QuickDraws that are both beginner friendly and good

I’m a student on a low budget - under 150 dollars - and I was curious what suggestions there are

Those project draws you see left at the crag.  You can take those.  Those are free. 

Used gear is your best bet. Just make sure the dogbones are not too old 

https://www.sierra.com/wild-country-wildwire-quickdraw-carabiner-set-6-piece-10-cm~p~7ukjn/?filterString=climbing~d~9%2F&merch=prod-rec-prod-prod7UKJN

Joey, there are some good deals to be had here on MP if you know how to assess used draws. Are you familiar with what to look for?

I was going to send you the link for a dozen Mad Rock Concordes that somebody here had listed for $100 shipped, but it looks like those sold already.

If you posted in the for-sale thread to the effect of "High school student looking for first set of draws," you'd probably get some offers. I'd be happy to look them over, too.

Greg’s link is fantastic. Those dog bones are not great (but perfectly adequate), but the carabiners themselves are top-notch. You absolutely cannot beat the price.

Greg Barneswrote:

https://www.sierra.com/wild-country-wildwire-quickdraw-carabiner-set-6-piece-10-cm~p~7ukjn/?filterString=climbing~d~9%2F&merch=prod-rec-prod-prod7UKJN

Those only work in the southern hemisphere. 

Gees, you'd think an experienced guide would know better. SMH

Edit: It occurred to me after posting that as a beginner Joey may not get the joke. Joey - See the little black thing on the spine of the red carabiner? That's a little rubber thing that prevents the rope side carabiner from flipping around on the draw. The photo is simply upside down.

Joey, the JB Mountain Skills YouTube channel has a good video on sport vs trad draws

I’ve heard good things about mammut - any thing there

https://hownot2.com/products/sender-wiregate

17cm specifically

Joeyyyy Cwrote:

I’ve heard good things about mammut - any thing there

https://hownot2.com/products/sender-wiregate

17cm specifically

It doesn’t matter if they’re cheap enough, but if you’re paying more than $12/quickdraw or so you should be looking for keylock/snagless carabiners. Wiregates are lighter and more resistant to ice/muck/etc but those aren’t important for a beginner.

If you just want quickdraws and only have $150 to spend, 2 5-packs of the WC draws linked upthread, plus 2 longer draws, plus some lockers for anchors would be great. If you want to spend more, get keylocks, at least on the bolt side.

Go low-ball this guy: https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/201693008/fs-petzl-spirit-express-quickdraws-x-13

His are older, but still in decent shape. 13 is plenty for most routes. 

You gotta link from Greg Barnes.  And, those are perfectly adequate and a screaming deal.  When you get around to upgrading those make great extra/backups.

I was/and am still in your position(College).   A couple thoughts.  

1) Do you need draws, if your climbing with a club/friends they might have them.   I remember when I used my pro deals to get my first set of draws, and on my first trip my older (and way stronger friends) told me to leave the draws at home because they are using theirs.  

2) Mountain Project is great, especially if you don't care about matching.  I am sure you can get a ton of deals by posting or just hustling.  98% of my gear is a result of spending to much time on here and outdoor gear lab.  There's a lot of good people here who would give you a good deal.  Basically you are looking for ungrooved carabiners and a sling thats ~5 years old.    Most people on here have been there and wont scam you. 

3) Can you easily top rope at your crag?  2 rolls of webbing/slings etc is a lot cheaper than draws and might be worth looking into.  

4) Do you have a rope/ gri gri, I know thats less sexy but I would buy them first, so you can TR/Gym climb. So i would buy them first.  

5) If your school has a climbing club, they can register for discounts or that might qualify you for some lower end pro deals.  

6) Ask yourself where you frequently climb/ want to travel soon.  If its short, and most non destination crags are, you might need a lot less than you think.  

7) you can do what I did, and eat ramen for a semester, save a ton of money and spend it all on climbing gear :)  

Hope that helps let me know if you have any other thoughts/question 

Has anyone used these WC wildwire quickdraws. The price is fantastic so I'm tempted. Looks like these are the older model which have a 24mm gate opening vs the latest model which has a 27mm gate opening. I currently have quickdraws with hotwires or photons at the rope end so these would be slightly smaller in terms of gate opening. The trad pack set is even cheaper, 6 for $40. 

https://www.weighmyrack.com/carabiner/wild-country-wildwire-0.   <-- the ones on Sierra.com

https://weighmyrack.com/carabiner/wild-country-wildwire-2024.     <-- current ones 

Yep, they are great. Not a true snagless carabiner, but pretty close when it comes to unclipping a bolt on steep stuff. The rope side clips very smoothly. I got a bunch to replace worn down Heliums - the Helium rope side was too worn down, bolt side was OK on some, so I swapped out the Wildwire biners onto a couple trad draws, they work great for those as well.

Got a few Astro carabiners as well when I got the wildwires, one of the Astros sticks open, not a big fan. So I'd skip the Astro draw packs that Sierra also has on sale.

Don't know if I missed it or not but has anyone mentioned getting a few longer draws too?   Its good to have a variety of lengths to help reduce rope drag.

What does a QuickDraw look like that is not beginner friendly? 

Oh I got it! Moldy faded rope with a screw link at one end and Walt's oldest biner fixed to the other with bailing wire.

Did BD discontinue the oz carabiners again? 

Greg Barneswrote:

https://www.sierra.com/wild-country-wildwire-quickdraw-carabiner-set-6-piece-10-cm~p~7ukjn/?filterString=climbing~d~9%2F&merch=prod-rec-prod-prod7UKJN

9kN.  Maybe the gates don’t close?

Matthew Lwrote:

Did BD discontinue the oz carabiners again? 

I think so, but REI Outlet has a 6-pack of Oz quickdraws on sale for less than $100 with member coupon code.