Suggestions for alpine draw biners

My current alpine draws are Edelrid Orion slings (8mm, neon green color) and BD Positron biners, both 4+ years old and each seeing about 100 pitches per year. I climb mostly 2-3 pitches in the Gunks.  Ive got a handful of new back up biners but as the seasons go on the gates on the positrons get a little softer. Ive had to replace 3 already where slowly lowering the gate prevents it from reaching the nose.

So Im in the market for new biners after this season ends and maybe the holiday sales come up.

Im looking for light biners that are going to last.  Camp Nano seem too small to me, Camp Photons seem a little thin/tin-ish but I may be too sensitive.  Whats the latest? If you were buying new gear what would be your choice?

Not the latest so could be some challengers out there:  Wild Country Helium for full-sized lightness on me alpine draws. :)

I don’t like ‘biners that are super light for alpine draws. Try the DMM Spectres, the BD Neutrinos, the Trango React or the Petzl Spirit. To save a bit of weight use a light weight carabiner for the top ‘’biner; maybe a CAMP Photon or DMM Phantom

Bill Lawry wrote: Not the latest so could be some challengers out there:  Wild Country Helium for full-sized lightness on me alpine draws. :)

+1

You could try the new BD 23 gram biners, I'm hoping they will be a nice inexpensive nano 22 replacement, which have awful QC issues. They look like BD oz without the hood. If money is no object dmm chimeras or alpha lights are awesome biners. Or you could go full edelrid and get the same slings, with a 19g on the pro end and a mission on the rope end. Just daydreaming here..

I agree with @Sam X. The new BD 23 biners feel pretty nice to clip and handle pretty well. My setup up until now has always been a camp nano on top with a oz wire on the bottom, or if i have pre-assembled alpines, I just use the darker oz biner on top. An inexpensive option that I used for years was BD slings (bought on sale) then racked with trango phase carabiners. I've never had a phase biner get hung up on the nose but have gotten many neutrinos hung up on the nose (to include several cross-loaded falls).

edit: i forgot photons are great

I really like Photons on alpine draws.

Chimera on top, Helium on bottom.  Contact in the middle.

For cheap and light: trango phase 

mbk wrote: Chimera on top, Helium on bottom.  Contact in the middle.

I thought "Chimera" was on the bottom <of the cliff>. Silly Thanos

Scott E wrote: For cheap and light: trango phase 

Very affordable and they hold up really well. Definitely a good value. It'll be interesting to see how BD's new wiregates do - the Oz replacement that is.

Just yesterday I ordered a bunch more Wild Country Astros. Not quite as nice as a true non-snag biner, but the nose is a bit flaired and I think it's "less snaggy" than many other biners. It's a good size and a good price. Currently $49 for 5 qd's = $4.90 per Astro plus free dogbones at sierra.com

I'm a dyon guy myself.  Go handle all the recommended and decide what you like :)

Big fan of the WC Heliums for alpine draws. Ben using them for years. 

kevin neville wrote: Just yesterday I ordered a bunch more Wild Country Astros. Not quite as nice as a true non-snag biner, but the nose is a bit flaired and I think it's "less snaggy" than many other biners. It's a good size and a good price. Currently $49 for 5 qd's = $4.90 per Astro plus free dogbones at sierra.com

ill check out the Astros too, but we are talking trad here. I honestly don't give a rats ass what im clipping on sport climbs. a sport 'rack' makes me feel like Peter Pan compared to lugging up a double rack.

JRZane wrote:

ill check out the Astros too, but we are talking trad here.

Yeah, I'm putting the Astros onto dyneema slings. Left-over dogbones are a free bonus. (For sport I want non-snag on the bolt, wire for the rope; beyond that I don't care).

I’ve had about every biner listed above on an alpine draw.
 Only thing I’ve started really changing from was the smaller binders, e.g. nano 22. Used to do the one small biner and then full sized for the rope end. But I found the weight savings wasn’t worth the hassle of orienting all the draws.

Helium’s, chimera and the Alpha trad (which I think is a superb biner) are just wicked expensive even on sale.
The photons have worked for me. But I wish I would have been stocking Dyons this whole time. 

Photon straight gate for clipping the piece. Dyon for rope end. 

funny, I find the opposite to work best for me... Dyon on to bolt/gear, alpha sport or other similar bent gate- (must be a bent gate) on the rope end. Once I started using bent gates on the rope end, I wondered why I ever used wires on the rope end. More than worth the extra 2-4g to have a solid bent gate to slam the rope through, IMHO...

Christian Hesch wrote:Once I started using bent gates on the rope end, I wondered why I ever used wires on the rope end.

You may have been concerned about flutter.

mbk, no it's more the smoothness of that solid, bent gate when clipping, I just really love em. That said, the Dyon on the rope end is *almost* as nice as the alpha sport, so I'd have no problem running a Dyon/Dyon alpine draw, as the price is about the same.