The UIAA equipment standard provides a baseline for equipment performance in a test lab under controlled conditions on new equipment. Although these test conditions are relevant to the conditions encountered climbing, conditions encountered at the crags and the condition of the equipment are equally important. This recommendation from the UIAA member federation The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) provides vital equipment information that is NOT explicitly addressed in the standard, particularly failure modes of the equipment and recommendations for the use, inspection, maintenance, and retirement of equipment.
Sigma K8G
Description
Versatile carabiner with gate-wire Twin-Gate system.
The Sigma is a D-shaped carabiner and sees its prevalent use on belays, at personal anchor systems, and it can be used also in the quickdraws to clip the rope when you want to guarantee the total non-opening of the carabiner itself under stress from a fall in a hard pitch and with long protections and high risk of falling. Opening by Twin-Gate wire-gate system, which does not require any additional maneuver (e.g. screwing), making it safer and faster than other systems. Furthermore, it allows to avoid accidental openings that can occur for example due to contact with the rock, due to incorrect passage of the rope due to involuntary hand pressure. Two openings also allow greater resistance than one. Finally, it maintains its functionality over time and does not fear the presence of dust, earth, ice like other systems. The gate-wire combination facilitates its use even with gloves, and allows you to easily attach all types of devices (brakes). Individually tested, with the date of testing and progressive number laser-marked on it.
Versatile carabiner with gate-wire Twin-Gate system.
The Sigma is a D-shaped carabiner and sees its prevalent use on belays, at personal anchor systems, and it can be used also in the quickdraws to clip the rope when you want to guarantee the total non-opening of the carabiner itself under stress from a fall in a hard pitch and with long protections and high risk of falling. Opening by Twin-Gate wire-gate system, which does not require any additional maneuver (e.g....
read moreRetail price
US$ 14.99
This Product is Hard to Find.
We don’t know where you can buy this item online in the US. We’ll continue to check all the major retailers and will update this page as soon as we find one.
If you know where to find this online in the US, let us know, and we’ll add the link.
Award Image
Weight (g) |
57 g |
| Shape |
D / Offset D |
| Locking |
Auto - 2 action |
| Straight or Bent |
Bent |
| Full Size |
Yes |
| Keylock |
Yes |
| Solid or Wire |
Solid |
| Gate Opening |
23 mm |
| Number of Colors |
1 |
| Lock Indicator |
No |
| Strengths (kN) |  30 kN  9 kN  9 kN |
No reviews yet.
I’ve seen a lot of online debate contesting the usefulness of this carabiner, the naysayers claiming it’s a “gimmick” and a “solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.” Many folks are excited about the new innovation albeit a little hesitant to commit.
I agree that this debate is most similar to the question of an ATC vs GriGri. Is it necessary that everybody change over their locking ‘biner fleet immediately? No. Do Twin Gates assist in reducing risk? Yes. Is it worth consideration when buying lockers in the future? Yes.
The Twin Gates are an interesting take on the locking biner concept. They work, and they work well. They can be finicky to operate, even for an experienced user, but by far their biggest downfall is their biggest upside: innovation. Someone who’s gotten used to the idea, or is curious about new gear, will learn to use them quickly and effectively. But pass them to your partner on a multi-pitch route and they look at them with distrust. It’s a great concept, it really is, but it will take a while for the general climbing population to become accustomed enough with the Twin Gate system for it to be widely adopted. For those willing to try something new, prepare to be questioned.
The combination of solid and wire gate was much easier to operate and after a short period of familiarisation became pretty much second nature. How much did I like this carabiner? Well I went out and purchased another two with my hard earned pennies and I’ll happily buy the Plume when it becomes available. In use it was quicker to set securely than a standard screw gate with no risk of forgetting to screw it up and there was never a risk of it freezing shut even when getting dripped on at a (semi)frozen, icy belay. Is it the perfect locking carabiner? Not quite. There is a familiarisation period or ‘learning curve’ before you feel totally happy with them and they are a little trickier to unhook from rear racking loops on your harness. There are some placements when it’s a bit trickier to ‘hook’ the outer gate than a standard carabiner, such as a deep set wire where the loop has dropped into the crack, but it’s not a deal breaker especially as I tended to use them mainly on the rope end of extenders/slings. Something I didn’t consider however is that you may be totally happy using your shiny new twin gates but your partner may not! After we swapped leads for the final pitch of Crest Route in SCNL I had to suppress my laughter as cries of ‘Witchcraft!’ assailed me from above as Bruce endeavoured to open a twin gate I’d passed to him on a long sling!
If you know of a good product video that should be here, let us know, and we'll put it up.
If you're looking for gear videos in general, check out our Vimeo and YouTube channels to see the newest gear.
A pictoral representation of UIAA-121 and EN-12275 standards for connectors (the UIAA's fancy word for carabiners).