Carabiner Gate Flutter

A brief study looking at the phenomena of gate flutter in a solid gate and wire gate carabiner. In the test, we hit the back of the carabiners against a wood block. In the video, we can see that the wire gate does not prevent gate flutter from occurring. It does, however, reduce the magnitude and duration of gate flutter. The big takeaway - if the back of a wire gate carabiner impacts the rock face during a fall, the wire gate can open and the strength of the carabiner is reduced to the open-gate strength. Filmed by Eric Hardester and Mason Kirby. Music - Vilvadi's Four Seasons(Winter)

[jacobweller]

This is a demonstration of gate shutter. Gate flutter is induced by harmonic vibration of the carabiner, typically by rope movement through the carabiner

[z]

Someone noticed that you're holding the two biners from opposite ends, which exaggerates the momentum of the wire gate and reduces that of the solid gate, or at least would appear so. The logic has long been that the wire mass reduces this pheonomenon, actually noted way back at least the early 80s when an oval broke during a long fall in Colorado. That the wire does not eliminate the issue is noteworthy in itself, and supports locking biner use in runout scenarios especially, where one failure could mean a ground fall.

[edb]

great video nice short got to the point good music

[wuffpaw]

And I'm sure you've accurately measured the carefully calibrated impact force that you're generating with your carefully calibrated hand...in order to conclude that wire gates reduce the effect...just saying...time for HowNot2 to do a slightly more robust vid! Thanks for the effort, tho

[HankTaylor]

Very brief study, though effective in my opinion.

[TheAttribut]

This is gate shutter not gate flutter. The title is misleading, please correct it.

[memd]

Nice, but even if it hits the rock it doesn't matter as wire is upward direction, I don't think the wire can come out of it ever... even if its open