High End Utility Carabiners

Carabiners were once solely known in the climbing community.  But their utility soon leaked out and everyone including your grandmother now owns a few.  Most are not climbing tools, but really items of convenience.  As with most things, some folks have decided to trick out the utility carabiner until they get little works of art.  Here are a few that snagged my attention.

Jens Anso Carabiner

Anso is a knife designer whose blades have been picked up for production by Spyderco and Boker.  He has a certain flare for gear and his Carabiner is no exception. It is made of green, blue, or gray Ti and has a custom stainless steel spring gate.  It is a full custom item and available from Anso and a few resellers for about $125.  

D22 Uncus Ti Carabiner

What I like about this carabiner, aside from the material (ahhhh! Ti), is the design.  It is actually DESIGNED to be a keychain tool.  Some of these utility carabiners are still wedded to the idea of looking like a climbing carabiner, which is nice for climbers, but limits their utility.  Here this guy looks like it could be useful in a bunch of different applications.

Cool Fall Droid 58

This is the Buggati Veyron Super Sport of utility carabiners.  Clocking in at a staggering $220, it is designed to be used with Cool Fall's super ultra luxe flashlights, none of which are cheaper than $700 new and the Tri V v.2 looks like it may be over $2000.  So with such refined partners, the Droid could be nothing less than spectacular.  It is all Ti, of course, but it is also a locking carabiner.  It can be opened and closed one handed.  It also has replaceable parts.  Finally, if you are looking for that Daddy Warbucks meets Tad Gear look you can opt for a Ti chain, a package that costs $300.   

Leatherman Carabiner

This guy was included in my review sample Sidekick and it is actually quite nice.  Unlike these other utility carabiners this one has two tools built in--a bottle opener (because you need another bottle opener, right?) and a small hex hole for use as an oxygen wrench or a place for a driver bit to rest while in use.  All of that for $5.00.  It may not be a Ti beauty, but it is pretty darn useful.

I have been carrying the Leatherman Carabiner and it is not too bad at all.  It is thin and light with hooks in the right place.  I wish the gate would open a bit more, but it is not that bad.  It is a good deal for $5.00