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Rave About Your Rack Please do not post retail SPAM.

Topic Date User

DMM Phantoms (review) 27-Oct-2010 At 3:32:11 PM voodoo

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As a recent purchase, I thought I'd post up my thoughts...

The thing that got me onto the idea of new biners was my eclectic cam rack. It's grown over time and sports a well worn set of Kong Slit Fit cams and a more recent (1yo) set of C4s. The Kongs and the C4s generally line up pretty well when it comes to sizes - both are colour coded, but unfortunately completely differently. When they sit together it can be a bit of a jumble going straight for the one you want.

Equally eclectic was the variety of biners on them. Mostly WC Oxys, but a few inherited OP Five-o's. I have always disliked the Five-o's they're not just physically huge (don't rack well with other biners), they're also phenomenally heavy for a non-locker (60g).

It occurred to me that the solution was some new colour coded biners - they'd 'standardise' the rack, make going for the right size regardless of brand easier and could save me some weight too.

Really the options are BD Neutrinos or the DMM Phantoms - both come in a rainbow pack (purple, green, red, yellow, blue) or plain silver. Neutrinos weigh in at a trim 36g, but the Phantoms knock that back to a measley 26g! That's pretty amazing for a full strength biner (23kN, 9kN, 7kN). I went with the Phantoms.

But it isn't just a question of weight, but also how they function. After initially receiving them it was obvious to me how they'd made the savings. Although the sides are whittled down to the bare minimum of metal through I-beam cross-sections and they have a speccy new wonder-alloy, a lot of weight has been shed simply by making the overall biner smaller. Would that cause any difficulties in operation?

Thankfully, I can report no. I've given them a good run with both single and double ropes and have yet to trap a finger or fumble the rope whilst clipping. Perhaps it could be an issue with a gloved hand, but for those of us that like our rock warmer than our beers it's no problem at all.

Even better was the price. I bought one set in the US for $60 (AUD) for 6, and then another set on Ebay (Alpine Sports Ireland) for $59 for 5 (fully delivered). Considering what an Aussie gear shop will want for 5, weightier, BD Neutrinos this is a steal!

So in summary, I'm very pleased with the way they function, they've made my rack more easily used, they were cheap, and they saved me 400g of ugly Omega Pacific iron-mongery. Can't ask for much more than that.