- Hey, I'm Miranda with REI and today
we're gonna talk about how to choose quickdraws.
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So let's just really quickly touch
on the anatomy of a quickdraw.
So there are three components to a quickdraw,
you have the carabiner on the end that goes into the hanger
and then you have your webbing or your dogbone,
then you'll have a carabiner on the other end
which is where you will clip your rope.
Most people will purchase draws in rack packs,
so multiple different draws that are already assembled,
but you can also just purchase these components separately
if you decide that you want to assemble your own draws.
One important thing to note is that you always want
to keep your draws or your carabiners separate
in terms of the ones that get clipped into the hanger
and the one that you clip the rope into.
If you start interchanging these, the ones that
are clipped into the hanger or the gear can get
a little bit dinged up, which in turn,
if you were then to run the rope through
could cause you to shred the sheath of your rope
so it's just important to make sure that you designate
carabiners as hangers and as a rope side.
So three main different types of carabiners
that you might come across in draws.
The first are straight gate carabiners like this one,
bent gate carabiners like this one,
and wire gate carabiners like this guy or this one.
So straight gate carabiners are often found
on the side that gets clipped into the hanger,
whereas the bent gate carabiners are gonna be on,
if they have them on the draws, will be
on the side where you clip your rope.
And the benefit of this is that the curve
just makes it a little bit easier to clip the rope in.
Wire gate carabiners are great because
they're a lot lighter, and this will add up
if you're carrying a lot of draws for really long pitch.
And another benefit of the wire gate is that
they will actually reduce gate flutter.
What this means is that they're just less likely
to come unclipped during a fall.
This isn't something you should base your entire decision
of quickdraws on, it's just something to be aware of.
There are two types of wire gate
carabiners that you might come across.
Standard wire gate carabiners like this one,
and key lock carabiners, these are key lock
style carabiners like this one for the wire gates.
Standard wire gate has a small hook on the nose,
which you can have gear get caught on that,
and so the key lock style with the hood wire on the nose
will just make it less likely for the gear to get caught.
So this one is one of those key lock styles
and so is this carabiner here.
Again you can see just less likely for gear to get caught.
Once you decided what carabiners you want
for your quickdraws, the next thing to consider
is the webbing or the dogbone.
So on the dogbone that connects your two carabiners
on your quickdraw, you'll have two different main parts.
The first is the looser end where the carabiner moves,
and then the other has this rubber stabilizer piece
that makes this a little bit stiffer.
This is not a safety piece, this just makes it easier
for you to clip the rope as you're climbing,
and if you ever are assembling your own quickdraws
you just want to be very sure that the carabiner
is running through the webbing as well
as through that rubber stabilizer and
not just through the rubber stabilizer.
There are two different materials that you'll find
commonly in dogbones for quickdraws.
The first is dyneema like this guy here,
and the second is nylon like this one here.
Nylon is bulkier but it's also less expensive than dyneema
and it's a great choice for just cragging
or single pitch climbing, or if you're prioritizing
low cost, if you're hiking in not very far to a place
where you're climbing, then these are a good option.
Dyneema is a little bit more abrasion resistant
than nylon and is also a lot lighter and
it's a little more expensive than nylon.
These are really great for alpine climbing or long pitches
or anytime where you know that you're gonna
be carrying a large rack a long distance.
So once you've decided what material you want
for the dogbone on your draws, the next decision
you want to make is the length of the draws.
Short draws like these are great for pretty
straight, short routes because you'll just have
the rope running straight up the climb
so you're not gonna have a ton of rope drag
with shorter draws like these.
If you have a route that tends to meander a little bit
and the bolting is a little bit wandering
then you might want slightly longer draws.
So, these draws will come in versions up to about
18 centimeter dogbones, and those again,
really good for routes that meander a little bit more.
If you have something that really starts
to go off route a little bit, you might want
to consider using an alpine draw.
So an alpine draw like this one is just two carabiners
that are connected by a sling, and then this sling
can be extended like that, and this extended sling
again will just help limit the rope drag
if you have a route that starts to meander a lot more.
And then once you've decided what type of carabiners
you want, what type of material you want for the dogbone,
and the length, the next decision to make
is how many draws you need to carry with you.
If you're doing a lot of single pitch climbing,
12 quickdraws will pretty much get you up most routes.
You can find out how many draws you need to carry with you
by taking a look at Mountain Project
or looking into a guide book so you know
how many bolts you have on a route.
It's a good idea to carry that many draws
on your harness as well as a couple extra
just in case one falls or there's a new
bolt that you didn't know about.
That's it for how to choose quickdraws.
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