|
simzboardr
Apr 16, 2003, 4:00 AM
Post #1 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: May 9, 2002
Posts: 232
|
I just bought a bunch of oval wires through black diamond. They rock. They are so much lighter, and best of all if you rack them up and compaire them to omega ovals ...it just doesn't compare. They take up hardly any room on your gear loops and are light as f---! I recomend them greatly..
Pete
|
|
|
|
|
passthepitonspete
Apr 16, 2003, 4:55 PM
Post #2 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Oct 10, 2001
Posts: 2183
|
I am clearly the World's Worst Sport Climber. The only thing I'm worse at is climbing in the gym. I do not own more than a couple wire gate crabs, and these are merely ones I have bootied.
I am curious as to others' take on those wire-gate ovals.
I would be concerned about gear "twisting off" of them when I stick them on my massive rack. [It]is big, you know]
Ovals are so heavy and clunky, typically around 64g. But man, when it comes to passing the pitons, there ain't nowhere better to pass them from.
Should I buy some of these things, or what? How expensive are they?
Who else has used 'em on a wall?
|
|
|
|
|
vegastradguy
Apr 16, 2003, 5:45 PM
Post #3 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 28, 2002
Posts: 5919
|
Pete-
havent used 'em on a wall, but i would certainly recommend them. i run with them on trad and love 'em. since i use mostly ovals, they fit right into my rack. same footprint as the BD Oval, weighs in at 45g, and has a bigger gate opening, and is much stronger. They are $6.00/each. cheap.
i only own 6 so far, but as i need more, i'll more than likely make them a nice supplement to my rack.
check 'em out, you'll probably like them. and hey, if you dont...send 'em to me! i'll certainly give them a good home! :twisted:
|
|
|
|
|
iamthewallress
Apr 16, 2003, 6:31 PM
Post #4 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 2, 2003
Posts: 2463
|
I haven't used the BD's. I can wholeheartedly reommend avoiding the Doval though. A friend of mine got a bunch of these, and it's impossible to tell which side is the right one for opening the gate. I spent a lot of time fumbling with the things to get them turned around properly. It was especially bad when trying to get pro in quickly on a free route.
|
|
|
|
|
valygrl
Apr 16, 2003, 6:42 PM
Post #5 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jul 8, 2002
Posts: 247
|
Dang. I just got a couple of those Dovals to try out, I thought they looked cool, and man are they LIGHT! Oh well... i'll just have to see if I like them. Maybe some nail polish to mark the gate opening?
Anna
|
|
|
|
|
epic_ed
Apr 16, 2003, 7:15 PM
Post #6 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 17, 2002
Posts: 4724
|
Melissa -- I know what you mean about the Dovals. But I've been using them a while and now it's easier to distinguish which end opens. Other than that, I have no complaints about them. Very nice gate clearance, extremely light, and not a bad basket area. I also have about a dozen BD wire ovals and like those better for aid since the have a bigger basket and greater gate clearance. They are a nice trad off between the functionality of a regular oval and the weight savings of a smal wire gate biner like the Doval.
I have used both while aiding (extensively last weekend on a route that used a lot of pins) and haven't found any draw backs yet. I don't use them for racking gear, though. I'd still like to find some kong ovals for racking stuff, but haven't run across any.
Ed
|
|
|
|
|
geezergecko
Apr 16, 2003, 7:37 PM
Post #7 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 26, 2002
Posts: 729
|
And then there is the Petzl Owall, a keylock oval biner, due out sometime this summer. Similar to the Kong keylock oval. Not a wire gate like the BD Ovalwire or OP Doval but should be great for racking gear nonetheless.
|
|
|
|
|
simzboardr
Apr 16, 2003, 11:13 PM
Post #8 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: May 9, 2002
Posts: 232
|
Im not sure if the owall are out yet but if you buy through a retailer you can get them. ... back to the oval wires... i haven't used them yet but bought a bunch of them pretty cheap and just seeing how much space they take up (hardly any) and light....i wont' mind carrying 50 or so of these on my aid rack
|
|
|
|
|
flamer
Apr 17, 2003, 2:39 AM
Post #9 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Oct 22, 2002
Posts: 2955
|
I am a fan of wire gate Krabs in general. However the one problem I have had with them is racking nuts. On 2 separate occasions I had nuts some how cross load the wire gate and fall off the biner while on lead. Imagine my surprise when I felt something hit my foot, I look down to see several nuts taking gravities worst path....
Never had a problem racking cams though...
josh
|
|
|
|
|
illimaniman
Apr 17, 2003, 3:32 AM
Post #10 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Oct 21, 2002
Posts: 128
|
I heard somewhere that you shouldn't use a wiregate attached to any protection that has a wire "sling" like a nut or a wired hex. But flamer's situation seems to explain why. It would suck to clip into a nut with a wiregate biner only to find it had wiggled loose.
|
|
|
|
|
yosemite
Apr 17, 2003, 3:54 AM
Post #11 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Dec 5, 2002
Posts: 331
|
In reply to: On 2 separate occasions I had nuts some how cross load the wire gate and fall off the biner while on lead.
In reply to: I heard somewhere that you shouldn't use a wiregate attached to any protection that has a wire "sling" like a nut or a wired hex.
I'm curious. Do you think that wiregates are less secure than solid gate biners in this regard? Why would that be? Both types offer about the same resistance to opening. The gates are similar in size. I can't see any apparent reason why wiregates would be more prone to cross loading or would be less useful than solid gate biners for clipping any kind of pro, wire or otherwise. Any opinions? Anecdotes? Thanks.
|
|
|
|
|
flamer
Apr 17, 2003, 4:27 AM
Post #12 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Oct 22, 2002
Posts: 2955
|
Ok maybe I should be alittle more clear.
What happened to me was this...I used a wire gate carabiner(an Omega wired D to be exact) to rack a half set of nuts on my gear sling.
While still clipped to my gear sling the gate opened and several nuts fell off. I think the weight of the nuts somehow cross loaded the gate and caused it to open...dumping the nuts from there biner. The 2 times this happened were within a 2 week period...and it was the first time I had racked nuts on wire's.
I now only rack nuts on Ovals, all cams are on wires though.
josh
|
|
|
|
|
beyond_gravity
Apr 18, 2003, 2:51 AM
Post #13 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 2, 2002
Posts: 5078
|
I think the idea of wired nuts coming off ovals is that there is more of a notch where the swinging side of the gate meats the "body" of the biner, so nuts can get hung up on this notch, then get unclipped.
BD Ovals run $8.50 cdn at MEC
|
|
|
|
|
flagstaff_climber
Apr 18, 2003, 3:02 AM
Post #14 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 22, 2002
Posts: 310
|
I have a lot of the Dovals and agree they are very light biners with great gate action. The problem with telling which is the top or bottom by feel or by looking for that matter is a real one.
I marked them with gear tags on the bottom end and this helps a lot but the blind opening is a real problem.
Rick
|
|
|
|
|
brutusofwyde
Apr 18, 2003, 6:51 PM
Post #15 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 3, 2002
Posts: 1473
|
In reply to: I haven't used the BD's. I can wholeheartedly reommend avoiding the Doval though. A friend of mine got a bunch of these, and it's impossible to tell which side is the right one for opening the gate. I spent a lot of time fumbling with the things to get them turned around properly. It was especially bad when trying to get pro in quickly on a free route.
I haven't had any problem with the Dovals at all. 'Course, I mark mine by painting the nose of the gate opening with yellow nail polish. And it's real easy to tell which end of the gate opens by feel... just open the gate.
Personally, I wouldn't carry BD wiregate ovals on a wall if you paid me. WAY too heavy. Neutrinos and Dovals for me.
Brutus
|
|
|
|
|
copperhead
Apr 19, 2003, 6:26 AM
Post #16 of 16
(2537 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 26, 2002
Posts: 668
|
Yeah Brutus, I like Neutrinos too (just wish I actually owned some instead of using my partners’). Hotwires, Quickwires, and Neutrinos – they are the schitz. Throw in some light Ds (I use ‘em as my daisy/aider biner) and some ovals for racking and you’re set. If I could start over, I’d buy more wire-gates. They’re lighter and stronger than trad biners and should be used on Screamers. The Neutrinos are pretty small and you have to be careful to not drop them but they sure are sweet.
|
|
|
|
|
|
