The Black Diamond Oz Quickdraw is a lightweight small to medium sized, multiple use, wire-gate quickdraw.
This is one of our favorite lightweight quickdraws. There is no easier and simpler way to lighten your rack than to replace all your carabiners and quickdraws with light ones like these. They solve that age old big wall problem of always running out of biners; now you can bring way too many of these. They won't weigh much and you will be glad you have them. That said, the Oz has a lot of competition. It is just as light as the Wild Country Astro and a little more expensive. Compared to the Wild Country Astro Quickdraw, it holds three figure-eight knots a bit better but doesn't unclip from bolt hangers quite as easily. It also performed very similarly to the Trango SuperFly Quickdraw. While this used to be the lightest quickdraw, that title now belongs to the CAMP Nano 23 Quickdraw. The Nano is probably a better alpine climbing biner where every ounce counts (it is also less expensive). That said, the Oz does a better job than the Nano at balancing being lightweight and functional. Overall, the Black Diamond Oz is one of the best light carabiners available.
View our complete Quickdraw Review to see how this product compared to others.
Hands-on Gear Review |
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Street Price:
Varies from $15 - $20 | Compare prices at 6 resellers
Pros: Light, easy to handle Cons: Expensive, gate gets hung up on bolt hangers. Best Uses: sport climbing, trad climbing, big wall climbing.
Overview
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OutdoorGearLab Editors' Hands-on Review
Likes
For someone who loves light gear, the Oz Quickdraw is a dream. Not only is it among the lightest of quickdraws, it also feels solid. When the Black Diamond Neutrino came out it seemed revolutionary. I instantly updated my aid climbing rack and saved many pounds in the process. It is hard to believe, but the Oz is 25 percent lighter than the Neutrino – 28g compared to 36g for the Neutrino. While the Black Diamond OZ Carabiner is small, it's not so small that it is difficult to handle. A quickdraw like the CAMP Nano 23 Quickdraw or Metolius FS Mini Quickdraw can feel a little hard to handle confidently and clip. The Oz is just big enough where clipping and holding it is easy. Dislikes As with most all wire-gate carabiners, the notch for the wire gets caught up on bolt hangers when cleaning steep sport routes. This is not a big deal for trad climbing or alpine climbing. The notch also gets caught up when removing racked nuts. The quickdraw sling is pretty narrow and thin. This makes it low profile and light, but it also does not make it ideal to grab and hard on. The Petzl Express Sling that comes with the Petzl Spirit Express is much wider and burlier. The Oz quickdraw sling is ideal for alpine and trad routes, but not as great for sport climbing where we like bigger, burlier and more comfy to grab slings. Best Application These work great in just about any application, whether it is big wall climbing, trad climbing top roping or most sport climbing applications. They are especially awesome for alpine rock climbing where you want to be as light as possible for those monster approaches. On a big wall they will dramatically reduce the weight of your rack, especially if you are still using oval biners – Stop using ovals now! Value These are not cheap. They are among the more expensive quick draws out there. By comparison, the Mad Rock UltraLight Quickdraw is almost as high scoring and is only $14 and the Camp Nano 23 Quickdraw is only $15. Other Versions Black Diamond Oz Carabiner — Chris McNamara Compare this product side-by-side to top competitors >
OutdoorGearLab Member ReviewsMost recent review: April 30, 2012
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 Black Diamond Oz Quickdraw Credit: BlackDiamondEquipment.com
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