Black Diamond Oval Wire Carabiner

Caution: I DON'T CLIMB. So if you're looking for a review of this product based on its use as a climbing accessory, you won't find it here.

I bought these carabiners for use as an accessory biner. They only cost a couple dollars more than the cheap accessory biners, so I thought the extra $ was worth it to know that I'll probably never come up with a way to destroy them.

I recommend these for use as a general use biner for attaching things to your pack or belt, and for making a simple pulley system to either hang a bear bag, or pull your canoe up a steep bank.

This biner weighs 45g. It's lighter than many, but not as light as some of the newer lightweight biners. But as usual, if you want to shave a few more grams off your pack, you're going to spend a little more.

$6!!! I went in to the store to buy 1, but at this price, I bought 3. This will allow me to...

• rig up a basic pulley system to make hanging a bear bag a little more convenient or haul my canoe up a steep bank,
• hang a hammock,
• hang my coffee cup off my pack or belt loop when I'm not using it, but don't want to put it away just yet,
• clip my Pelican box or day pack to the thwart of my canoe, so that I know it's not going anywhere,
• clip my dog's leash to anything while I lock up my car, get her some food & water, look for something in my pack, read a map, tie my shoe, light my stove, set up my tent, or pee in a bush.
• hang my headlamp or flashlight off my pack, where it will be easy to find in the dark,
• hang my lantern from a guy line,
• do a bunch of other cool things that I haven't even thought of yet!

This biner is rated for climbing, and has a breaking strength of 23KN. A conversion tool on the internet told me that 23KN = 5170 lbs. So... when you take the breaking strength in KN and convert it to lbs, then multiply it by the 550 lbs paracord that I use for everything, and subtract the hypotenuse from the internal operating temperature of the flux capacitor, you get this result... I'LL NEVER BREAK THIS THING!

The little chores and convenience tasks I have planned for this thing will never come close to reaching its full potential. If this biner was a teenager, he'd feel completely bored and un-challenged, which sucks if it's a teenager that you're camping with, but is pretty great if it's a biner that you're camping with.

The gate on this biner is wide, and will easily accommodate the handle of a coffee mug, a water bottle, paracord, a strap on a pack, and a bunch of other things.

It's big and clunky. It's too big to be comfortably used as a key ring, but large enough that it will be easy to use with gloves or mittens on.

When I was picking out this biner, there were some others that came in some cool fancy colors. This one only comes in silver.

I'll update this review as I use this piece of equipment and find new uses and drawbacks to it.