Black Diamond Oz
The Oz carabiner is a small carabiner that can be used in sport, trad, and alpine climbing. It's lightweight but has a decent gate opening making it more functional than other small carabiners.
Pros
- Good clipping action
- Lightweight - 22g
- Keylock (new model)
- Multiple colors
Review
The Oz carabiner is a good all-around biner. It’s not the lightest out there nor does it have the largest gate opening (22mm) but it works well and I’ve always found Black Diamond wire gates easy to clip. The new Oz has a wire hood design making it keylock like the Petzl Ange S but is the cheaper of the two. It also comes in multiple colors to match the Black Diamond Cams.
There are a handful of small, full strength carabiners on the market from 19 grams to 28 grams. Small carabiners are light in weight but generally have a smaller gate opening making clipping the rope more difficult (especially if you have large fingers). For that reason, some carabiners are better for racking gear or using on the bolt end of a quick draw than using for the rope end of a quick draw or on an alpine draw.
The lightest carabiners on the market are the Edelrid NineteenG, CAMP Nano 22 and the Metolius FS Mini. The NineteenG and FS Mini have a 17 mm gate opening which is TINY. I used my buddy‘s FS Mini quickdraw once and while I did manage to clip my rope in, I was cursing the entire time. Personally, I’d use the NineteenG and FS Mini for racking gear or on the bolt end of a quickdraw only. The FS mini comes in multiple colors making it good for racking cams. The Nano 22 also comes in many colors but has a larger gate opening, 21mm. This is my personal favorite and is the most affordably priced lightweight carabiner.
- Edelrid NineteenG 19g $10.95 17mm 20/7/7 kN
- CAMP Nano 22 22g $6.95 21mm 21/8/9 kN
- Metolius FS Mini 23g $7.50 17mm 22/7/8 kN
In the 27-28 gram range, the gate openings get larger and are more usable. There are also a couple of small carabiners with a keylock which makes the gate harder to snag. The oz comes in a rack pack with multiple colors. Note that the original Oz did not come with the hoodwire technology so it was not keylock.
- Mammut Moses 27g $8.95 25mm 23/8/8 kN
- Grivel Plume K3W 28g $13.95 26mm 22/7/7 kN
- Wild Country Astro 29g $7.75 24mm 23/7/7 kN
- Black Diamond Oz 28g $8.95 22mm 20/7/7 kN (keylock)
- Petzl Ange S 28g $10.95 23mm 20/7/9 kN (keylock)
Source: bought it new
Price Paid: $6
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MSRP: $8.50 Current Retail: $13.95-$179.95 Historic Range: $0.01-$179.95 Reviewers Paid: $6.00 |