Black Diamond Vaporlock Screwgate

I bought this karabiner as on of my first and it has probably now seen the most use super light weight, it is brilliant for anyone looking to build up a full climbing pack. The only downside to this product is because it is so light weight it is less durable then other karabiners.

Screwgate weights have tumbled in the last few years, and the Vaporlock is a great example of this: not that long ago, HMS (pear-shaped) krabs frequently weighed in the wrong side of 90g (the Vaporlock is 52g. ) With trad climbers typically carrying 3, 4, 5 or more screwgates this kind of difference starts to add up. To be fair, given that lightweight wiregates might drop you 20g each compared to older snapgates, and you may carry 30 or 40 of them, clearly there are better places to begin the process of lightening your rack. When you get there however, the Vaporlock is a great choice: it's big enough for a couple of clove hitches if you're building a belay with it, and big enough also for Italian hitches. It also has a keylock nose, which is a fantastic design feature in that it prevents the 'faff factor' of snagging slings, wires, bolt hangers etc. There are other manufacturers producing similar krabs, and I own a few of them - notably Petzl's Attache and Camp's Nitro - but neither of them exude the same quality as gear from Black Diamond. I expect my Vaporlock's to still be in service years after most of my other krabs have given up the ghost.