Petzl

Ange L Lite Wire Gate Carabiner

Well designed carabiner

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

After having used many, many different carabiners over the years, the Ange L has become my favorite for my tripled slings (aka trad draws or alpine draws) and light weight quickdraws. I still prefer a beefier Petzl Spirit draw for dedicated sport climbing, but for everything else, the Ange L is awesome. I also have come to prefer color-coded carabiners for racking cams, so I've been using various light weight carabiners for racking gear (mostly BD OZ, DMM Chimera, and DMM Phantom). The Ange L has 4 design features that make it stand out in my mind: 1. Keylock (no snag) nose. Easier to clip/unclip from bolts and cam slings. 2. Protected nose (to prevent gate opening from rubbing against the rock) 3. Narrow nose (to fit through narrow openings such as older pitons or chains) 4. A wide rope bearing radius And its weight is competitive at 34 g compared to other full size wire gate carabiners. Many full size wire gate 'biners gave a keylock closure (DMM Alpha Trad, WC Helium, CAMP Dyon). The DMM and WC also have a shroud over the nose to protect the nose, but this makes the nose pretty fat. The CAMP Dyon has a narrow nose but the nose isn't protected at all. The Ange has all 3 features. The Ange also has a consistently broad rope bearing surface. Compare the profile of an Ange to a Dyon and you'll see what I mean. This helps prolong the life of your 'biners and ropes and probably cuts down on drag a bit. I don't find it difficult to clip. It does take a little time to get accustomed to the single wire gate of the Ange compared to other wire gate 'biners, but after a few uses I found them as easy to handle as any other carabiner. The Ange has a nice large gate clearance, at least as large as the carabiners mentioned above, if not a bit larger. Petzl also claims that the Ange single wire gate is probably more durable than a standard wire gate. The Ange has an internal spring, compared to other wire gates where the wire itself functions as the spring. Multiple cycles can fatigue a traditional wire gate and lead to stickiness, which I've experienced with multiple brands of wire gate carabiners. Cleaning and lubing them usually helps FWIW. Time will tell if the Ange lasts longer than other brands. But I'm optimistic it will prove to be more durable with the internal spring and wider rope bearing surface. Everything I've said applies to the Ange S as well, expect the ease of handling. The smaller Ange S is a bit trickier to handle for me. Not a deal breaker, but I'd give the Ange S 4 stars instead of 5 for the L version. For comparison I find the Ange S about as easy to handle as a CAMP Nano. But the Ange S has a much better rope bearing surface, a protected nose, and a key lock closure. Among lighter carabiners, I find the DMM Phantom and Chimera a little easier to handle than the Ange S.