“It’s weird being the same age as old people,” the saying goes. Time can slip away from you without you even realizing it. I mean, it’s almost the 10th anniversary of the Dawn Wall’s first ascent, and that still feels like a current event in my mind. Anyway, I write this not to grieve our brief mortal coil, but to mention that time is slippery—and that can be bad news for climbing gear. As a guy who still thinks that the ’90s was the last decade, I’m not surprised that I’ve still got quickdraws in rotation that are well past their shelf life. With that in mind, I decided to refresh my rack and take a fresh look at what the best quickdraws for sport climbing are right now.

If you, too, think it’s strange to be the same age as old people, might I suggest that you also Marie Kondo your climbing kit. Since our climbing gear generally lasts so long, it’s surprisingly easy to make the error of not realizing that it’s maybe time to retire the slings and carabiners you’ve been using for years without realizing it’s been years. Slings especially can degrade with time and use. Why push it? Climbing equipment really isn’t that expensive, especially given the purpose it serves, which is keeping your old ass alive for at least a little while longer.

Before we get to my picks for which quickdraws are best for sport climbing, I wanted to share a simple buyer’s guide. Here are some considerations to make when shopping for sport climbing quickdraws.

What are Quickdraws?

Quickdraws are simply two carabiners connected by a sewn sling, and they’re used to quickly and easily secure your rope to protection in the rock—which, in sport climbing, means bolts. A quickdraw is meant to make your life easier than the alternatives—fiddling around with shoulder-length slings or loose, single carabiners. On a quickdraw, there is a top and a bottom carabiner: The top sits in the sling loosely and that is what gets clipped to the bolts. The bottom-end carabiner, however, shouldn’t move easily within the sling; and this is the carabiner into which you clip your rope. It’s important not to mix up which end of the quickdraw is which. If the snug, bottom-end carabiner is clipped to a bolt, for example, rope drag could position this carabiner on the bolt in such a way that it can cause the quickdraw to come unclipped. Always clip the top-end carabiner of your quickdraw to the bolt and the rope to the bottom-end carabiner.

How to Choose Quickdraws for Sport Climbing

A few words on putting together a rack of quickdraws for sport climbing. I’m going to explain some of the different options available below, but I wanted to give you some big-picture thoughts on what you will need.

Get more than enough. Twelve quickdraws is often cited as the minimum number that you’ll need, but, I think you will want to get a rack of at least 24. This way you (or your partner) can leave quickdraws on a sport climbing project, and you will still have enough quickdraws to do warm-ups, etc.

Think variety. Mix up your rack with different kinds of quickdraws, even if it’s all from that brand. Get a handful of beefy / heavy ones, get some of the super light and more expensive ones, and then fill out your rack quota with some of the more budget-friendly ones. Especially choose a variety of lengths, if possible.

Dog bone: Material and Length

The kind of sling, or “dogbone” as it’s called, is the first consideration when choosing quickdraws for sport climbing. Unlike in trad or multi-pitch scenarios, the weight of your rack of sport climbing quickdraws is generally less of a consideration for sport climbers (although not no consideration). Especially for projecting a sport route, in which climbers often leave their quickdraws hanging on their projects for a period of time, durability trumps lightness.

Dog bones generally come in two flavors of material: nylon and Dyneema. Nylon is generally cheaper, heavier, and demands a fatter dogbone to meet strength requirements. That girth, however, can be welcome for sport climbers because it means the quickdraw is easier to grab when you’re pumped, which is nice. Dyneema is more expensive, lighter, absorbs less water, and can be slightly less susceptible to UV damage. In most ways, this makes Dyneema a superior material for quickdraws, but for the fact that Dyneema dog bones are always thinner and therefore not as easy to grab—although, let’s be honest: if you want to call yourself a rock climber, you really should be strong enough to hang onto any quickdraw long enough to clip it.

There’s no right answer. I use and like both.

Dog bones generally come in two lengths: “short/standard” (10–12 cm) and “long” (18–20 cm), and some companies make even longer ones. Even though sport climbing is more or less a “clip and go” activity, you’ll inevitably find bolt placements that lend themselves to being clipped by shorter or longer quickdraws, for various reasons. I always carry a variety of different lengths with me for this reason.

Carabiner Type

The next consideration is what kind of carabiners are on the quickdraw. First, there is the gate-type and the options here are: “wire gate” or “solid gate.” Wire-gate carabiners are lighter, but some climbers find them harder to clip. (Also, if you’ve ever accidentally clipped another carabiner through the wires of another wire gate, you’ll know what a pain that is.) Solid gates are slightly heavier, but I personally find them easier to clip. Some solid-gate carabiners have what’s known as a “key lock” nose design, which describes how the gate attaches to the carabiner with the two sides fitting together like a puzzle piece. Key lock designs are superior in all ways to their “latch” design counterparts, and when it comes to solid gate carabiners, I wouldn’t recommend anything other than a “key lock” or “clean-nose” design.

If weight is a concern, I’ll opt for wire-gate carabiners, but if weight isn’t a concern (and again, in sport climbing, it often isn’t), then my preference is for solid-gate key-lock carabiners on my sport-climbing quickdraws.

The other consideration is carabiner size. In an attempt to earn the right to claim the mantle of “lightest,” some climbing companies have made carabiners so small that you’d think they were made for ants. The size, and even shape, of the carabiner, however, can play a very important role in whether you like it or not. A lot of this personal preference.

Gate in or Gate Out?

If you’ve never considered how you clip your quickdraws to your harness—with the gates facing in toward your body or facing out away from your body—consider yourself lucky. This “debate” is what idiots talk about when they’re not climbing. If you haven’t encountered it yet, I promise it is only be a matter of time before some dweeb tries to make a joke about it to you. These dweebs are the same people who try to catch the tail end of the rope after pulling it from an anchor. People who stand directly under falling objects that are literally smacking them in the face while breathing and “he-he”-ing out of their gaping stupid mouth-holes are the kinds of climbers who care about whether your gates are in or out.

Quality, Price, and Brand

If a piece of climbing equipment is for sale, that means it has passed the requisite number of tests needed to meet safety certifications. I’m never afraid that a new piece of climbing equipment, regardless of who makes it, would ever just fail on me. That said, some brands make climbing equipment that just feels lower quality. And if it feels that way, it probably is.

Over the years, I’ve gotten to see where a number of brands actually make their carabiners. And so I feel comfortable stating that I have a strong affinity toward DMM, Black Diamond, and Petzl, in particular, though I’ve also found great products made by other companies as well. But these brands especially have earned my faith over the years, so I would humbly recommend shopping their products first.

Of course, price can make a big difference with sport climbing draws, as even just a few bucks really adds up when you’re purchasing 20+ quickdraws. You can expect to pay between $15-$30 for a quickdraw. If the difference in price for you means climbing or not climbing, always choose climbing and just get the cheapest ones because, as I said, they’ll be fine for awhile. But if you can afford it, usually the more expensive products will be higher quality, lasting longer and giving you more confidence. That price increase is visible in materials and production, but it also goes to higher quality control on these production lines, which is one of those hidden costs you probably aren’t thinking about.

So without further ado, here are my picks for the best quickdraws for sport climbing.

The Petzl Spirit Express quickdraw features lightweight Spirit carabiners, which have an ergonomic size and shape, and a weight-saving “I-beam’ design. I like the action on these carabiners, which feel snappy and responsive, and their key-lock noses set the standard across the industry for how a solid-gate carabiner should perform. The 25mm dogbone is easy to grab and stands up to years of use. Last but not least, the Spirit Express comes in three lengths, which gives you a bunch of great options for dialing in your project draws just right.

What I like about the DMM Alpha Sport quickdraws are that they’re designed with the dedicated sport climber in mind, from the high quality carabiners to juggy 25mm nylon dog bone. The beautiful craftsmanship of all of their carabiners is the result of the fact that they hot-forge their own products in their factory in Wales. I love the little protruding ridge on the carabiners’ spine, which adds ergonomic function and makes this quickdraw a joy to clip. In addition to its price, this quickdraw, at 3.9 oz, is slightly heavier than the Petzl Spirit Express, which is why I had to give it the runner-up spot, though it was close.

What I love about the DMM Chimera is what I love about all DMM carabiners: they’re just exceptionally well made! The action on these wire gates is responsive and snappy. The carabiners are slightly smaller for weight reasons, but they don’t feel too small, even when you’re pumped and desperately trying to clip. Only in climbing do you pay more for less: the low weight on these quickdraws will cost you $34 a quickdraw, making them the most expensive quickdraws on this list.

What I like about the HotWire Quickdraw is that it’s a really well made and solid option, at a reasonable price. The nylon dogbone comes in two length options. At 18mm, the sling is less wide and therefore slightly less easy to grab than either the DMM Alpha or Petzl Spirit Express.

Why might you want this? Well, this option only really makes sense for sport climbers who project routes for long stretches of time in popular areas where they leave their draws hanging until they send. This is the “blue steel” idea that I came up with years ago (not taking credit, just mentioning that I shared this idea early on), but put into a more practical and sexy package. I think a full rack of these quickdraws would be overkill for anyone, but adding a few into the mix gives you the option to strategically deploy them, at the first bolt, at the crux, or at the anchors themselves.