Premature Biner Wear?

Hey there, hoping to get some advice on some biner wear.
I use the same Petzl AM'D for almost everything (rappel, lead belay, TR belay, etc.) and I've only been using it for one season, and a small amount last year, but I am already starting to see some wear. I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem?

Some notes:
I have ~100 pitches in this season, and about 20 more last season on this guy when i bought it.
I have cleaned my ropes twice so far this season so i don't think dirty ropes are the problem.
Almost all of my climbing is in Vermont, with a couple weekend trips to the ADK, Gunks and NH.
My partner hasn't been seeing this type of wear on their biner - makes me think that its something with how I'm using it, or the hardware itself.
I typically use an ATC for everything with a prusik backup when rappeling. Occasionally use a grigri if my partner is pushing their grade.The other side of the biner is showing a slight amount of wear as well, but not nearly as bad as it is the smaller side.

The previous locker I was using for everything didn't have any wear on it. I only switched because I wanted to use an autolocker for my rappeling/belaying/when cleaning routes.

I know the wear is not bad enough to cause concern, but it does seem like it is wearing out much faster than I would expect.

---Edit---
Thanks for the help everyone. Decided to go with a steel locker to use for belaying and rappeling 

Doesn’t really seem abnormal to me. 

Normal wear.

The Edelrid Bulletproof HMS biner is slower to wear. Get a couple.

Normal wear - especially as you use the same Petzl AM'D for almost everything (rappel, lead belay, TR belay, etc.).

Though you might be noticing it earlier because of the biner profile.

Welcome to climbing the gear wears out..

My previous locker is not showing any of this wear and it was subjected to the exact same treatment - not complaining about gear wearing out, but this one seems to be wearing out faster than the rocklock I was using before.

FrankPSwrote:
The Edelrid Bulletproof HMS biner is slower to wear. Get a couple.

I think I would get a full steel before the bulletproof. Not only are those crazy expensive, but I've seen where in canyoneering the steel plate on top wears thin and can cut the rope.  

Allen Sandersonwrote: 
Though you might be noticing it earlier because of the biner profile.

Explain?

Levi Xwrote:

I think I would get a full steel before the bulletproof. Not only are those crazy expensive, but I've seen where in canyoneering the steel plate on top wears thin and can cut the rope.  

Full steel is very heavy. Do you canyoneer?  If so you'll want  separate crappy carabiners for that as they get jammed with sand etc.

The edelrid is great.

It would be interesting to know how many sandy-rope raps can do that .... especially for a rope with a little sunscreen or PBJ on it.  :) 

greggryllswrote:

Full steel is very heavy. Do you canyoneer?  If so you'll want  separate crappy carabiners for that as they get jammed with sand etc.

The edelrid is great.

Not yet. I may get into it if I move out west at some point. I'm not too worried about the weight difference. If I can't make it up a climb because of the weight difference I don't deserve the tick. I can always swap it out for lighter ones if I am doing anything with a long approach

No complaints about the company, just saw that the steel plate on top could cause a unique failure mode which would be very difficult to detect.

Levi Xwrote:

Explain?

Rock lock carabiner is a full round stock, wears longer but is heavier. 

The biner shown in this thread is an I-Beam construction (if you look at the cross section of the biner it looks like and "I". This design shaves weight by cutting out material, thus lifespan. 

Totally normal wear for ~120 pitches of belaying and rapelling.

Tyler Swrote:

Rock lock carabiner is a full round stock, wears longer but is heavier. 

The biner shown in this thread is an I-Beam construction (if you look at the cross section of the biner it looks like and "I". This design shaves weight by cutting out material, thus lifespan. 

Totally normal wear for ~120 pitches of belaying and rapelling.

Gotcha. That's unfortunate. I love the handling of my current one, but the prospect of replacing it twice a season isn't appealing. 

Levi Xwrote: My previous locker is not showing any of this wear and it was subjected to the exact same treatment - not complaining about gear wearing out, but this one seems to be wearing out faster than the rocklock I was using before.

Rope cleanliness is a huge factor as well.  

Albert Bwrote:

Rope cleanliness is a huge factor as well.  

I've cleaned my rope twice already this season. I have a regular partner (read: the person I've climbed with for 95 of the 100 pitches) and they have not been seeing any of this kind of wear

I cant tell from just pictures.   Is the silver anodizing worn through or can you feel the start of real groves with you finger?

Lets have the date code and numbers off the one in question and also your other one that you are comparing.

Would be interesting to see the material spec for the different batch runs.

Levi Xwrote:

I've cleaned my rope twice already this season. I have a regular partner (read: the person I've climbed with for 95 of the 100 pitches) and they have not been seeing any of this kind of wear

definitely the micro fractures.

There is no mystery here. The carabiner is aluminum, aluminum is soft. While they are relatively long lived they ARE consumables.

Levi Xwrote:

Gotcha. That's unfortunate. I love the handling of my current one, but the prospect of replacing it twice a season isn't appealing. 

I heard someone climbing at Indian Creek replacing GriGri twice a year, so wear and tear can definitely get worse. 

I was using two dedicated beefy aluminum lockers for TR anchors, over 3 seasons, they developed ~2-3mm deep grooves from sandy ropes. Wear is definitely less on SS carabiners - I got two Metolius stainless lockers for less than 12 each. They are not light, but when I set up TR anchors it is not on anything that requires added lightness.

I also noticed that the rope side carabiner on the 1st QD gets lots of wear due to angle change and load, I replaced a few rope side carabiners on my quickdraws with stainless. They are not light, but considering that I very often stick clip the first QD, it is not that much of an issue. They definitely show less wear than aluminum after a few seasons.

Levi Xwrote:

Gotcha. That's unfortunate. I love the handling of my current one, but the prospect of replacing it twice a season isn't appealing. 

Hard to say for sure without seeing it in person but based on the pictures and your statements I'd be comfortable putting another 120 pitches on it. 

Don't take my word for it though. 

Looks like mostly wear from rappelling given the double groove. I'd bet your rocklock is showing similar wear, but it's less substantial seeming because of the solid stock. 

I once rapped only 2 pitches (@300 feet+/- via ATC) in the rain at Coethedral and my brand new DMM Sentinel locker was grooved so deep from the ropes (over 3/8 of the way gone)  that I retired it. Yours is not deep enough to even consider an issue. I understand it can occur anywhere there is gritty rock and it rains.

For toproping these days if it's close to the road I've changed out to 2 Steel lockers at the powerpoint, and a steel ATC and steel biner. (Keeps the rope clean) Most lead climbs I don't want to carry the extra weight.