At SimplyTourIt, ⚠️ safety is the number one priority on every tour. That's why we always want to inform you about important things regarding safety. You can write to us and suggest an article ?.

The "good old screw lock" has had a lot of competition in recent years - and new locking systems are constantly being added. However, the various locking mechanisms do not all offer the same safety reserves against unintentional unhooking!

In the Panorama article "The right twist" (Panorama 2/2014), German Alpine Club provided detailed information on the differences between various locking carabiner systems: where are the respective advantages ? and disadvantages ? in terms of handling and for which applications are the individual mechanisms suitable from a safety point of view?

Since then, the German Alpine Club has divided locking carabiners into three locking safety categories:

?low security

? medium security

? high locking security

The German Alpine Association has summarized here for you which locking safety category the individual mechanisms are assigned to, and for which applications the carabiners of a category are suitable and how well.

 

Low locking security

Carabiners in the "low locking security" category are only acceptable for connecting a belay device to a harness. It should be noted that some belay devices are used exclusively with the carabiner supplied by the manufacturer (e.g. ClickUp, Fish, Ergo). For other devices (e.g. Jul2), there is a carabiner recommendation from the manufacturer. Information on this can be found in the operating instructions.

Of course, carabiners with low locking security are also useful for applications for which, in principle, a carabiner without locking security is also sufficient. For example, due to its opening mechanism, the Slider is very well suited for express slings in places where the lead climber wants more security against unintentional unhooking than a normal express sling offers.

Suitability for specific applications in detail:

  • Connection of belay device with climbing harness: acceptable (follow the operating instructions of the belay device!).
  • HMS belaying with brake hand on top or HMS on fixed point: problematic
  • HMS belaying with braking hand at the bottom: poor
  • Self-securing: problematic
  • Connection rope - harness during lowering: problematic
  • Roping on the glacier: problematic
  • Roping during climbing: poor ("Very good" are two carabiners attached in opposite directions, one of which has a locking device, or two carabiners attached in opposite directions with positioning).
  • Roping in toprope: poor (direct tying-in is ideal, two carabiners hooked in opposite directions - one of which has a locking device - or two carabiners with positioning in opposite directions are also considered "very good").

 

Medium locking security

Carabiners in this category are good, or at least acceptable, for most applications. Only when belaying with HMS when belaying with "brake hand down" and when connecting rope - harness are these carabiners to be judged critically. If load changes are to be expected again and again over a longer period of time, then unintentional unhooking of the rope cannot be ruled out. There are already documented accidents of this kind.

The "good old screw lock" is also classified in this category. However, it occupies a special position: screwdrivers are the only locking carabiners that can be operated very easily, even with one hand, which makes them indispensable for many applications. However, screw lock carabiners tend to unscrew on their own if there are many load changes or if the rope runs over the gate. In addition, screw lock devices are not self-sealing, which is an advantage for some applications and a safety disadvantage for others.

Suitability for specific applications in detail:

  • Connection of belay device with climbing harness: good (follow the operating instructions of the belay device!).
  • HMS belaying with brake hand on top or HMS on fixed point: good 
  • HMS belaying with braking hand at the bottom: acceptable (screw lock: problematic)
  • Self-securing: good
  • Connection rope - harness during lowering: good
  • Roping on the glacier: acceptable
  • Roping during climbing: problematic ("very good" are two carabiners hooked in opposite directions, one of them with locking device, or two carabiners hooked in opposite directions with positioning)
  • Roping in toprope: poor (direct tying-in is ideal, also considered "very good" are two carabiners hooked in opposite directions - one of them with locking device - or two carabiners with positioning in opposite directions)

 

High locking security - Safelock

With Safelocks, unintentional unhooking is almost unthinkable. Only when roping into the rope switch or top-rope climbing do we see a theoretical, small chance that this could possibly happen. "Very good" is rated - as with all other locking carabiners - for these applications the additional protection with a gate hooked in the opposite direction.

Suitability for specific applications in detail:

  • Connection of belay device with climbing harness: very good (follow the operating instructions of the backup device!)
  • HMS belaying with brake hand on top or HMS on fixed point: very good
  • HMS belaying with braking hand at the bottom: very good
  • Self-securing: very good
  • Connection rope - harness during lowering: very good
  • Roping on the glacier: very good
  • Roping during climbing: good ("very good" are two carabiners hooked in opposite directions - one of which has a locking device - or two carabiners with positioning in opposite directions).
  • Roping in toprope: good (direct tying-in is ideal, two carabiners hooked in opposite directions - one of which has a locking device - or two carabiners with positioning in opposite directions are also considered "very good")

 

The original source for this article can be found at this link.

 

Safety first!