After climbing shoes, a harness, and a chalk bag, one of the first items of gear a new climber will likely buy is a rack of quickdraws. These are your gateway to freedom--the keys that unlock the mysteries of moving through vertical terrain and gaining new techniques that will expand your climbing horizons. It's exciting. Below, we outline the different types of draws and a few considerations to make before throwing down on a new set.

PARTS OF A QUICKDRAW

Dogbone Type

The most obvious difference you’ll notice between our quickdraws is the style of dogbone used. A dogbone is the nylon material that connects the two carabiners in a draw. Sport climbing draws have a nice, thick dogbone that’s both confidence-inspiring and easy to grab onto in moments of desperation. Lightweight draws, like the Miniwire Quickdraw, have a thin dogbone that reduces weight and bulk on your harness. An alpine draw is a doubled-up sling that can be extended for rope management purposes.

Length of Draw

Most of our quickdraws come in either 12 cm or 16 cm lengths, except for our Miniwire Alpine Draws, which are made from a 60 cm sling doubled up in a classic alpine configuration. In most cases, a 12 cm draw works well, especially on sport routes that are fairly straightforward. Having a few 16 cm draws in your quiver is nice for reducing rope drag, but we’d recommend starting with mostly 12 cm draws and going from there.

Carabiner Gate Type

Most sport climbing quickdraw configurations will be made up of either two straight gate carabiners or one straight gate and one bent gate carabiner. It can be easier to clip a bent gate carabiner, so the bottom carabiner will typically be a bent gate in these situations. To reduce weight, some sport draws will have a wiregate on the bottom carabiner. For lightweight draws and alpine slings, typically two wiregate carabiners will be used.

WHAT ARE YOU USING IT FOR?

Sport Climbing

Our HotForge, HotWire, and HotWire Hybrid draws are all designed with sport climbing in mind. These draws come in 12 or 16 cm lengths with a hefty dogbone that’s confidence-inspiring and easy to grab onto in a pinch. The HotForge top carabiners on these draws are snag-free for smooth clipping. If you’re still concerned about weight and want to save a little on cost, the HotForge Quickdraws are a good option. They’re built with two asymmetrical, D-Shaped wiregate carabiners with a larger rope-bearing surface for greater durability and less wear on your rope.

Multi-pitch Climbing

Depending on what kind of multi-pitch climbing you’re doing, there are a variety of options here that will help save weight and harness real estate. For some, a rack of our LiteWire draws will do the trick: They’re super light with 12 cm nylon dogbones. If you’re multi-pitch climbing at your limit or projecting a longer route, you might be more inclined to leave your rig equipped with HotForge draws since they’re made with wiregate carabiners but have a more substantial dogbone. It’s not a bad idea to have a few alpine draws as well, since chances are a multi-pitch route will wander at some point and extending clips for rope management will be important.

Trad Climbing

When trad climbing, most people like to have a handful of alpine draws with lightweight, wiregate carabiners and a grip of light 12 cm draws with sleek nylon dogbones. Keeping your rack as light as possible is key here(you want the bulk of your weight to be in your cams, not your draws or other pitch necessities), so we recommend racking a few MiniWire draws and a half dozen or so MiniWire Alpine draws. These carabiners are great for trad climbing because they easily clip into old pitons without snagging and are light and low-profile on a harness.

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

For everything else you might want to know about quickdraws, you can find out more in our QC lab. We go into the nitty-gritty of gates in vs. gates out, opposing carabiners on draws, and more.