Black Diamond QuickWire quickdraws


GearFlogger reviews Black Diamond QuickWire quickdraws OK, we all know we're being extorted when we buy quickdraws. You can lessen the pain by buying them in sets of 5 or 6 from some vendors. Black Diamond, purveyor of all things shiny, offers two of their draws in sets: the Quicksilver and QuickWire, with the only difference being – you guessed it – a Hotwire wiregate biner on the rope end of the QuickWire, in place of the Quicksilver bent solid gate biner on the rope end of the Quicksilver draw.

For some reason, you don't really save any money buying the QuickWire in a set. By any money, I mean enough to buy a decent beer. The QuickWires will cost you $14.95 apiece or $87.50 for a set of six, saving you a whopping $2.20, so don't feel pressured to go for the so-called Quickpack. You'll save a teeny bit more on the Quicksilver pack ($3.75: see, I told you it was teeny, why did you make me show you?) but lesson learned: it pays to do the math on the draws.

Spleen vented, the QuickWire is a solid draw, weighing in a 3.5oz with a 12cm Dynex dogbone. An 18cm length is also available at the same price, and honestly I wish I had gone with those for easier clipping (less far to lift the rope) and less rope drag. The 10mm wide webbing is a little narrow for the type of repeated grabbing you might engage in (self abuse!) on a sport route, but for alpine routes and other situations where every ounce counts it's a solid design choice, especially with the lightweight and non-water-retaining properties of Dynex. You're not necessarily saving a lot of weight with the wiregate, just a few grams per draw, but it will resist icing and minimize gate lash.

Performance is great, with easy clipping and smooth, consistent action. BD makes a lot of other draws that aren't sold in packs and if you're set on buying the Diamond you may want to carefully compare your options. For example, the Hotwire draw (remember, don't get confused between the biner and the draw that have the same name) is the same as the QuickWire except that the bolt-clipping end has a Positron biner, which has the advantage of a keylock design for snag-free clipping and un-clipping. If you anticipate grabbing the draw a lot, stop sport climbing. Failing that, there's the much cheaper Freewire or the divorce-settlement-priced LiveWire. Choose your poison wisely.

$14.95 for one draw or $87.50 for a six-pack at REI


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