Wild Country Helium Review

Likes
The main like of the Wild Country Helium is the hooded nose which does two things: it helps protect gate from getting inadvertently rubbed/pushed opened and keeps the nose from getting hung up when removing from bolt hangers, slings and nuts. (The nose really does look like Joe Camel's nose.) It's the only wiregate carabiner we tested that is easy to unclip from bolt hangers on steep sport routes. Due to the bent wiregate, it is one of the easiest to clip. While not one of the lightest carabiners, it is very light for its size and functionality. To put it another way, it is the lightest full size biner that is easy to unclip from stuff. Not only does the larger size make it easy to handle and clip, it has a "Beam Back" spine that is easy to grip. As with all biners with the wire-gate design the gate is less likely to get frozen shut on alpine routes.

Dislikes
Because of the wide nose it's hard to get in/out of some anchors like chain links or old school hangers with the small hole. If you get the quickdraw, the "Tadpole O Ring" that holds the biner to the draw slipped off one of the draws after only one weekend. When compared the Petzl Spirit Express, the Helium quickdraw was lighter but not nearly as durable.

Best Application
This is a great biner for sport climbing and putting on quick draws. It is a little expensive to recommend using for every biner on the rack. We would probably use it mainly on quickdraws.

Value
This is one of the more expensive carabiners out there. The Wild Country Astro, which is ligher but smaller is almost half the price. And most other biners are much cheaper. Wild County overall is a brand that gives good value in its products. The reason the Helium is so expensive is that it is a unique and tricky to make design.