Quickdraws - Wire Gate vs Solid, Long vs Short, Skinny vs Thick, Gate Flutter | Ep.4

Detailed Class on Quickdraws. Learn how to Choose & Use Quickdraws for different styles of Climbing. When & why you want longer / extended quickdraws? And safety factors every Climber needs to know.

00:00 Intro
01:12 Can you use a Carabiner instead of a Quickdraw?
03:36 Rubber Keeper
05:42 Dogbones - Skinny vs Thick
06:32 Dogbones - Why do you need Long Quickdraws?
08:24 Dogbones - Proper way to Extend Quickdraws
11:11 Panic Quickdraw - Worth for short People?
13:02 Carabiners - Wire Gate vs Solid
14:01 Gate Flutter - Is it Dangerous?
15:59 Which Quickdraws are affected more by the Wind?

🧾 Choosing Quickdraws:

For light weight situations thin sling & smaller carabiners:

For hard Projecting for pulling / clipping comfort:

For most sport Climbing Routes having ~15 Quickdraws should be enough.

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[MrCombic]

The advantage of a wire gate carabiner is not only when it comes to the weight and the gate fluttering. When you're climbing in dusty/sandy/muddy conditions then dirt may block the solid gate and prevent full closing which obviously increases the risk of unclipping or breaking the carabiner during a fall. Wire gate solves that problem as the hinge can not be so easily clogged and blocked by dirt. Another advantage is when doing winter climbing or dry-tooling. The water droplets can freeze in the solid gate hinge and also prevent full locking leading to the impact load reduction (open gate force) and the possibility of unclipping it during the fall. If you're not climbing in winter nor on more dusty/dirty routes, then this doesn't matter that much.

[RawLifter]

R.I.P. Tito Traversa, the most talented kid in Italy. Thank you for remember him

[bradcunningham]

This is why I use mixed draws- wire gate on the rope side and solid gate on the bolt side. Solid gate on bolt side avoids dangerous nose clipping and makes cleaning routes noticeably easier. Wire gate on rope side is cheaper, lighter, arguably safer, less prone to jamming. Also makes it really obvious which end goes where. Not a big difference at the end of the day, but only reason I can think of to put solid gates on the rope side is if you have trouble clipping (or unclipping) wire gates, which I haven't noticed myself.

[ryanv]

Something to add, always make sure that you use the same carabiners to clip to the bolts and different ones you always use for the rope. If you have a carabiner that has knicks on it from falls on a bolt, and you accidentally use it on the rope side of the quickdraw, it can cause rope failure scarily fast - exposing the core in only a handful of falls.

[HoyasBrasil]

I am amazed at how quickly you are putting out videos with such great content in this series ! Obviously something that was well planned and executed. Thank you for creating such a great resource !

[matteomusso]

About the extension of quickdraws, there is another important thing that in particoular happened to me.
The problem of extending a quickdraw with another complete quickdraw (so without removing the spit carabiner) is that the carabiner where you put the rope in is in direct contact with a piece of metal. The stress between the two metals can create many little grooves on the rope carabiner, and these grooves can ruin the rope itself once you use these quickdraws not extended anymore. So remember, AVOID this kind of extension! In my case, a new rope was completely ruined in just few months. Once I changed the quickdraws, this problem has not happened anymore (using the same rope).

[bimoverbohm]

Best wind gust simulation on YouTube yet ;)
I like thicker / wider dogbones more, because they tend to turn / twist less than their skinny counterparts. Nothing sucks less than barely getting the quickdraw in and then the carabiner turning away from you or wildly flailing around...

[chaosengine]

nice overview.

With the gate flutter, the other theory is that open carabiners have less load capacity and can actually bend during a fall when the gate is not fully closed. I remember having seen some examples in the books by German alpine safety guru Pit Schubert ("Sicherheit und Risiko in Fels und Eis" --> Safety and risk in rock and ice). On the other hand, when the fall creates forces exceeding 8kn in the quickdraw, you might have other problems to worry about :)

[celineremy]

I'd much appreciate a video on clipping techniques (which are fastest, with the least pinching/failing probability? Is it just up to each individual, or are some more efficient, more versatile?). Your explanations are always so top notch ! Thanks for all this great content !

[jerd]

This is the best climbing channel on YouTube. Thank you

[WyomingMtnMan]

I carry some of all three lengths of quickdraws because it makes it easier to keep the rope running straight. It is also useful to keep the carabineer from being leveraged over a protrusion in the rock - just use a longer or shorter quickdraw.

[sleepypp]

Just wanted to say thank you! Just started learning lead as this series began and you've done wonders for my anxiety! I feel a lot more at ease with clear information ahead of time and your channel and methodology is just smooth as butter. *Chefs kiss* perfect content my dude!

[howler]

I'm from the generation which saw nylon flat slings become common.Then we had discussions about which knot was best.A carabinier was...a carabinier.End of story...size, material, gate...is it a crab? Screwgates for main belays if you were really safety concious.
Life was much easier in those days.
Thank you very much for taking the time and making the effort involved in your classes.Very enjoyable, educational and entertaining.

[billjensen]

What I learned from this video? Some good stuff about quickdraws and that you can use your drum to hold up your fan.

[Jimmythemoocow]

I look forward to every new episode. Keep up the great work!

[PeregrineBF]

There are of course also "alpine draws" or "trad draws" made using a sling with two carabiners. Floppy and harder to clip, but very easy to extend and extremely light.

[lukasvilim]

Great effort! And a lot of valuable information. You might also mention that the wire gates don't freeze up or jam with sand. That prevents loading the gate open without you knowing. Thats why the "nose hooks" are still around as they will literally never jam on you and are a prefered choice for many alpine and sandstone trad climbers. :)

[Rycamcam]

Great analysis! I really loved the zig zag rope with a carabiner vs quickdraw demonstration-- so clear

[bas]

Im missing some basics.Like how to correctly clip the quickdraw and the rope. So the carabiner cant be opend by the bold or the rope (if its between the wall and carabiner) where bend carabiners are a tad bit more likely to open. Maybe the trick with the first quickdraw already clipped into your rope, because it safes you time and energy to clip onto the first bolt. (and till then you have nothing to take your fall, so its important to get that first bolt.) The direction you want to place the quickdraws based on your preffered style of clipping. How to get back your gear/quickdraws when you cant finish a climb or go down etc.

PS: I very much like your masterclasses and I have learned a lot of them!

[vicobiscotti]

Just wanted to let you know how I appreciate your videos. They're usefull and well done in so many ways. But I also add that I appreciate your attention in using plain and slow English, so useful for non-native. Thank you so much!