Metolius Long Draws & FS Mini Carabiners

The folks at Metolius are a crafty bunch. It seems like they are always searching for the next best thing, or how to make existing products that much better. The Master Cams were huge, and then of course we got Offset Master Cams, which fill a small but important niche on any trad rack. Now come two more additions we like: the Long Draw and FS Mini Carabiners.

The Long Draws at first seemed a little silly to me, I mean who really needs a draw that’s 20” long and why not just use a sling? However, once we got these things out in the field, we’ve found they have several excellent uses. But first off, the geek stuff: the draw itself is made from a 10mm Monster sling, which is 40% Dyneema/60% nylon, and comes in 12, 16 or 20 inch lengths. It’s available in two models, with the regular sized Inferno ‘biner, or the FS Mini’s, which are ridiculously small, but more on those later.

So where do you use these? Basically anywhere you would use a double length sling. I’ve found them to be great for clipping anchors, especially on harder pitches when you are up against some hard-to-clip chains. They also work great as long runners for wandering trad pitches, and they are quicker to unclip than your standard double sling, as you simply unclip them from your harness, unclip the ‘biners, and you’re good to go. It’s a little hard to explain with words, so check this video from Metolius.

One thing I do differently than the guy in the video is that I unclip the whole rig from my harness, clip it to the piece, and then extend it, which seems to be a little smoother and you don’t have the long draw dangling all over as you are trying to clip. Also, this might only seem a little bit faster, but when you are giving it your all, every bit of conserved energy counts. Lastly, they work great on sport redpoint projects where you need to extend a clip. Sometimes bolts just aren’t in the most user friendly spot, especially if you are shorter, but throw one of these on there and all is well.

We’ve been using these with the Inferno ‘biners, which I like but they seem to be wearing through rather quickly. It’s hard to tell though, due to a rope notch that’s part of the design, which looks more worn than it really is once the paint gets roughed off. Still, it’s plenty easy to swap out some different ‘biners and still have all the benefits of the draw.

FS Mini Carabiners

The other option on these is to use the FS Minis. If you haven’t seen these, you have to check them out. They look like a toy keychain ‘biner, and in fact, on a recent trip, my wife scared herself because she went to clip in with one but then thought she had mistakenly grabbed her friends water bottle clip instead! They weigh in at a scant 23g, but are rated to 23 kN. Now, the main attraction here is their size, which is both a good and not-so-good thing. One one hand these are super small and low profile, and light, but on the other, they aren’t all that easy to clip, especially when stressed out on a harder lead. They do shine, however, when you want to go fast and light, and will be climbing below your max on comfortable terrain. They also are great for just having a couple really light, extra ‘biners on your harness for multipitch adventuring. The bottom line is that I’m not going to go out and replace all the clips on my cams with these, but I am going to bring them along for certain trips.

So there you have it, two great new products from Metolius that make a worthy addition to any rack out there.

Disclaimer: The FTC in their infinte knowledge thinks you need to know that this product was provided to SplitterChoss.com for the purpose of reviewing.