Ultra-light quickdraws are a blessing if you’re on the go for mountaineering and multipitch routes. It doesn’t really mean that you have to be climbing multipitch routes to have them. If you sports climb, they are just as good for sports climbing. It lightens your rack and you don’t sacrifice performance with these modern quickdraws. These 5 quickdraws featured and tested below is specially designed for users demanding uncomplicated ultra-light gear. Wired gates ensure at the same time no freeze on an alpine trip even under 0°c temperatures.

The DMM Shield has a wired gate with Keylock System. The snappers are twisted and provide increased stability and an ergonomic shape for better handling. This was at first a little strange to hold onto as we were used to smooth gate carabiners but we got used used to them after a while. The DMM Shield is a combination of wire gate and keylock. With the rounded nose, clipping remains simple, it doesn’t snag on your harness while clipping, nor does it stuck on the bolt while cleaning up the route.

The Clean Wire from Wild country comes in with a patented “CleanWire” nose and freeze proof wire gates which makes them an excellent choice for use in the mountains. The gates are extra resistant and springy which makes clipping a wee difficult, but at the same time it reduces gate flutter if you take a whipper. This was our favourite especially on hard routes, though unfortunately, it is also the most expensive from the batch. Comes with 10cm, 15cm or 20cm Slings.

The nose of the Anges Finess S from Petzl has a hole that allows ice, snow or dirt to drop out. Their MonoFil Keylock ensures a much longer lifetime compared to traditional wire gate carabiners, so petzl. This was the only carabiner that has a single wire gate with a nose. We found that the small size carabiner was a little difficult to clip especially if you have big fat fingers. But then again, there are a few differant ways to clipping your rope into a biner, and for some this may not be a problem at all. It was  the lightest quickdraw in this group with it’s 63g.  Comes in with 10cm and 17cm slings

The QuickWire from Black Diamond has a combination of a quicksilver and hotwire carabiners. The hot wire carabiner ensures that it does not freeze  under 0°c. A good value for your money for a quickdraw thats light, and good performance.It was a good combination to have a mixture of both worlds.

The ANLO mountain catcher has the longest sling from the group. The Dynex sling however has on one end the largest loop. This disturbed me as I had the feeling to loose the carabiner through the loop, which made clipping for me a little more difficult.  Nevertheless, it proved to be good for fat fingers and the price was definately a bargain with the quickdraws from ANLO mountain. Comes in with 13cm and 18cm slings.

We tested these quickdraws while sportsclimbing and enjoyed during this trip a lighter rucksack on our backs. I must admit that there was a little scepsis on wired gear in the very beginning but changed our opinion positively for wired quickdraws after a while. They are all light weight, stable and have  good data values. The Helium Clean Wire from Wild Country would leave a hole into your pocket upon purchase, but it became at the same time our favorite. DMM and Wild Country were the only 2 Brands that has a 3 sigma rated Quickdraw. For those of you who are looking for cheaper bargains, your best bet are the quickdraws from Black Diamond and ANLO mountain.