Heather and I have been using the new Petzl Ange biners (and quickdraws) for the past few months. Petzl’s Chuck Odette and Wolfgang Schweiger were kind enough to give us half a dozen draws to try out. Wolf was so confident that I’d like them that he asked me to post my honest thoughts about the biners – whatever those thoughts are.
Simply put, they’re our new favorite toys.

I prefer the Ange L (the larger of the two sizes) on both sides of the draw for sport climbing, mainly because the larger gate opening makes clipping easier. But for onsighting and trad routes weight trumps everything. For these, the Ange S is my choice. The Ange S takes a little getting used to – my sausage fingers fumbled the first 5 or 10 clips. But with a little practice I became accustomed to the tiny biners and their small gate openings.

Thanks Chuck and Wolfgang for the opportunity to test out Petzl’s latest biners. We’ll keep you posted on their durability.
Cheers, Chris