I've heard that wire gates aren't as safe as solid gates because they can backclip easier. But I've also heard that wire gates are better because the entire gate is one piece. So I'm pretty much torn between the two. Do wire gates backclip easier than solid gates?

Because carabiners with keylock noses are, for me, substantially easier to clean and use.

You've heard wrong. Gate type has nothing to do with back clipping.

I can't think of many, if any at all, reasons to use anything other than wiregate biners.

DMM Shield. Notch-less wiregate.

But difficult to clip.

If you say so. I've never found them difficult to clip.

I have them and find them easier to clip than most other biners. DMM in general always has great gate action. But I guess everyone has different clipping styles.

I have some also and find them a little problematic to clip with respect to more standard biners. I think the very thin gate profile (with respect to the rope) makes them tend to rotate along the long axis and slip along the rope as opposed to opening the gate.

Yeah, the thin gate profile combined with the narrow spine makes them prone to twisting in your hand when you clip. In addition, you have to get the rope over the biner's nose, and the biner's nose profile fails to guide the rope into the biner. It's mostly a problem on difficult redpoints, when you want to clip as fast and as smoothly as humanly possible.

Jay

I can't think of many, if any at all, reasons to use anything other than wiregate biners.

But difficult to clip. Check out the WC Heliums.

Jay

Solid gates make more noise when clipping which is important for your belayer when he can't see you make the clip. That is the biggest factor to me for choosing solid over wire gates.

I've found intelligent partners who can decipher a missed clip from a successful one by the large amount of slack created by me dropping the rope without it being clipped. It's pretty elementary.

Very little slack=successful clip

Lots of slack = unsuccessful clip

And if they are still confused the "Oh shit, I missed the clip" might be a good hint.

I have some also and find them a little problematic to clip with respect to more standard biners. I think the very thin gate profile (with respect to the rope) makes them tend to rotate along the long axis and slip along the rope as opposed to opening the gate.

I just like the petzl spirits.

Solid gates make more noise when clipping which is important for your belayer when he can't see you make the clip. That is the biggest factor to me for choosing solid over wire gates.

Safety doesn't have much to do with what biner you're using so long as they're from a reputable brand.

How you're using them matters much more.

You seem to be falling into a trap that a lot of younger climbers end up in - thinking safety comes from the gear.

Handling?

I still use barrel-gate biners on the equipment end of all my draws and for racking because I find wires excellent to clip but fiddly to work with my digits. I spend more time fuddling with the wiregates than is worth the (very minor) weight savings.

Safety doesn't have much to do with what biner you're using so long as they're from a reputable brand.

How you're using them matters much more.

You seem to be falling into a trap that a lot of younger climbers end up in - thinking safety comes from the gear.

Handling?

I still use barrel-gate biners on the equipment end of all my draws and for racking because I find wires excellent to clip but fiddly to work with my digits. I spend more time fuddling with the wiregates than is worth the (very minor) weight savings.

I can't think of any reasons not to put a wiregate on the rope end of stuff though, other than potentially cost.

Wiregates at the rope end prevent gate flutter, which has caused biner breakage lots of times.

?

!

I'm sorry, I cant remember the website. If you don't want to trust me then don't. (By lots of times I mean two or three, but that's two or three more than should happen)
I do recall a test by BD in which the biner's gate fluttered and , although the biner didn't fail, it was badly deformed.