Black Diamond Sent to OZ
By Rocky Thompson on August 12th, 2006Black Diamond is shilling their newest carabiner with the line: “Truly the lightest full-function wiregate biner in the world.â€
While the Oz biner weighs 28g and combines in a 63g quickdraw, calling it “full-function†stretches things a little. First, what the hell is a part-function carabiner, one you just use for your keys? It’s also worth pointing out that the Oz biner is rated to 20kN while most biners are rated at 25kN.
In spite of the ambitious marketing, it’s tough to argue with a one ounce biner. You could send most sport routes with only about 12 ounces on your harness, climb in your underwear and you’ll save even more weight.
The OZ is a nice biner. BUT……. The Mammut Moses is better. The OZ is smaller, not a full size biner. I have used it for Ice climbing and it is a tight fit having my gloved finged in the biner and opening the gate for the rope. Rock, however, would be nice, no thick gloves. Teh Mammut Moses is the same size (slightly larger by 1mm) than the BD Neutrino, and weighs 9 grams less than the BD. It also has a slightly larger gate opening. I love the BD’s but I am swapping to Moses. If I swap out 20 BD’s, I will shed 1lb just in metal. If you can afford the swap, it is worth it. I would rather carry extra water than useless metal. Just my .02 cents