Wiregate not closing-Adam Ondra video

I was watching the Ondra video on Project Hard and noticed that one of the wiregates on his draw was not fully closed. This would theoretically hold less load-correct? Has anyone heard of gear failure because of this issue? It is something I have never really checked on my gear-is there a way to fix a carabiner that is not closing easily? Maybe lube the pivot?

Yes, carabiner failures are often attributed to open gates.

Woah, that's not cool. A wire gate should never do that...

Clean it in warm soapy water, a couple dabs of white lightning and they are usually as good as new.

Dirt gets in the pivot and makes the gate sticky. Hot water and a toothbrush followed by a little cam lube after it's dry usually restores performance. 

I've had plenty of carabiners stick like that after they have been used for a while/get dirty. I usually give them a quick check before heading out to avoid issues. Like Nick Drake said, clean and lube and they are good as new.

Seen carabiners deform and break (but not snap!) when loaded with the gate open -- just from body weight and not a fall. 

Gates can also malfunction due to corrosion or damage to the mechanism. Sometimes cleaning will do nothing.

As others have said, clean your biners or retire them if the gate is chronically sticky.

Kyle Tarry wrote:

UIAA-mandated minimum open gate strength is 5-7 kN, depending on carabiner type.  That is approximately 1100-1600 pounds of force.  If a carabiner deforms and breaks (not sure of the distinction between "break" and "snap"), something else is going on, such as an improper loading scenario such as nose-hooking.

http://blog.weighmyrack.com/ensure-your-carabiner-is-strong-enough-to-climb-on/

Carabiners do not break under body weight, even with the gate open (or cross-loaded), in normal use cases.

It sure as hell bent the biner -- I was involved in the rescue and recovered the biner personally after it was removed (climber was impaled on the carabiner, which was most definitely bent out of shape after his accident). 

Weird shit happens with gear, and hanging from your Achilles via an open biner is definitely not using the product as the manufacturer intended.

With wiregates in particular the first thing to try is cleaning and a little lube, but if they're still not closing well you can very slightly twist/bend the wire gate to increase its springiness. I don't know how to clearly explain this via text, but basically you want to twist the wiregate while holding the biner still, same motion as if you're trying to twist off a bottle cap. Because the gate's springiness is a function of how the two wires are offset where they come into the biner, by twisting the gate slightly you can increase the tension and springiness.

Kyle Tarry wrote:

The fact that a body part, and not a rope or a sling, was the item hanging from the carabiner is probably an important piece of information to be delivered with your anecdote.

"I've seen carabiners break just lying flat on the ground!"  ("Well, it was lying on the ground, and a tank drove over it").

A body part isn't going to magically create greater force on the basket than a rope or sling could. It's a fun, grisly anecdote regardless. 

I've had biners flex when I weighted them with the gate open (sticky gates and loading against a lip -- admittedly not proper use, but a common mistake). Fall and hang enough and you see anomalous stuff with gear pretty frequently. 

Kyle Tarry wrote:

UIAA-mandated minimum open gate strength is 5-7 kN, depending on carabiner type.  That is approximately 1100-1600 pounds of force.  If a carabiner deforms and breaks (not sure of the distinction between "break" and "snap"), something else is going on, such as an improper loading scenario such as nose-hooking.

http://blog.weighmyrack.com/ensure-your-carabiner-is-strong-enough-to-climb-on/

Carabiners do not break under body weight, even with the gate open (or cross-loaded), in normal use cases.

Significant deformation occurs before breakage in the case of the open gate scenario, even when loaded along the correct axis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTcvl4n6qnM

Kyle Tarry wrote:

Of course.  BrianWS specifically said that the carabiner "broke."  IE, it was broken.  The load rating for that is 5-7 kN, end of story.

The failure was no doubt due to this scenario being significantly different than how biners are designed and tested, and I think it's very important to mention the "abnormal" use case.

No longer working = broken. Please note that I never said the basket snapped. Also note that you can easily see flexing and deformation with an open gate under relatively normal circumstances - common, but still improper, usage. Load testing is cool and very relavent, but real-world applications have so many variables thrown in that anecdotal experience is also quite valid. 

If you're constantly climbing sport or gear at your limit, you WILL see shit like this happen sooner or later. Just because it doesn't fit the narrative of the UIAA or other QA testing doesn't mean that it doesn't happen during actual usage.

Reading comprehension -- I clearly said that the biners broke but didn't snap. 

Jake - the Achilles deformation was a hang - he didn't shockload the biner in his fall, but was pulled up into it. The basket was bent, and the gate was damaged.  This happened in a gym. Not as gnarly as if it happened outdoors, although it has.

Bottom line -- keep yer shit clean and in working order. Biners don't always behave as testing would suggest due to so many variables in actual use/abuse. Push your limits on bolts or gear, and you'll amass plenty of similar anecdotes.