Shield Quickdraw

These are great biners. I rack all of my cams on these and use them on my slings as well (I used to use Neutrinos). They are light and the notchless gate prevents the biner from snagging on the rope or slings just when your knees are shaking and you dont want it to.

I do have one complaint about them which prevents the 5 start rating. They are a little wider than Neutrinos so they do not rack quite as well.

I see someone else mentioned something about how the design of these lessens the change of them being cross loaded; that sounds like BS to me. In fact, the only time I have fallen on one of these I took a 20 footer on a Shield attached directly to a cam sling and cross loaded it on the gate. I noticed the bent gate later on. I am not saying they are prone to that, I just dont see why the chance of cross loading one would be any less than other biners.

This biner is fantastic. It has a lovely smooth gate action and i find the shape of it makes clipping easier. My one grip is the key lock system rattles slightly. This is the barrel twisted into the wire gate has a wee bit of movement, just enough to cause a little rattle. Nothing major, it is totally secure... just a tad annoying. I find this biner to feel more secure than the likes of the Wild Country Helium. It just feels more solid with better gate tension.

Most standard lightweight biners don't have enough mass to stay oriented in a long-axis loading configuration when on the rope end of a draw. If you find that tendency disconcerting, the Shield is the 'biner for you. The Shield is lighter than a Neutrino (the OLD standard), but there are many biners that are lighter yet. The big advantages of the Shield is the shape that prevents cross loading, the hooded nose that prevents opening up when it's laying against the rock. Two Shields also fit together very well in opposite and opposed configuration. This is a solid choice for a rope-end biner. It's clear that the guys and gals at DMM have been thinking hard about biner design.

I bought five of the anodized version to use on the rope end of some "trad draws". Note: I had some difficulty finding the anodized version (titanium/dark grey). I find they clip very easily, unlike some of the reviews I read about their predecessor -the Wirelock, with fairly strong gate tension. The biner seems solidly made though maybe a hair on the small side. I've seen no inclination to rotate into a crossloading situation. The sling end of the biner is very narrow, so I've decided to hang them on the newer 6 or 8 mm dyneema slings which seems to work well. One minor oddity, the "barrel" that is twisted into the end of the wire to form the "key" for locking into the nose of the biner tends to rattle a little. It's not been annoying, at least not yet, but it is a little strange. My only real gripe is that DMM advertises them with a 9 kN crossload strength, even on the card that comes with them, but the biner itself is stamped with 7 kN as the crossload strength. They are relatively expensive compared to a standard wiregate, but seem to be a little cheaper than the WC Helium, the only other biner I know of with similar characteristics. Can't comment on the durability yet, but I suspect they'll hold up pretty well. All in all, they seem to be a well designed and made piece of equipment.