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scott0708
Dec 28, 2007, 6:11 AM
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Registered: Feb 2, 2007
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I just picked up a few of CAMP’s new 23g Nano-wire biners, and I didn’t see any reviews here yet, so I thought I’d put one up.
First impression: when I first saw this biner on the rack at the local REI, I wondered why they’d put the toy keychain biners with the regular ones. I guess it’s the combination of the shiny orange color and the tiny size, but these things look like toys.
When I got home and compared them to my other biners, they were noticeably lighter weight than both my Neutrinos and the older Nanos. Sweet!
Old and New
OK, so side by side comparison. The new Nanos are almost identical in size with the previous generation. The interior space and gate are the same. The gate action is still very stiff, something I enjoyed with my older Nanos. To shave off the 5 grams, they simply shaved down the entire biner.
This is most obviously shown in their rated strengths:
Original Nano (28g) New Nano (23g)
Major Axis: 23kn 20kn
Minor Axis: 10kn 7kn
Gate Open: 9kn 7kn
I’m not really worried about the major axis strength, if I somehow generated more than 20kn, I guess I’d have other problems to worry about. The cross-load and open gate ratings are most significant, and the very high strength was one of my favorite aspects of the old Nano. I guess it’s all about trade-offs, though.
A shot of the spines and rope-bearing area. The new biner is quite a bit thinner.
I rarely used the old Nanos on the rope end of anything, due to their narrow rope-bearing surface. The rope basket on the top of the biner is just a bit narrower than the old Nano. The bottom if the new Nano is very narrow, significantly smaller than the old version, as is the spine.
Another change from the original Nano is the lack of a hooded nose. The older version a had a thick spot protecting the gate from being snagged on the rock and pulled open. The new version has no such feature.
Side-by-side with a BD Neutrino
Obviously, it’s never a good idea to have a biner loaded over an edge, but these things are so thin that it seems as though they’d be less forgiving than thicker biners. I think extra care must be taken with these babies.
Bottom Line: Cutting weight is all about trade-offs, and the new Nanos are most extreme light-weight option. Since I already have a good number of the older Nanos and Neutrinos, I’m not gonna go out and pick up a ton of these.
Potential uses: I think they are best used as the gear/bolt end of a draw. This way, you don’t have to worry about the narrow rope-bearing surface, and there is less room for the biner to swing around and potentially become cross-loaded or loaded over an edge. Also, I’ll be using them to clip my nut-tool, knife, and other small accessories to my harness, so I’ll have full-strength biners if I need a spare.
I know I've pointed out a bunch of negatives, but I really do think these biners are cool. 23 grams is insane, half the weight of some wire-gate biners! These guys definitely have their uses, and I appreciate that CAMP is pushing the limits of ultra-light climbing gear.
Hope this was helpful and informative,
Scott
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billcoe_
Dec 28, 2007, 7:00 AM
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Nice review Scott. Makes you wonder how light the ultimate carbiner really will be.
I like that idea that you could clip off your shoes, chalkbag, nut tool etc etc and you have access to full strength biners at a toy biners weight.
They'd be great for long alpine routes as well.
For my rack, I'm sticking to the Heliums for the strength, weight and design combo. At 35 gms, you get a full strength, full sized biner. The new Nano gate open strength of 7kn's is way too low for me to want to fall on. I might feel better about that if I could drop 30 lbs and reduce the force on the thing in a fall. Heliums are 10kn open.
Your point about crossloading is a valid one as well, probably for these slightly more than any of the other superlight models.
Thanks again for the look!
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angry
Dec 28, 2007, 7:07 AM
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Scott, if you did buy a ton of them, that would be 39,565 Nano's. I'd need a bigger pack.
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scott0708
Dec 28, 2007, 7:16 AM
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angry wrote: Scott, if you did buy a ton of them, that would be 39,565 Nano's. I'd need a bigger pack.
Yeah, but I'd be able to make a biner-chain 8,572 feet long and use it to climb El Cap!
Could I claim the first rope-less ascent?
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qwert
Dec 28, 2007, 9:39 AM
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Registered: Mar 24, 2004
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while 23 g is somehow very cool, they are just to light for most stuff. 7kn open gate strength? thats so 1990. various people who really know about rockclimbing safety (for example pit shubert of the Sicherheitskreis of the german alpine club) demand that the rules for a CE or UIAA certification get changed, to make at least 10 kn open gate strength mandatory.
Biners dont get loaded open gate that often that i would throw away all my sub 10 kn biners, but i defintely wouldnt invest in new ones that weak.
for a workhorse/ allround biner, nothing beats the WC heliums. keylock and 10 kn open gate strength, and still very light (remember the times when weights around 30g where considered ultralight?).
however these biners (and other ones in this field like BD oz, kong helium ...) make very good racking and accesiory biners. light and small, but much more usefull than those key chain biners some people use.
or you could use two instead of a locker. still lighter than most lockers.
qwert
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jmvc
Dec 28, 2007, 11:34 AM
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Registered: Sep 10, 2007
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Nice review, interesting to hear about such advances..
However, as I don't go into alpine stuff I'll stick with my petzl spirits..
Might invest in a few to use as you sugested, to keep gear tidy and have back-up biners..
23 grams though.. Amazing!
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scott0708
Dec 29, 2007, 6:46 AM
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Registered: Feb 2, 2007
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Qwert-
While it's obvious that these biners do trade off some strength for their light weight, I want to point out that, by and large, 7kn open gate strength is accepted for a number of full-size biners (BD light D, OP Doval, OP Five-O, etc); it's not as if the Nano is the weakest biner out there.
That said, though, I agree that these biners don't feel that strong. I suspect that, in strange loading situations, they would not be able to handle what many other biners could, rated strengths nowithstanding.
I do really like your suggestion of using two in place a locker. 2 Nanos would still be lighter than any locker on the market with the exception of the Superfly. I often throw one or two spare lockers on my harness at the start of a big climb, maybe I'll start carrying 4 extra Nanos instead.
To eveyone that mentioned the Heliums, those are sweet biners: ultralight without the trade-offs in terms of size, strength, or usability. If I had the cash, I'd buy a bunch of them.
-Scott
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8flood8
Dec 29, 2007, 7:29 AM
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Registered: Nov 10, 2004
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just got 6 helium draws in the mail.
my fingers are too big for those tiny gates. helium is the new industry standard (in my book!)
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qwert
Dec 29, 2007, 3:49 PM
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Registered: Mar 24, 2004
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scott0708 wrote: While it's obvious that these biners do trade off some strength for their light weight, I want to point out that, by and large, 7kn open gate strength is accepted for a number of full-size biners (BD light D, OP Doval, OP Five-O, etc); it's not as if the Nano is the weakest biner out there.
there are many cases where the gate could open. if the biner hits the rock when the quickdraw gets hammered on the wall at a fall, if the gate gets rubbed open when it slides along the wall, or due to the vibrations while the rope runs thru the biner (a mm can be enough that the biner is open).
another trhing to consider: the rated open gate strength is just for a optimal load, ie. if it gets loaded directly next do the spine. if you clip a very big ring bolt, or a sling like in the picture 
you get some lever action, wich can reduce the needed load to snap the open gate considerably, so that it can break at much lower forces than 7kn (wich would need a quite nasty fall to be generated) down to numbers that can easily be reached with "soft" sportclimbing falls.
as i said i am not saying that these "weak" biners are death traps, but a lot of people, and many of them are really profesionals at this subject want an open gate strength of 10 kn as mandatory, so there must be a reason for this.
and i for one try to lower this risk for me, by using strong (and still plenty light, but unfortunately expensive) biners, as my "workhorse" biners.
the nanos an the like do have their place, but just not on my draws.
qwert
(This post was edited by qwert on Dec 29, 2007, 3:52 PM)
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