The Wild Country Nitro is one of the best values in a sport climbing
carabiner. It scored near the top in all our tests but is often 50% cheaper than the carabiners that scored higher. It has a normal notched nose which is really the main difference between it and the Wild Country Helium which has a hooded and recessed notch. The Helium is cooler and easier to unclip from bolt hangers on steep routes. Other than that, the Nitro is an equally good sport or top rope biner (the Helium got our Editors Choice Award). If you can afford the Helium by all means get a full rack. But if you are on a budget then try only the Helium for the biner on the top (bolt) end of the quickdraw for easy cleaning. There are a lot of other biners like the Nitro such as the Black Diamond Hotwire that perform fine and are about the same cost. We like the Nitro the best in this category (medium wiregate carabiners) but in reality there were not many stand outs so getting the best deal is probably the way to go. The only biner that costs much less is the Mad Rock Ultra-light Straight for $6 vs $7.50 for the Nitro. If you want a smaller version of this excellent carabiner, check out the Wild Country Astro.
The Petzl Spirit scored very close to the Nitro. The Spirit is heavier and more expensive but is a more durable sport climbing biner. We like the Nitro for more applications.
View our complete Carabiner Review to see how this product compared to others.
Hands-on Gear Review |
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Varies from $7 - $8 | Compare prices at 2 resellers
Pros: Wire gate, most of the new advances in biner technology, functional and a good medium to big or "full" size. Cons: Wire-gate notch gets caught on the bolt hanger when cleaning steep routes. Best Uses: Sport climbing, all around use
Manufacturer: Wild Country
Overview
OutdoorGearLab Editors' Hands-on Review
Likes
The Nitro uses a slightly bent wire gate that is one of the easiest to clip. It was a solid performer in nearly all our tests. It is one of the easier carabiners to handle due to it's friendly size and featured spine that makes it easy to grip. Yet despite its generous size, it is still pretty light. Dislikes Like most wiregate carabiners, it gets hung up on slings and when unclipping from steep sport routes. Other than that, there is not much to dislike. Best Application This carabiner excels at sport climbing but works as an all around, top roping, traditional climbing. It is nice and big which makes it easy to handle and deal with. Value This is a great value in a carabiner AND scored very high. The normal notched nose on the Nitro is easier to produce than the custom nose on the slightly fancier Helium so is therefore less expensive. The difference is the notch on the nose of the Helium is hooded and recessed to make it easier to unclip from bolt hangers on steep routes and on the Nitro it is only hooded making it slightly harder to unclip than the Helium because the notch gets snagged. Other than the gate, the two carabiners are almost identical as far as we can tell. Other Versions Wild Country Nitro Quickdraw- Dyneema dogbone with two Wild Country Nitro carabiners - ($15) — Chris McNamara and Chris Summit
OutdoorGearLab Member Reviews of Wild Country NitroMost recent review: August 8, 2011
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 Wild Country Nitro Carabiner Credit: wildcountry.co.uk
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