I played with one in a shop the other day. What happens when you drop that piece of crap in the dirt and the magnets fill up the trick lock triggers with iron flakes like any other magnet that gets dropped in the dirt? How are you going to clean that out. What a piece of sh_t.
Magnetite is a common accessory mineral in granitic rocks, especially in earlier stage veins (~400-450C if memory serves)... so some of that magnetic sh#t ain'tchur common iron flakes.
I am always really suspicious when a company makes a product and immediately touts it as a "breakthrough". I've played with one. I'm sure that the magnet will collect flakes and filings as time goes on and get stuck open when you really need it to shut. I also don't really like that you need to pinch it to open it; that's a rather fine motor skill. I can handle normal lockers with less dexterity and from all kinds of angles. Pinching will be nice and fun to try to do with your heart rate is up.
"I am strangely drawn to magnetic carabiners.
Is it because they are a good idea or could it just be an affect of the medical metal in my body? "
Ha! Funny stuff Phil !
Thanks E for the report for those us us too poor cough*lazy*cough to check them out yourself. I wasn't an early convert to wiregates but I did come around so I figure that there's plenty of time to fall in love with magnets. Or not.
I was touring Chouinard Equipment factory in the very early 80s and an engineer there was showing me an auto locking biner. I laughed to myself and thought "who the hell is ever going to buy that?"
Not to mention that mono-point crampons and leashless axes will never catch on.
My guess is that the issue is price not efficacy. I can remember when carabiners cost $2.50 for an oval and $3.25 for a locker. Back then I had to decide between gear and lunch. Same as it ever was.
To me it is like the auto lockers, play with an auto and a magnetron and see which action you prefer. If you are like me and can't come to terms with your monkey brain just embrace it and have a fun toy. It isn't a need, and I don't think anyone (even BD) makes bones about it being necessary equipment for rock climbing... just another cool gadget that is fun. For some people that is worth twenty something bucks.
I haven't had a chance to play with one, myself. I might get a pair just for grins. When I do, I'll make sure and go drop them in a bunch of dirt and report back.
I do recall that one of the guys at the shop said that they specifically can't be used in ice, so he has no use for them.
This is the easiest 'one handed' locker design I have used. I don't do a lot of 'one handed' extreme locking so I'm not sure how handy that is.
We have been climbing with them for a little over a year and haven't noticed any gunk build-up in the magnets. I don't know how magnetic our soil is.
Our shop still keeps getting the brush-off and delay notices with the ship date on these, for over 3 months now. They get the grid lock belay version but that's it.
Same thing with both the REI's in town, can't get them there either. So either there is a hell of a lot of demand or they are having some serious issues with production.
So either there is a hell of a lot of demand or they are having some serious issues with production.
Or the company geologists has already determined there is too much iron in your sands down there and will only sell to places surrounded by slimestone.
I've had one now for about six months and I kind of like it. Being a gear junkie I've tried to tras it. I've thrown it in the dirt and stomped and ground with my foot. Sure enough the magnets were jammed when I was done, but so was the screw collar of the manual locker I ground into the dirt along side it. Both took about the same effort to clear out and get working again.
I like that I know that when the gate is closed, the 'biner is locked. I don't like that I will eventually lose the habit of checking to see if it's locked though.
Then I held it under some sprinkly water when I was ice climbing in Hyalite last month. The temp was 5°-8° F and, sure enough, it froze up. But so did the one with the screw lock collar that I held next to it. The Magnatron was easier and quicker to thaw out in my armpit.
I don't think I'm going to use it ice climbing in the future, however. It's too hard to tell where to squeeze it when I have gloves on and it's hanging on the back of my harness.
So I went into Neptune's and picked up a Magnetron. It is very well made and has an elegant design. Super easy to operate yet totally solid. It is my intent to put it trough the use/abuse product testing drill. Starting with freezing it solid in a tray of water and seeing how long it takes to reopen.
Then grinding it in the granitic dirt of BoCan and rolling it in the metal fillings of my DeWalt tools and seeing how long it takes to clear. Like Mal I will also test a standard screwgate and a springlock as controls.
After that I am going to abuse it as much as possible and in everyway imaginable at the Ouray Ice Fest this weekend. TR/Gear review to follow.
My prediction is that in 5 years (or less) magnetic crabs will be ubiquitous.
I was using a few a month ago on ice; it takes amazingly little snow and ice in these to have them fail completely. Also very tough to manipulate with gloves. These are an absolute no go in their current form
I've had one for about a month now. It's been relegated to my ATC biner.
I was originally thinking about using these instead of the locking ovals I have on my aiders. This is a no go for a couple reasons. For one, it's offset and I don't want something that can shift on a hook move. Ovals are much better. Secondly, I can open a twist lock without having to reach behind it to the rock side, which isn't always an option with aid.
As has been stated, using these in ice is pretty much a no go. I don't climb ice, but I can see how it wouldn't be useful for those that do.
As a belay device biner, I've found that its pretty comparable to the auto locker that I used before. Not really better or worse.
Overall, I'd have to agree that it's a solid and useable device, but not really something that's a mind blower. And the high price makes it hard to see the value over a cheaper auto that does the same job.
I'm not independent, I'm a climber who tests gear for BD and is sponsored by BD. So I probably lie through my teeth, but here goes:
Interesting to see the comments from people who have actually used the carabiner versus just looked at it. Some good fair ones from those who have used it. It's not for all people in all situations obviously, but I really like mine.
I've been using various versions for well over a year, and come to love 'em for most "locker" situations. If you're a guide they rule for all sorts of applications, just great. I use them on my ATC, they are just locked always, and unlike a screwgate they don't unscrew when rapping when the rope rubs on 'em (nice for Munters and lowering too)... Same for masterpoint biners, really nice there, they are locked, always, and very hard to open unintentionally. A friend and I worked at it for a while with various pieces of webbing and cord and did it, but it took a lot of work and holding the biner in a fixed position. I'm not concerned about this, meteors in Russia a bigger problem probably.
I have close to 100 days of ice climbing on my magnetrons. They don't ice up any worse than any other locker, and are much faster to clean than an iced-up screw gate (and WAY faster than any other triple-action). I just tap mine on the rock a bit on alternate sides and it cleans, not so with a frozen screwgate. At exactly the wrong temperature with the right amount of moisture you can turn any carabiner into a permo-lock, but the magnetron isn't any worse.
I have had zero problems with the magnets getting kludged up with iron earth filings or any filings from aliens, domestic or inter-space.
In some situations I don't want my biners to auto-lock, but this thing is so easy to work that those situations are far fewer than with any other double or triple action biner. It's not perfect, but it does a lot of things really, really well. I expect they will become standard for a lot of applications, they save a tremendous amount of time and effort fiddling with screwgates, and I've never had my Magnetron that I supposedly "locked' be unlocked. That happens regularly for me with screwgates.
Revolutionary? No, but very, very useful for me in my own climbing. I can use any biner from BD I want to use, and I use these for half my lockers because they work really well. I expect their application in industrial situations will be really large too.
Tried one last year ice climbing. Was a snowy day. Gloves were kinda wet-ish. Found it to be a bit too hard to get open and off my harness (or, open for rope, etc). Didn't care that much for it.
I use an autolocker as my primary locking biner (DMM, HB, Rock Exotica). Easy twist to open.
Just seemed hard, with gloves on, to find the sweet spot to get the darn thing to open reliably. A bit frustrating.
Let us know!