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Gear showdown: which locker is your favorite for a tether or personal anchor?
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gumby: I really like the Petzl Am'D Ball Locks, super easy to use one handed but they are heavy :( |
Webfootwrote: Both. I have noticed on some non-standard hardware, especially on small cold shuts you can still find on some routes, the wider wiregate and body of the Sigma makes it more fiddly to clip into tight spaces. I don't remember ever running into a situation where I cannot clip into something with the Sigma, but it is definitely a noticeable annoyance. I really wanted to like the Sigma, but after using it for a while, I moved on. (Top photo showing I can clip the DMM Shadow into the wiregate of the Sigma. I can't slide the wiregate further down, but it shows the wiregate is wider than the nose of the Shadow) (Bottom photo shows the difference in width of the spine. On the left is the Sigma, on the right is the Shadow)   |
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Why not? |
j mowrote: Me? Gut feeling rather than logic, but I can try to justify it. Twist locks sometimes stick, but infrequently enough that it is tempting to become lazy and not check. The spring can fail resulting in a gate that rotates freely. A twist gate can be rubbed open in a shorter distance than a screw gate in contrived ways. I use a pair of opposite-and-opposed twist locks for top rope but for rappel, belay, or tether I feel more comfortable with a screw-gate or twin-gate. |
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I’d really like to see a Grivel twingate style carabiner with both gates opening from the same end and the outer gate openable to 180°ish:  |
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Slider! A drop of bike chain lube once a year keeps them like new. I love this biner and used to use it on my Grigri, too, and felt it was perfectly safe, but other people would always ask me if it was a "real" locker so I stopped using it for that. I want my partner to be safe but also FEEL safe. I have like five, and I use them for anchors, tethers, hanging my pack, etc |
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The Slider hurts my skin after a day of climbing abrasive/sharp rock. I've relegated it to the "spare locker I probably won't use" role. |
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SmD Twistlock |
Not Hobo Greg wrote: I want to FEEL safe like Leo said, and this does not make me feel safe. Some feel safe on a non-locking carabiner, others use one of those quadruple-action monstrosities. If I know I can stay below the anchor with the tether weighted at all times it doesn't matter, but I like the freedom to move around a bit more so I use a dynamic tether and screwgate most of the time.  |
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Been using the DMM Shadow with my fixe Multi chain pro for the past 4 years. Really happy with it. Fits all your criterias |
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I really appreciate this level of geeky-ness. When I first bought the Petzl adjust I scoured their website looking for the carabiner to pair it with, and somewhere I found the AmD with the red auto lock. I bought that and it is great, but even with my huge hand it felt a bit large, so my current endorsement is/was the Petzl SmD with red auto twist lock. That said, hearing from Mikey and others about the Edelrid made me curious so I bought one, I’ve owned another slider and learned about the lube issue, also I’ll jump at a chance to buy Edelrid they are pretty innovative. Last point, I own the DMM ceros belay biner with the red auto twist lock for the grigri, and the action is hands down amazing, so I believe the poster who really liked their DMM Shadow with the red twist lock. |
Eli Wwrote: Grivel actually makes a wirelock gate that's really easy to operate and clip. I have a Grivel Tau and likes it much more than the Sigma. But the DMM Shadow twistlock is just so smooth to use, I haven't found anything I don't like about it.  |
aikibujinwrote: Oh, thanks. I’ll look for one of those to try out. |
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For the Petzl connect adjust the camp orbit locker is perfect. The cross-section is just thin enough that it doesn't interfere with the rotating mechanism of the Petzl connect adjust. I was finding the camp photon locker hangs up and gets stuck in some situations. |
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I swear by my old Magnetrons. But I just got this new Grivel Clepsydra. A friend has one and belayed me with it. It's got some cool features. It unlocks with just one hand and has some extra gates and bumps to keep the belay device (GriGri - Revo ,etc) from cross loading. |
Mark Websterwrote: I absolutely love this thing for my Grigri but it sucks as a tether carabiner as it’s too fat for a lot of anchor hardware, has smaller gate clearance, can be a little fiddly especially when you’re pumped etc. it’s better to be clipping/unclipping this type of carabiner while you’re already in a very stable stance or on the ground. |
Not Hobo Greg wrote: Note that the biggest reason to prefer Petzl twist locks over Petzl screwgates is that Petzl screwgates are poorly designed such that they're basically guaranteed to eventually seize shut. I don't know of another screwgate on the market with this flaw ... more evidence that Petzl designs their stuff for cragging where you're close to the ground and a pair of pliers. The sm'd sure is nice though! |
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The older style of Camp Orbit Lock because it's small, light, cheap(wish I got more), has a nice screw lock, and has a lovely little taper towards the gate that helps slide off clove hitches. |
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Love me some magnetrons, too bad they're discontinued now |
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I am a huge fan of the cypher firefly screw gate carabiner. Thinner and lighter than my positron lockers and will fit into almost any chain link or bolt without issue. I have had mine since I got them for free with my first draws in 2016. They surprisingly exceed at all the criteria on your list except for visual indication. |
