How to choose the BEST quickdraws for climbing

If you want to choose the best quickdraws for rock or ice climbing and also the right quickdraws, then watch this rock climbing gear video about quickdraws! Because, in this climbing gear video I will share my experiences with different kinds of quickdraws, and what purposes they are best suited for. And in the end if the video I will show you a few examples of quickdraws that I can recommend and for what purposes
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In this climbing gear video on how to choose the right and best quickdraws, I will be taking a closer look at what a quickdraws is made of.
First of all a quickdraw is made of two carabiners attached with a piece of webbing called the ‘dogbone’ - which is typically made of dyneema or nylon. You clip one carabiner to the bolt and the rope to the other carabiner, and then you are safe should you take a fall. But if take an even closer look, then there are a couple of things that are quite important to notice.
Quickdraws come in many different shapes and sizes! So, therefore I will discuss the different types of carabiners that a quickdraw consists of.
The simplest quickdraw carabiner is probably the straight-gate. You would usually use these for the bolt end - both it is really easy to identify the and they open quite easily when pushed against a bolt
For the rope-end of the quickdraw a bent-gate carabiner is a really great choice! It is much easier sliding the rope in than a straight gate. Often you will combine a straight-gate with a bent-gate, so you can easily identify bolt-end from rope-end as well as getting the benefits of each carabiner type
There are also some carabiners for quickdraws that are called wiregates. Wiregates are characterized by being made of a thin wire. They are particularly well suited for ice climbing as there is a minimum amount of surface contact with the actual carabiner meaning that even if frozen, then you can still open the carabiner - and that is pretty handy!
An additional thing to consider is the length of the quickdraw. A long quickdraw re-duces rope drag as the rope doesn’t zip-zag as much, but they are heavier and take up more space on your rack. I would however recommend racking with at least 15-16 cm quickdraws. I find shorter quickdraws too short unless you are absolutely sure the route goes in a straight line - and it rarely does!
For traditional climbing, alpine climbing and ice climbing you can also build your own extendable quickdraws. This is really efficient as you can reduce rope drag significantly on longer routes
So, what is the right and best quickdraws for you? That depends on the climbing you expect to do. For sport climbing I would highly recommend durable quickdraws that can really take some beating. While for alpine climbing, ice climbing and traditional climbing I would probably go for lighter quickdraws that takes up less space and are lighter.
The Black Diamond Positron is a great all-rounder! It comes both with straight-gate and bent-gate as well as wiregates. This quickdraw has a strong dogbone an fairly light. The Black Diamond Positron suits most purposes and not particularly specialized.
For ice climbing and alpine climbing I like the DMM Spectre and DMM Phantom wiregates with a slim dyneema dogbone. They are big, but light, and you can easily handle them with thick gloves. I usually create my own quickdraws with a 60 cm dyneema sling, so I can easily extend these if the routes zig-zag a lot
For hard sport climbing and projecting I would recommend something like the Petzl Sprit Express of the DMM Alpha QD Sport. Especially the latter is more high-end, but with a thick dogbone it is durable and easy to grab. They are quite heavy though, so they are probably not that suited for longer days in the mountains on alpine as-cents.
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If you enjoyed watching this rock climbing gear video about how to choose the right and best quickdraws, then remember to watch some of the other videos I’ve done about rock climbing gear:
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Either way, leave a comment below if you have any questions regarding how to choose the right and best quickdraws
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[@nancykaras6257]

Finally, a video with all the information I needed all together. I was hearing so many things, as I am about to establish my first rack. Thank you !

[@Cragcloud]

I am really happy toi hear that Nancy :) What have you ended up with?

[@whorsey8142]

been climbing for ~35yrs and I learned something from this video - thanks :o)

[@Cragcloud]

I am really happy to hear that the video also can inspire such experienced guys like you, W Horsey 😄

[@Atlas-Explorers]

Thanks for a great video.

[@seandachtler365]

Really great video. It is much appreciated!!

[@Cragcloud]

Thank you, Sean 😄

[@elisabethpackham7548]

Great video! Super helpful! Thanks so much:)

[@Cragcloud]

Thank you, Elisabeth! I am really happy you liked the video 😄

[@billhouse89]

Thanks for the video, it was very useful!

[@Cragcloud]

Glad to hear that! :D

[@moneymaken9232]

Wire gate is just as strong....

[@seko6056]

Nice video, Dmm alpha and wild country proton are the best bent gates for sport climbing.

[@RMNPBETA]

The Trango 18 cm vs a 25cm sling taped near biners? I've been using the sling / biners for years and they give a good amount of extension and are lightweight coupled with the petzl Ange S biners.

[@Cragcloud]

G-Money Debt, That is a good point. On sport routes I prefer the “fixed” length quickdraws, but on traditional, alpine and ice climbing I would go with he extendable quickdraws any day! 😄

[@climberlad2]

DMM alpha trad carabiners are perfect for alpine, trad and mulitpitch :) wire gate, keylock, a large opening, and lightweight compared to the alpha sport

[@Cragcloud]

I agree! It is a really solid carabiner design. DMM in general just make some really great climbing gear - especially carabiners! :)

[@aspmos]

Wire gates are as strong as straight or bend gate, they have the same strength in KN

[@matthewbucchi6127]

Did anybody notice the figure of eight knot at 3:21?

[@Cragcloud]

Matthew Bucchi Any particular thing you are thinking about? 😄

[@jonmurua]

For apine: lightweight, big enough and without the hook.
The only ones that qualify are Black Diamond Oz and Petzl Ange as far as I know.

[@Cragcloud]

Jon Murua, I’ve looked at the Petzl Ange several times, but the gate looks so narrow. How does it perform?

[@jonmurua]

@@Cragcloud Not bad at all without gloves. With gloves they are limit. Although, definitely much better than any other out there that has a hook.
My personal favorites are BD Oz.

[@Cragcloud]

@@jonmurua Yeah, I agree! Keylocking is definitely something to look for - especially on ice, where you don't want to be tumbling with quickdraws getting stuck to your harness.
The Black Diamond Oz is also a really nice carabiner! It has the right set of features :)

[@KevinGonzalez-lt4vn]

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