Karabiner: Wild Country Xenon
7th Mar 2006
The Xenon is basically a full sized karabiner that has been trimmed down to make it pretty light weight. At 36g this is indeed lighter than average. It fits snugly in the hand, has a slim-line hooded nose which is easier to clip through small bolts and pegs than most (slate climbers take note!), and looks excellent. The narrow stem means that if you have limited space on your harness gear loops, or just like to rack a lot of gear, you should be able to get more on than with an average un-tapered design. A Xenon quickdraw (2 biners and a 10mm Dyneema tape) will set you back £14 (£7 for a single biner) for a shorty (sizes: 10cm, 15cm & 20cm). A good price for a nice piece of kit.
A good all rounder I have used for both sport and trad climbing.