What are Magnetron carabiners?

Before you scoff at the notion of needing to innovate the carabiner, we think you ought to hear us out on the benefits of Black Diamond’s Magnetron Auto-Locking Carabiners. These innovative ‘biners use magnetic fields (yes; you heard us right) to provide safe, efficient, and instantaneous auto-locking prowess when you’re belaying, building anchors, going in-direct, or conducting other carabiner shenanigans. In other words, the Magnetron technology sort of makes your screw-gate ‘biner look like an artifact found at the ancient history museum.

Black Diamond’s intro to Magnetron Technology:

https://vimeo.com/26180155

How does this whole magnet technology thing work?

Without revisiting our 6th-grade science books, here’s the gist:

  • The magnetic attraction between a steel insert in the carabiner nose keeps two independent arms securely locked
  • The locking arms must both be individually depressed before the gate will open
  • When opened, the opposing magnetic fields repel the arms, providing quick, easy, and reliable gate operation

 

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Black Diamond offers 3 varieties of the Magentron Carabiner:

RockLock

899071

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VaporLock

VaporLock Magnetron

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GridLock

Gridlock Magnetron

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What’s the difference and which one is right for me?

The Magnetron RockLock serves as a standard workhorse ‘biner ( … but only better of course). Like the others, it features the keylock nose to prevent snagging, and hot-forged construction, which gives you a large rope bearing surface in its pear-shaped, symmetrical design. This one is perfect for belaying, anchor building, and rappelling.

Similar, but a step up is the Magnetron VaporLock ‘biner, which weighs a mere 56 grams, compared to the RockLock’s 87. With such an ultra lightweight construction that does not compromise size or safety, this carabiner is perfect for those venturing on longer routes where keeping weight down matters.

The Magnetron GridLock, the third variety, is intended to serve as the ultimate belaying ‘biner. It features Black Diamond’s GridLock design, which isolates the belay loop to eliminate cross-loading. The I-Beam spine of the ‘biner transitions into a rounded, ample rope-bearing surface that makes belaying in any scenario a breeze.

GridLock functionality

Image: Black Diamond

 

Benefits of the Magnetron ‘biners

These carabiners more or less equal the Sprinter Van of dirtbagging vehicles. Sure, it might seem gimmicky and unnecessary on the surface, but once you add this innovative carabiner to your harness, you’ll never want to climb a day without it.

The symmetrical design of these bad boys enables one-handed operation (no matter if you’re a lefty or righty). This means that when you’re pumped out at the top of a route and need to clip in-direct, you can easily unlatch the Magnetron ‘biner with your Personal Anchor System (PAS) and clip into auto-locking security … in virtually an instant. There’s no need to shuffle around with twist-lock or screw-locks—simply squeeze your Magnetron open and let the magnets do the locking for you.

Similarly, taking your partner on or off belay couldn’t be quicker and safer. With the Magnetrons, you don’t have to think twice about whether the ‘biner is locked or not, because the arms snap into the ultra-secure, locked closure position on their own. It’s not voodoo, it’s innovation making your climbing ventures safer and way more efficient.

Aside from owning a device that delivers state-of-the-art safety, efficiency, and sounds as badass as a Transformer, you can save precious time (like the time you’ve spent reading this) belaying and cleaning quickly when at the anchors.

 

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Final considerations

These certainly aren’t the cheapest auto-locking ‘biners on the market, so if you’re extremely short on cash, perhaps the Magnetron isn’t right for you. Consider going with the cheaper, but also auto-locking, Black Diamond RockLock Twistlock if short on a budget. That being said, we do consider Magnetrons a worthy investment for those who aim to elevate their climbing efficiency. It’s hard to beat the rapid action and ease of this state-of-the-art piece of gear.