carabiners for canyoning

[lubes]

i need to get some carabiners for canyoning, and was told steel screwgate crabs are the best for this purpose. obviously i figured steel screwgate biners are stronger and have less chance of opening when not intended than other types, but are there any other benefits/drawbacks i should be aware of, when considering what biners are best? and also are there other types of biners i should maybe be looking at which would be better for abseilling etc, and what aspecs of the biners should i be looking at.

im a bit of a noob so any info will be appreciated. cheers.

[Aegist]

I'm not the most experienced on this subject either, but as far as I can tell, Steel are the strongest, but Aluminium are by far the lightest and still manage to maintain more than enough adequate strength.

Rock climbers use aluminium because weight matters. Most abseiling situations would use the steel because weight isn't an issue and you can have more long term durability confidence with the steel option. Since Canyoning does invovle walking in and out of canyons, and often swimming, I think weight is something of a consideration, and so plan on buying some aluminium ones myself.

If I could get Lucas or Richard in here, they would be the best qualified people to answer this question

[Julz]

You need to be looking at the rating stamped on the carabiner rather than what it is made of. Most popular carabiners have a breaking load if 25kn which is 2,500 kg. Your rope is likely to be the weaker link in your rig depending on what diametre rope you're using. For example, a new 9mm rope has a breaking strain of 1800 kg significantly less than the biner. Get yourself aluminium biners as  you will appreciate the weight difference when slogging it out up a steep hill laden with wet ropes, wetsuits etc. As with all rated gear, they're only as good as the treatment they're subjected to.

Julie

[ratagonia]

i need to get some carabiners for canyoning, and was told steel screwgate crabs are the best for this purpose. obviously i figured steel screwgate biners are stronger and have less chance of opening when not intended than other types, but are there any other benefits/drawbacks i should be aware of, when considering what biners are best? and also are there other types of biners i should maybe be looking at which would be better for abseilling etc, and what aspecs of the biners should i be looking at.

Hi Lubes

I used to work for Black Diamond Equipment here in Utah, USA, so I CLAIM to know a lot about carabiners.

Steel carabiners tend to be a bit stronger than aluminum, but they are also made for a different market (not recreation).  Some people carry a steel carabiner for their main rappelling carabiner, because they last a lot longer in a sandy and wet environment.  Personally, I only use aluminum carabiners, and specifically, the Petzl Attache and the Black Diamond Quicksilver2 Screwgate locking biners. 

Almost all uses in canyoning require a locking carabiner, so I carry screwgate locking carabiners exclusively.  Spring-loaded lockers (auto-locks) tend to get gummed up with sand easily, and can be hard to manipulate with cold, wet fingers.

I wrote this writeup a few years ago, and it needs to be updated, but most of it still applies:

http://canyoneeringusa.com/utah/intro/binerrap.php

Tom Jones
Canyoneering USA

[ratagonia]

Link to a slightly better page:

http://canyoneeringusa.com/utah/tech/biner.php

Tom

[lubes]

thanks a lot of the replies and info folks. much appreciated!

those sites were a big help Tom. Cheers!