"Seriously Good Trad Biner" - Review of Black Diamond HotWire Carabiner
I have really big hands, and used the Chouinard/BD Light D from the 80s and the monster BD Big Easy from the 90s before the HotWire. The HotWire fits my mitts just fine, the wiregate action is pretty snappy, and the body of the biner still has a bit of heft that makes it really easy to grip. It's just wide as well as pretty long. Two seasons of scraping on the Red's sandstone have given each a nice patina enhancing the handling. I do use BD Neutrinos as racking biners, but they are too small and fumbly as free biners for me. The HotWires go on both ends of my floppy dedicated trad draws, and serve as free biners. I have friends that say the HotWire wears a bit more quickly at the rope end of sport draws than, say, the Petzl Spirit--something about the respective alloys I guess. But for me the HotWire rocks for trad.
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