Gear Review: CAMP Dyon Carabiner

Value Rating: 5 Durability Rating: 8 Overall Rating: 9 Location of Test: Smith Rock Duration: 6 days Product Name: Dyon carabiner Product Brand: CAMP Best Use: Bolt side of alpine quickdraws Sizes: 8 colors available, weighs 33g, holds 21Kn along major axis. The Full Review: I recently picked up a Dyon carabiner by CAMP. The Dyon is CAMP’s latest innovation: a key-lock wiregate carabiner. There’s long been a debate in the climbing community about wiretgates vs. solid gates. Some people prefer the feeling of clipping one over the other. Many choose wire gates because they don’t have gate flutter, but others, like me, hate the hook nose on wiregates and instead choose solid gates for the bolt side of my draws. However, the Dyon is beginning to change the picture. CAMP added a bulbous piece of metal on the end of the wire gate that fits the key-shaped nose of the biner, creating a smooth nose for easy unclipping. What I liked The Dyon overall has a great ergonomic feel to it. The gate is stiff and smooth (much stiffer than the Photon Wiregate) The size is nice, and the biner weighs a fairly impressive 33g (for comparison, the CAMP Photon weighs 29g and the Black Diamond Hotwire weighs 43g.) I loved the size of the nose—it felt great when unclipping it from bolts. What I didn’t like Quite honestly, the only thing I didn’t like about the Dyon was the price. At $14.95, the Dyon is one of the more expensive non-locking carabiners on the market. If you’re looking to outfit your alpine draws with a light wiregate biner, the Dyon is what you need. Unfortunately, it won’t be cheap. If you’re like me and want to check out a new piece of technology and want a light biner to attach your rope to a bolt at the top of a pitch, the Dyon is a great option. Overall, I was impressed with the weight, functionality, and handling of the Dyon. It isn’t the most inexpensive biner on the market but it does its job very well. The Good Slick design, snag-free nose, ergonomic feel The Bad: The price The Bottom Line: A super cool development in climbing gear, and a really great carabiner.