In the mid 90s, Black Diamond invented the world’s first wire-gate carabiner, the Hotwire. Now, with their Magnetron RockLock and Gridlock carabiners, they’ve engineered another major break-through. Whereas all other locking carabiners use screw or twist-lock gates to lock shut, these potentially paradigm-shifting carabiners rely on magnetic forces. When the gate is open, the metal arms repel each other. Then, when you want to lock the carabiner, introducing the steel insert in-between the two locking arms reverses the field: the arms are now both attracted to the steel insert, and that magnetic force keeps the carabiner locked tight. Black Diamond says it’s stronger, more secure, and easier to use than other spring-loaded carabiners. Based on the demo we saw, it certainly is easy to use. Of course, we’ll have a more thorough report once we test them in the field. Available July 2012.
