The Quickdraw

The quickdraw is ideal for sport and indoor rock climbing. Quickdraws reduce rope drag when a rope is pulled through a series of carabiners which are not necessarily aligned.

What does a quickdraw do?. The quickdraw allows the rope to pull to the center and allow a less resistive path from the belay point to the climber. The quickdraw is made of two non-locking carabineers connected with a sewn webbing. One of the carabineers is a non-locking bent gate carabineer and the other is a non-locking straight-gate carabineer. The carabineers are attached with a sling. The sling can vary in length from about 5 cm to 25 cm or 4-1/2 to 10 inches. The webbing is made from a strong material and usually it is sewn on to the carabineer. It can also be tied using a runner or sling. Either of the carabineers may be snap gate or wire gate type.

The quickdraw has one straight gate carabineer and one bent gate carabineer. The bent gate carabineer should always be the one clipped to the rope. For leading and top roping at an indoor climbing wall usually a quickdraw is already attached to each of the protection points on the route. The lower carabineer, (the one with the bent gate) should be clipped so the gate is pointing away from the rope and pointing away from the climbing wall or rock face. Doing this will help prevent the quickdraw from twisting the gate into the wall. The rope should run freely through the spine of each carabineer, not along the gate. The spine is the strongest part of the carabineer.

Z-Clipping. Z-clipping happens when the climber grabs the rope under the last clipped quickdraw. In other words, on the rope going to the belayer. Then attempts to clip the next protection using that rope. This usually happens when protection is close together. See diagram.

Example of a "Z-Clip". The climber incorrectly grabs the rope going to the belayer instead of the rope going to his harness, then pulls it up to the next quickdraw. This type of clipping could cause the gate to twist against the rope and open; and causes excessive rope drag, not to mention a red face.

Example of correct clipping. The climber grabs the rope going from the quickdraw to his harness, then pulls it up to the next quickdraw. The rope stays free and has the lease amount of rope drag.

Black Diamond Quicksilver Quickdraw. For a simple, functional, and commonly used quickdraw, the Black Diamond Quicksilver quickdraw is your choice. The combination bent gate, straight gate quickdraw is loved and used by indoor gym climbers as well as the sport and trad. Black Diamond HotWire Quickdraw. This quickdraw uses a keylock biner and a wire-gate biner. The result is fast and easy clipping. On the rope end it has a rubber straight jacket which holds the biner in place for stability and correct orientation to the pin. Black Diamond Positron Anodized Quickdraw. This Quickdraw combines two keylock ‘biners for the easiest clipping available. They are sleek without protrusions so it reduces the tendency to catch or snag, making it easier to clean a route, and easier to clip quickly while leading. Black Diamond LiveWire Quickdraw. This is a quickdraw made for sport climbers. It is an easy to clip and remove when cleaning. The bolt end has a large LiveWire biner which effortlessly receives the rope. The biner is a keylock gate type to make cleaning easier. Petzl Express Quickdraw Sling. Petzl Express Slings for making your own quickdraws. The string webbing protector keeps carabineers aligned for ease of use and clipping. Just combine biner of choice and you can make your own quickdraws. CAMP USA Orbit Express Dyneema Quickdraw.
Made with two keylock carabiners to speed up clipping and make cleaning the route much easier. CAMP USA Orbit Express Nylon Quickdraw - 5 Pack. Uses a keylock carabiner on each end so clipping and unclipping is easy. You won't have to worry about taking the ride with an armful of slack when you have the bent-gate Orbit carabiner ready at the next bolt. DMM Shield Quickdraw. The Shield Quickdraw utilizes DMM's the Wirelock design to make cleaning easy. The Wirelock gate has low mass to keep it from fluttering, and the keylock notch makes clipping and unclipping easier. DMM Phantom Quickdraw. This 2-ounce quickdraw gives you easy clipping in a reach, and the I-beam construction provides 23kN of strength. The wire gates or sling will not freeze in cold weather. Mammut Express Set Moses Wire Gate Quickdraws. Several options to choose from. Select the 10-centimeter quickdraw for straight forward cracks. Select the 60–centimeter, over-the-shoulder slings pitches on granite. Metolius Full Strength Mini Quickdraw Set - 5pk. The Metolius Full Strength Mini Quickdraw Set 5 Pack are ultralight draws that help you save weight without compromising strength. Wild Country Nitro Quick Draw. The Wild Country Nitro Quick Draw is under 3 ounces and is said to be the lightest full-size quickdraw available. It has ultralight Nitro wiregate biners and a super-skinny Dyneema dogbone.