Black Diamond Hoodwire Carabiner - Gate Stays Open When Clipping

Climbing community,

Has anyone else had a similar experience with BD's hoodwire carabiners? I have used these carabiners over the last 3-4 years, and as they quickly wear down the gate stays open when clipping (see picture...). I had to physically close 3 or 4 of these gates on a most recent grade V, making me think enough is enough, I am replacing every single one of these biners on my rack.

Cheers,

Thomas

Yup, clean and lube 'em. If they still stick, email BD.

I see this occasionally with any biner due to our dirty desert environment. A drop of dry lube ( the type I use on my bike chain) usually solves the issue

That happens to mine when I open too many beers with them

Yeah...that is super dangerous.  Did you check to see if they were part of the recall?

I guess for me, I just don't like the idea of having to constantly inspect and lube these carabiners after climbing sessions.

thomas.w wrote:

I just don't like the idea of having to constantly inspect and lube these carabiners after climbing sessions. 

If you don't want to take five minutes out of your day to look over gear that saves you trust your life to than you should probably quit climbing. It really doesn't take much time at all to snap the gates on your draws. 

Try hot soapy water and white lightning or metolius cam lube as mentioned above. They'll likely snap right back like new. 

I had some older Wild Country Astros that were doing the same thing. The fine dust at Red Rock and the Red had worked its way into the hinges. I rinsed and dryed them, then put a drop of bike chain lube in there and worked them a bit. Good as new.

I had some Camp carabiners that did that a few years ago.  I retired them to other uses, then read an article about it on outdoor gear lab saying that they would replace them for free.  I would email BD, there is a good chance they will replace them.

I guess it seems pretty simple at the end of the day. This carabiner is just a little more susceptible to dirt entering the base of the gate, much like how the camming mechanism on the mastercam starts to lock up after a while. From the sound of it, a few of you have noted this in other carabiners from other brands. This means you gotta clean it a little more often than your other carabiners. Some people are not stoked (like myself), but from the sound of it it's not a big deal to others. I'm gonna dial back the language on previous posts.

Nick Drake wrote:

If you don't want to take five minutes out of your day to look over gear that saves you trust your life to than you should probably quit climbing. It really doesn't take much time at all to snap the gates on your draws. 

Try hot soapy water and white lightning or metolius cam lube as mentioned above. They'll likely snap right back like new. 

yes.

Has anyone had this experience with the BD HotWire Carabiner? Or does this seem to be a more prevalent issue with the HoodWire?

if im on a longer route and have biners stick open (my old BD Oz's did it all the time) i would just stick the base of the biner in my mouth and *suckle* it for a few seconds and it would usually solve the problem until i got down

ParkerKempf Kempf wrote:

if im on a longer route and have biners stick open (my old BD Oz's did it all the time) i would just stick the base of the biner in my mouth and *suckle* it for a few seconds and it would usually solve the problem until i got down

Yum.

I've had this happen on a number of hoodwires as well. To those who say regularly inspect and lube your carabiners, fair enough, but I'll just add that I've never had this happen to a single Petzl carabiner I've owned in 27 years of climbing. Lots of other brands, but never Petzl. I'm sure it happens on them too, but I've never seen it. 

Derek Doucet wrote:

I've had this happen on a number of hoodwires as well. To those who say regularly inspect and lube your carabiners, fair enough, but I'll just add that I've never had this happen to a single Petzl carabiner I've owned in 27 years of climbing. Lots of other brands, but never Petzl. I'm sure it happens on them too, but I've never seen it. 

Until the ange petzl only made solid gate biners, which have a spring inside to close the gate. Since it's not just two pieces of wire pivoting in an piece of aluminum they don't jam up with dust easily. Actually I haven't seen sticky gates on any solid gate biner.

I'll take them!

Nick Drake wrote:

Until the ange petzl only made solid gate biners, which have a spring inside to close the gate. Since it's not just two pieces of wire pivoting in an piece of aluminum they don't jam up with dust easily. Actually I haven't seen sticky gates on any solid gate biner.

I've seen plenty of sticky gates on solid gate carabiners of many brands. HB, BD, OP, and more. This is also true for wire gates. Off the top of my head, I can recall sticky gates on Mammuts, BD, and Camps at minimum. I'm sure I've seen others. 

I've got probably 20+ Anges in both sizes, many of which I've had since they were first introduced. They've been on my rack the same length of time as the Hoodwires, been used in the same places, in the desert, on rock, on ice, in the alpine, at sea cliffs, etc. I've never had a single sticky gate on any of them, or any other Petzl carabiner for that matter.  Probably 1 in 3 of my Hoodwires of the exact same vintage and history are now sticky and have been relegated to the bail biner pile. Its not that I'm unwilling to check and lube them. I just see no point in taking the chance that I might miss an open gate in the middle of a hard pitch when there is an alternative that, in my experience, is considerably more reliable. 

I've also broken a carabiner in a fall, with the likely reason being an open gate, so my perspective is colored by that experience. It was a BD, by the way... a single anecdote, I know, but it's firmly stuck in my brain.

Nick Drake wrote:

Until the ange petzl only made solid gate biners, which have a spring inside to close the gate. Since it's not just two pieces of wire pivoting in an piece of aluminum they don't jam up with dust easily. Actually I haven't seen sticky gates on any solid gate biner.

Granted it is a very old booty biner that I found sitting on the dirt in a crack. I've also experienced sticking issues with OP Jake autolockers at work.

Derek Doucet wrote:

I've seen plenty of sticky gates on solid gate carabiners of many brands. HB, BD, OP, and more. This is also true for wire gates. Off the top of my head, I can recall sticky gates on Mammuts, BD, and Camps at minimum. I'm sure I've seen others. 

I've got probably 20+ Anges in both sizes, many of which I've had since they were first introduced. They've been on my rack the same length of time as the Hoodwires, been used in the same places, in the desert, on rock, on ice, in the alpine, at sea cliffs, etc. I've never had a single sticky gate on any of them, or any other Petzl carabiner for that matter.  Probably 1 in 3 of my Hoodwires of the exact same vintage and history are now sticky and have been relegated to the bail biner pile. Its not that I'm unwilling to check and lube them. I just see no point in taking the chance that I might miss an open gate in the middle of a hard pitch when there is an alternative that, in my experience, is considerably more reliable. 

I've also broken a carabiner in a fall, with the likely reason being an open gate, so my perspective is colored by that experience. It was a BD, by the way... a single anecdote, I know, but it's firmly stuck in my brain.

I guess I should have clarified that statement more, I'm not saying that a solid gate biner *can not* stick, just that they aren't going to be as finicky as wires due to the nature of the spring. For my personal biners I've not had issues with solid petzl, BD, or camp gate biners. However I have had sticky gates to clean on multiple wires from camp, BD, and wild country. I also don't disagree that petzl biners are quality, I have quite a few sport draws with spirits on the bolt side and love them. Couldn't get behind the ange even in large, just didn't like the way they handled.

Out of curiosity on your BD biner that broke, wire or solid gate?

Nick Drake wrote:

I guess I should have clarified that statement more, I'm not saying that a solid gate biner *can not* stick, just that they aren't going to be as finicky as wires due to the nature of the spring. For my personal biners I've not had issues with solid petzl, BD, or camp gate biners. However I have had sticky gates to clean on multiple wires from camp, BD, and wild country. I also don't disagree that petzl biners are quality, I have quite a few sport draws with spirits on the bolt side and love them. Couldn't get behind the ange even in large, just didn't like the way they handled.

Out of curiosity on your BD biner that broke, wire or solid gate?

Solid, bent gate. It was one of those huge BD Fins. Near as I could tell the gate got jammed open against a rock feature and busted in the fall. The fins were IMO a poor design, but to be fair, that incident was probably 100% user error. The gate clearly should have been facing the other way. It still makes me very wary of ANY open gate scenarios, though.