Tree Gear Equipment

The eye on the DMM Captive Eye Locksafe Carabiner assures that ropes will not cross-load over each other and that an inserted rope has no way of sliding out of the carabiner. If you need to be able to predict the direction of a load, such as when using a lanyard to secure your equipment, then you can use this type of carabiner.

Made of hot forged and fully heat-treated aluminum, the carabiner is tough but lightweight. It registers a breaking strength of 25kN and a weight of 104 g. Its safe working load is approximately 250 kgs. It is fully anodized and sealed with a protective coating to resist corrosion as well as to give it an attractive finish.

The carabiner measures 135 mm in length and 81 mm in width. Its eye is about 22 mm in diameter which can accommodate virtually all ropes used in tree climbing. Rope insertion into the main body is facilitated with the 20 mm opening of the gate. Its Taperlock clean nose increases gate push-in as well as side resistance.

The locking mechanism of the DMM Captive Eye Locksafe Carabiner assures a secure attachment with practically zero probability of accidental opening. You need to perform two steps to open the gate. First, you have to lift the barrel. Next, you need to twist it up to 90°. Only then will the gate open to allow the placement of ropes or other attachments. When closing, all you have to do is let go of the barrel. It will automatically revert to its closed position.

Individually marked, the carabiners are easily traceable in case you accidentally drop and lose them during your climbs.

With a keylock locking mechanism that does away with the hook on the carabiner’s nose, the Black Diamond Rocklock Screwgate Carabiner effectively eliminates rope snags and catches.

The oversized Rocklock is the biggest belay locking carabiner from Black Diamond. For this reason, it can be easily used with various belaying and rappelling techniques, even when wearing gloves. You can also use a Munter hitch or even two ropes with it.

The spine of the Black Diamond Rocklock is slightly curved which results in a wider gate opening. This, in turn, leads to quicker clipping of ropes or other gear. The square hinge end secures the belay keeping it in place. The size of the ‘biner helps in enabling users to operate the screwgate with one hand.

Given its size, the Rocklock has a weight of 85 grams. With its gate closed, it has a strength of 24 kiloNewtons. When opened, this is reduced to 8 kiloNewtons. The minor axis, on the other hand, registers 7 kiloNewtons. Gate clearance is 21 mm.

The carabiner’s body is colored mocha but the sleeve is available in an assortment of colors.

Featuring an offset D design, the DMM Eclipse Screwgate Carabiner maximizes strength by forcing its load towards its strongest part, the spine, and sets them parallel to each other.

With a gate that is quick to open and a large opening that measures 22 mm, clipping unloaded and loaded ropes as well as with other climbing gear is quick and easy. The profile of the locking mechanism is low which makes it resistant to snags and hitches. It has a large enough capacity to accommodate several ropes should you opt to use it for rigging. Although large, it remains light with a weight of only 58 grams. This makes them convenient to carry even when climbing exceptionally tall trees.

The DMM Eclipse is made entirely of hot forged series 7075 aluminum, including the barrel. With its zinc alloy, the device is provided with extra strength and good resistance to fatigue. This results in a carabiner that is extra strong not only on its spine but also on its gate and barrel. The aluminum is protected from the elements through the process of anodizing, that is, the natural oxide layer on its surface is thickened. This results in an increased resistance to corrosion, rust, as well as wear and tear.

Strength of the major axis when closed is 28 kilonewtons. This is reduced to 10 when opened. The minor axis, on the other hand, has a strength of 8 kilonewtons.

Sporting the company’s signature feature called the True Radius, the Omega Pacific Five-O Locking Gate Carabiner is a rope-friendly ‘biner that does not cut or abrade your ropes. There are zero flat areas anywhere a load-bearing rope passes. Also like the other carabiners from Omega Pacific, the Five-O is constructed through the company’s proprietary ISO Cold Forging process. This process strengthens the Aircraft 7000 Series aluminum out of which it is made.

The Five-O is designed in a way that it feels comfortable in your hands. It is also easy to manipulate even with gloved hands. It has a gate with a 21 mm opening which makes clipping with rings or other carabiners, and attaching ropes virtually effortless. Its deep basket forces loaded ropes to move towards the spine where it is strongest rather than the gate.

The major axis has a strength of 25 kiloNewtons with the gate closed. However, when it is opened this is reduced to 7 kiloNewtons. The minor axis, on the other hand, is rated at 8 kiloNewtons. At its widest point, the Omega Pacific Five-O Locking Gate Carabiner measures 68.3 mm, with a length of 108.5 mm. It weighs approximately 63 grams.

With an I-beam design that has been hot forged, the Wild Country Helium Clean Wire is probably the lightest full-size carabiner yet it manages to remain strong and durable resulting in an excellent strength to weight ratio. It weighs only 33 grams but it registers a strength of 24 kilonewtons with the major axis closed, and 10 kilonewtons if opened.

The nose profile of this lightweight carabiner is hooded while the gate is of a flat-wire design. These features assure the prevention of snagging while clipping bolts and slings. Even small cords and webbing can easily slide in or out without getting snagged. The open gate clearance of 27 mm also contributes to a quick and easy attachment. In addition, the nose design also protects the gate from accidental openings. This is because the flat-wire gate is sunk and hidden within a hollow beneath the nose.

This full-size carabiner is comfortable to the hand and is easy to manipulate even when wearing gloves. With slight indentations at both ends, ropes are easily and exactly positioned in their proper places.

With its integrated spur and a wire gate closure along its spine, the Petzl Freino Autolocking Carabiner stands out among other carabiners. The spur is designed to serve as a supplementary braking mechanism when descending on a single rope.

It can work with most belay devices but it is particularly suited to work with Petzl Stop, Simple, Grigri, I’D, or Huit descenders. By running your rope through the spur, friction is increased and thus you gain additional braking power to slow your descent. This is useful during rescue operations when you have to lower an injured climber. Your combined weight may greatly increase the speed of descent.

The Petzl Freino is an autolocking carabiner that has a key lock nose and a gate. The nose is notchless and the gate is slotted assuring a snag-free closure. Unlocking is accomplished by simply rotating the Twist Lock sleeve. This sleeve has a low profile and quickly shuts itself when released. It is thus easy to manipulate it even when wearing gloves.

The carabiner is constructed out of hot-forged aluminum 7000 which makes it less likely to break and fracture. It is also because of this that it weighs only 85 grams. For its breaking strength, the major axis has a rating of 25 kN while the minor axis has 10 kN. With the gate open, the strength is 9 kN. The gate has an opening of 15 mm.

The Petzl Freino Autolocking Carabiner’s frame and gate are colored olive while the sleeve is red.

Weighing only 45 grams, the Black Diamond HotWire Carabiner is one of the lightest carabiners available, a feature that is well-appreciated among climbers who often carry a good amount of climbing tools and devices. This weight is possible due to the combination of the simplified wire gate design and the aluminum alloy out of which the carabiner frame is constructed.

The wire gate is made of stainless steel. In addition to its function as the gate, it also its own spring that automatically closes itself. The spring action is strong and is unlikely to accidentally open even in a hard fall. Because the wire gate is slender, there is more space left for your fingers to work as well as for the ropes. Clipping is easy because of its design and its wide gate open clearance of 25 mm. Also, unlike solid gates, this Black Diamond wire gate does not freeze.

The aluminum alloy of the frame is cold-forged which results to a remarkable strength-to-weight ratio. Thus, in spite of weighing only 45 grams, the HotWire Carabiner delivers a closed major axis strength of 25 kilonewtons. When open, this is reduced to 9. The minor axis, on the other hand, has a strength of 7 kilonewtons.

Designed as an offset-D, the internal basket of the frame is deep. It is intended to orient loads along the major axis. The hooded nose, for its part, minimizes the possibility of snagging ropes, cordage, or webbing.

Owing to all these features, the Black Diamond HotWire Carabiner is considered to be a very versatile ‘biner used not only for tree climbs but also for trad, sport, and even ice climbs.

Constructed with the ISO cold forging process, the Omega Pacific Standard Lock D Carabiner is a lightweight but strong locking carabiner. Locking carabiners in general offer more security because they eliminate the possibility of accidental openings if slammed into branches or caught in a rope. The Omega Pacific Standard improves on this by locking to the gate, instead of the frame thus preventing jamming.

This carabiner is configured in the classic and traditional D-shape design. Such design forces loads to move off-center, away from the gate and towards the spine which is naturally stronger than the gated side. For ease of handling, it is intentionally oversized without compromising weight. Indeed, you can easily manipulate it even when wearing bulky gloves during cold weather climbing.

The gates are equipped with hoods to make rope-bearing surfaces smooth thus reducing rope wear. The nose is tapered resulting in increased strength, and in order to have smooth and snag-free gate surfaces, spin rivets are used.

There are two versions of the Omega Pacific Standard Lock D Carabiner. One is the regular aluminum finish and the other is anodized. This black coating provides extra protection from rust and corrosion. Unlike paint, it will not flake or peel off.

As for strength, the closed major axis is rated at 31 kilonewtons. When opened, this is reduced to 9. It has a gate clearance of 16 mm, wide enough to facilitate loading. It weighs 71 grams.

The side-swing gate of the Omega Pacific Jake Quik-Lok causes it to stand out among other carabiners. This unique design results in a large gate opening, approximately 24 mm, that makes loading quicker and easier. The locking mechanism consists of a spring that automatically and effectively shuts the gate. This allows a single-handed operation.

The carabiner’s HMS design, which is also unique to Jake, properly positions the load into the center, that is, away from the nose. This keeps the rope from getting squeezed into the spine leading to smoother rappelling and belaying. Bent gate carabiners used in a quickdraw are assured of hanging straight. Also, the gate is hooded thus offering a smooth and even rope-bearing surface that minimizes rope abrasions and wear.

To protect the carabiner from corrosion and rust, it is wrapped in an anodized coating that resists flaking. Omega Pacific’s ISO Cold Forge® production process makes the Quik-Lok carabiner extraordinarily strong yet lightweight, premium features for climbers who may have to carry more than a few ‘biners.

The Quik-Lok weighs only 105 grams, yet it has a strength of 8 kilonewtons with the major axis open, and 23 when closed.

If you like to go climbing even in winter you may want to use wiregate carabiners rather than the solid gate types as the former are less prone to having their gates iced shut. A good choice would be the Omega Pacific Doval Wiregate Carabiner.

The Doval Wiregate is an extremely lightweight carabiner, weighing in at only 37 grams. This means that a climber can carry more of them before getting loaded down. A wide gate clearance, measured at 25 mm, makes clipping easy. It has a large rope-bearing surface without interior flat spots that could potentially harm your ropes.

The design of the carabiner is a cross between a D and an oval. This is why it is referred to as a “Doval”. This configuration allows the reversal of the gates after stacking them in the same way that regular ovals and Ds can be reversed.

The Omega Pacific Doval Wiregate Carabiner has a major axis strength of 25 kN with the gate closed, while this rating is reduced to 7kN if the gate is opened. The minor axis, on the other hand, has a strength of 7kN. It is 92.2 mm long, and 53.1 mm wide.