We put each locking carabiner through a serious of head to head tests.
Lightness and compactness
We weighed each carabiner on our own scale. We also clipped the biners to the side of a harness to see how much they flopped around.
Ease of Unlocking and Locking
We saw how many twists it took to lock and unlock each carabiner. We also took note of if it was possible to unlock and lock the biner in one precision twist. Finally, we put on ski gloves and felt how easy it was to lock and lock each carabiner.
Gate Hang Up
We clipped each carabiner to a bolt hanger and saw how easy it was to unclip regularly and under a little tension (to simulate cleaning the carabiner from an overhang or awkward position). We also clipped and uncliped each locking carabiner repeatedly from the same sling and took note of how much it got hung up on slings.
Number of Knots Held
We tied a number of overhand knots in a 10.2mm single climbing rope and tested how many of these knots comfortable fit in the carabiner. We then took note of how well you could move these knots around with the gate opened and closed.
Rope Pull Smoothness
We clipped a few different diameter ropes through each carabiner. We then pulled the ropes through and tested how smooth the rope pulled. We also set up the carabiner with a
Petzl Reverso 3 and tested how smoothely the rope pulled through.
In addition to the head-to-head tests, we used all the carabiners for climbing both indoors and outdoors for four months.
