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Mad Rock UltraLight Quickdraw Review

A lightweight, budget-friendly option for trad climbing.
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Price:  $14 List | $14.55 at Backcountry
Compare prices at 2 resellers
Pros:  Great value, lightweight
Cons:  Stiff gate action, skinny runner hard to grab when sport climbing
Manufacturer:   Mad Rock Climbing
By Cam McKenzie Ring ⋅ Senior Review Editor  ⋅  Apr 19, 2018
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61
OVERALL
SCORE

RANKED
#13 of 15
  • Ease of Clipping - 25% 5
  • Ease of Unclipping - 25% 6
  • Portability - 20% 9
  • Ease of Handling - 15% 6
  • Ease of Grabbing - 15% 4

Our Verdict

The Mad Rock Ultra Light Wire is a pretty good value for a lightweight quickdraw. It retails for $14, which is $6 less than our Top Pick for Traditional Climbing, the Black Diamond Oz Quickdraw. However, we found the clipping action to be on the stiff side, and the Ultra Light has exposed notches in the gates, which the Oz does not. If you need to buy a bunch of lightweight draws though and don't have an unlimited budget, these will get the job done without weighing you down.


Compare to Similar Products

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Awards  Editors' Choice Award Top Pick Award   
Price $14.55 at Backcountry
Compare at 2 sellers		$23.95 at REI
Compare at 2 sellers		$25.95 at REI
Compare at 3 sellers		$26.95 at REI
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Overall Score Sort Icon
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Star Rating
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Pros Great value, lightweightSnappy clipping action, wide sling is easy to grab, light for a sport quickdrawEasy to clip, deep basket, cool "hood wire" around the notch for snag-free unclippingGreat clipping, wide sling for easy grabbing, keylocking gates don't snagEasy to clip, durable construction, large size works well with gloves
Cons Stiff gate action, skinny runner hard to grab when sport climbingExpensive, still a little heavy for trad climbingHeavy, expensiveHeavy, expensiveHeavy, dogbone is on the thin side and not easy to grab
Bottom Line A lightweight, budget-friendly option for trad climbing.The best overall draw for sport specific climbers.A great quickdraw for sport climbers who prefer wiregates on the clipping end but don't want it to snag on anything.A fantastic option for sport climbing.A great all-around draw for those with large hands or who wear gloves.
Rating Categories Mad Rock UltraLight Quickdraw Petzl Spirit Express LiveWire DMM Alpha Sport Quickdraw Petzl Djinn Axess
Ease Of Clipping (25%)
10
0
5
10
0
10
10
0
9
10
0
10
10
0
9
Ease Of Unclipping (25%)
10
0
6
10
0
8
10
0
9
10
0
8
10
0
9
Portability (20%)
10
0
9
10
0
6
10
0
4
10
0
4
10
0
4
Ease Of Handling (15%)
10
0
6
10
0
9
10
0
9
10
0
9
10
0
8
Ease Of Grabbing (15%)
10
0
4
10
0
9
10
0
9
10
0
9
10
0
6
Awards (%)
10
0
0
10
0
0
10
0
0
10
0
0
10
0
0
MSRP (%)
10
0
0
10
0
0
10
0
0
10
0
0
10
0
0
Specs Mad Rock... Petzl Spirit Express LiveWire DMM Alpha Sport... Petzl Djinn Axess
Weight (ounces) 2.4 oz 3.2 oz 4 oz 3.9 oz 4 oz
Gate opening bottom carabiner (mm) 25 mm 25 mm 24 mm 25 mm 27 mm
Width of sling (mm) 10 mm 25 mm 27 mm 25 mm 16 mm
Sling Material Dyneema Nylon Polyester Nylon Polyester
Manufacturer Warranty Limited lifetime warranty 3 year 1 year 1 year 3 year
Non-snagging Top Biner no yes yes yes yes
Non-snagging Bottom Biner no yes yes yes yes
Forging method hot cold hot hot cold
Unique features Double bent wiregate biners Sling is wider at the bottom to facilitate grabbing, stiff sling Large and ergonomic carabiners good for larger hands, hood over bottom wiregate to prevent snags Dual keylock carabiners, wide sling Large carabiners good for big hands or gloves, easy to clip
Available sling lengths 11 cm 12 cm, 17 cm 12 cm 12 cm, 18 cm, 25 cm 12 cm, 17 cm

Our Analysis and Test Results

The Mad Rock Ultra Light Wire quickdraw comes with two hot-forged carabiners (which helps cut out some material and keep it lighter), and there is a straight-gate wire carabiner on the top and a bent-gate wire carabiner on the bottom. The sling is only 10 mm wide and comes in only one length (5 inches). The whole thing weighs in at 2.4 ounces.

Performance Comparison


Climbing and clipping on the Ultra Light Wires. The carabiners were noticeably more difficult to clip than other models but we appreciated the light weight and budget-friendly price.
Climbing and clipping on the Ultra Light Wires. The carabiners were noticeably more difficult to clip than other models, but we appreciated the light weight and budget-friendly price.

Ease of Clipping


We didn't find this quickdraw that easy to clip. Usually, it was splitting hairs when it came to scoring this metric, but watching our friends climb on these draws we noticed that everyone found it a little more challenging to get the rope into the bottom biner. The gate tension feels a little stiff, which could contribute to the problem.

Of all the models that we tested this was one of the more challenging ones for us to clip. A stiff gate and a slightly smaller carabiner no doubt contributed to our many missed clips with this draw.
Of all the models that we tested, this was one of the more challenging ones for us to clip. A stiff gate and a slightly smaller carabiner no doubt contributed to our many missed clips with this draw.

Ease of Unclipping


This draw wasn't that easy to unclip either. Like all of the wiregate carabiners in this review that have an unprotected notch, there's plenty of things that it can snag on, like the bolt, your rope, or other gear. Only the Trango Phase Quickdraw was more difficult, as those carabiners are even smaller than these. If you hate snags, look for a keylocking quickdraw, like the Black Diamond Positron.

The exposed notch and the shape of the carabiner made this one more likely than most to get hung up when unclipping.
The exposed notch and the shape of the carabiner made this one more likely than most to get hung up when unclipping.

Portability


This draw is highly portable at 2.4 ounces. The Black Diamond Oz is a hair lighter at 2.3 ounces, but we could barely tell the difference in hand. If you're heading up a long route or hiking in for miles to your objective, you'll appreciate a light draw like this one.

Ease of Handling


The Ultra Lights are pretty standard when it comes to handling. Like other draws with wiregates on top, they occasionally cross-clipped on our harness, particularly when we were laden down with gear trad climbing. The carabiners are not too thick and rack well together, but they are a little on the small side and our testers with large hands didn't always find them easy to operate.

Ease of Grabbing


This draw is not easy to grab. Like all of the other 10 mm wide dogbones, there is no good way to grab it without also slotting a finger or two through the top carabiner — which you really shouldn't do! If you're gonna be yarding on your draws regularly, the Petzl Spirit Express or DMM Alpha Sport have wide slings that are made for grabbing.

A thin sling like this one is so hard to grab! Better to just take the whip...
A thin sling like this one is so hard to grab! Better to just take the whip...

Best Applications


The Ultra Light Wire is best used for trad or alpine climbing, and potentially also for onsight sport attempts where you want the lightest possible options on your harness. We wouldn't buy them if all we were going to do is sport climb, and would instead look to the CAMP USA Orbit Wire Express KS for a lightweight and economical sport climbing quickdraw.

While sport climbing was not our first choice for this draw we did appreciate the lighter weight on harder climbs.
While sport climbing was not our first choice for this draw, we did appreciate the lighter weight on harder climbs.

Value


This draw retails for only $14, which is a great price for a hot-forged, lightweight option. There are some even cheaper draws out there, including the $11.50 Cypher Firefly II, our Best Buy for Lightweight, and Mad Rock's Concorde draw, which is also only $11.50, or $10 if you buy them in bulk! While we preferred the Ultra Light over the Concorde, the Firefly II is a great draw for the price and an even better value.

Conclusion


The Mad Rock Ultra Light Wire Draw does a great job of balancing price, weight, and functionality. It is not the lightest model out there, but it is pretty darn light. It is not the most functional either, but it gets the job done.


— Cam McKenzie Ring