positive of keylocks is they prevent snags when cleaning steep sport routes or unclipping from harnesses, slings, etc.
If you're looking for a good price for your first set of draws there are a lot out there to consider. ClimbTech makes some sweet draws for $13.95 each. The BD FreeWires are really cheap at $11.95. C.A.M.P. makes a number of draws that are a good value like the Orbits, available in wire gate or keylock. For a little more money, $22.95, the Trango Smooth are really nice draws and perform really well. Cypher makes some well priced draws, like the Firefly for just $11.95 each. Metolius has some good product out there. The Dirtbag Draws from Omega Pacific are heavy but really cheap.
A lot of good stuff out there, to name a few, for those looking for a good set of first draws. |
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By Michael Schneiter
From Glenwood Springs, CO
Feb 16, 2013
| JustinS wrote: i'm totally lost here... are hotwire and freewire the same thing? and what about these? the oz and the hood? www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/climb/carabiners/oz>>> www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/climb/carabiners/ho>>> I've tried using youtube and such but cannot figure out what the hood actually does.
The HoodWires are sweet and a little cheaper than $20 a draw when purchased in a multi-pack. The new Oz draws are nice because they are light but don't snag like traditional wire gates.
The hoods on both carabiners/draws are designed to prevent snagging. The noses of wiregate carabiners typically snag on bolt hangers, slings, gear loops, etc. and on these new BD carbiners there is a wire "hood" to prevent that snagging. It works well. Maybe not quite as well as a good keylock carabiner but pretty close.
The HotWires and the FreeWires are different. The FreeWires are a real bare bones, pricepoint draw with wiregates on both ends. The HotWires are a little more featured and include a keylock carabiner on top, which makes cleaning routes easier. Keylocks are typically more expensive than wiregates. |
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By JustinS
Feb 17, 2013
| wow, i finally understand what they do. I would think that the extra stuff on the front of the carabiner would actually get in the way more often.... like if you're clipping into the bolt at the top and there is already something on it... like it would just snag more... Guess i havn't used them enough to know.
Really appreciate the help guys.. I think for the amount of climbing that i do (not much) the price point tells me it's smarter to get the free wire quick draws, and have to deal with snagging on bolts and such...
Unless the oz's really are that much better, to pay 9 more per draw. |
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By BarcaRules
Feb 17, 2013
| Sent you a PM. I've got unused wiregate draws and posiwires for $10 each, all nicer than the freewires. |
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By frankstoneline
Feb 18, 2013
| JustinS wrote: Unless the oz's really are that much better, to pay 9 more per draw.
If you're sport climbing the freewires (or whatever the 11 dollar ones are) are better than the oz's for the dogbones alone. I'd much rather have a little more weight on and have dogbones that make for easy to clip, easy to grab, burly draws. In my opinion this is the downfall of the BD product line in the quickdraw department, they dont offer a normal level draw for sport climbing. |
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By Michael Schneiter
From Glenwood Springs, CO
Feb 18, 2013
| JustinS wrote: Unless the oz's really are that much better, to pay 9 more per draw.
It depends what you're going to use them for. The Ozs are sweet if you're going to be using them for long routes because of the weight savings or other places where you're looking to save weight. And, if you're purely sport climbing, having a skinny dogbone runner may be more of a bad thing than a good thing so hence, a different draw is the place to go.
A lot of people start out with a good pricepoint draw that they can "beat the heck out of", particularly because they're still doing a lot of toproping, which wears on gear quicker. |
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By Michael Schneiter
From Glenwood Springs, CO
Feb 18, 2013
| Another cheap option to consider are the Omega Pacific rack packs. They have a few versions of quickdraws that are offered in 6 packs with a locking carabiner and come in at the $60 range for the package. Pretty good deal. |
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