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Morgan
Trad climber
East Coast
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Pricey, but a cool, innovative, design. Fast action. Works well with gloves, I like that there is no screw collar for a bight of rope to hang up on.
From their manual, they mention you should keep the Magnetron a certain distance away from your avy beacon.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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From their manual, they mention you should keep the Magnetron a certain distance away from your avy beacon.
Good point. And yer watch and maybe any other electronics: walkie talkies, Ipods, cell phones ....perhaps? Should be interesting.
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mechrist
Gym climber
South of Heaven
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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.
B, LCC grainite has some magnetite in it.
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maldaly
Trad climber
Boulder, CO
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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.
Climb safe,
Mal
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michaeld
Sport climber
Sacramento
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They're meh. Nothing spiffy.
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philo
Trad climber
Is that light the end of the tunnel or a train?
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Thanks Mal that is good info.
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MisterE
Social climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 7, 2013 - 02:55pm PT
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I was thinking of a non-locking magnetic version for the rope-side of a draw.
Thanks for the info Mal.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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I have been using one for about 3 months, works fine so far but it's just another locking biner, nothing special, not a game changer.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Do they funk with digital cameras, iPhones, credit cards, hotel keys, BART tickets or those of us with ferrous plates in their heads?
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philo
Trad climber
Is that light the end of the tunnel or a train?
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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.
Could have done with less packaging.
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McHale's Navy
Trad climber
Panorama City, California & living in Seattle
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Finally got my hands on a Magnetron - had to buy one!
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sharperblue
Mountain climber
oakland, california
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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
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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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.
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Gilwad
climber
Frozen In Somewhere
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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.
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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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.
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MisterE
Social climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 2, 2013 - 02:03am PT
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Just want to add: since I started this post, I have developed a ganglion cist that has totally ruined my hand-modelling career.
Ah, the salad days:
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crazyfingers
climber
CA
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Feb 11, 2014 - 10:44am PT
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Considered getting a couple of them for my work kit because they look easy to operate and would be resistant to roll-out, but figured they would wind up failing due to accumulation of ferromagnetic particles (e.g. that magnet-tipped bit driver in the toolbox that's jammed full of rust bits and requires arduous, intricate cleaning).
I've been using a mix of auto RockLocks and AM'D triacts and have had no problems with them fouling up, but the triacts are too much work for high-repetition tasks and the RockLocks could use a smoother gate action, not to mention the sacrifice of roll-out protection for convenience.
I would try out Magnetrons if they were given to me, but definitely not taking the plunge for that price.
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