Black Diamond GridLock Screwgate Carabiner

July 24, 2011

My locking carabiner was always turning while belaying and this product solves this problem. It might me a big bigger though. I do not recommend it if you want to use it with 'Click-Up' belay device - its size makes it uncomfortable. The overall rating is good, it's lightweight which is important, but personally I would prefer to have it a bit bigger.

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Does What It Says, But Needs Improvement
March 25, 2011

BLUF: I bought the Gridlock mostly out of curiosity and it does what it promises, i.e. prevent cross-loading when belaying. Personally, I never had this problem but the carabiner reduces this chance to zero through the figure 8 shape and the unusually shaped gate extension that locks belay loop of the harness in place. The week I received mine from Altrec I saw another person at local climbing gym with one also. The Good. As stated, it does what it promises. However, it takes some practice to gate used to the unusual shape and the gate, especially when slipping the belay loop in locked place. The Bad. This comment is applicable to all Black Diamond carabiners. One issue I had with Black Diamond biners is that they lack red painted indicator for the locking mechanism on the gate like on all Petzl carabiners. This Gridlock is a manual screw lock gate, so it's very important user turn the screw to locked position. One way to prevent accidental unlocking or just simply forgetting to lock the gate is to get an auto-lock or twistlock version. Another issue is that this carabiner costs as much as a carabiner with twistlock option.