In reply to Misha:
> (In reply to Carolyn)
> I have heliums. The longer ones have an open sling at one end. I've always thought that the point of that was to enable freedom of movement - this is the end that clips into the gear.
Yep, me too. 10 Helium QDs on my rack and one end is 'open' and the other tight. The Helium draws have a rubber on the inside of the sling to restrict movement so better than the string/castration/O ring etc IMO as it is obvious if the sling isn't clipped, as said, some other methods can at first glance, appear deceptive. They look fine but they are not. These are the open sling draws featured in the UKC video and IIRC was the cause of a nasty accident a couple of years ago on the slate IIRC.
There are often QD related questions on UKC and retainers, which end is which etc and it is obvious there are many who don't have a full understanding of the concept of open end / closed end. I'm not attempting to preach to the converted here but if anyone isn't sure why they are made that way and which end is which, here is my understanding:
1. If climbing a mix of sport and trad, it is important to clip the same crab to gear and the same crab to rope. When clipping bolts regularly, nicks can form inside the bend of your crab caused by the bolt hanger. Remember, the hanger is made from harder material <Steel> than a crab <alloy> so wear will happen. Most QDs are colour coded to make gear end and rope end easy to spot time and time again. The point is that if you didn't follow this rope/gear code then you can find yourself clipping the nicked/worn end to your rope and this will fray and fuzz your rope and potenially damage it further.
2. The open end of a QD is for the gear end, the tight, closed end is for the rope. This is for a reason - if you clip a wire/hanger/peg whatever, you may find the gate of the crab is facing the rock or other protusion, upon becoming tight the crab could be pressed into the rock and the gate could be levered open. Your crab now only has open gate strength. The gear end of the QD is open to allow you to easily turn the crab so the gate is facing outwards and better orientated away from facing the rock. The additional free movement the free/open gear end allows also helps a lot to prevent wires etc from being lifted out when you climb above them.
I hope I've not come across all holier than thou, just want to make it clear the resons why draws are made this way in the first place is all.
Deepest condolencies to everyone who knew Tito, what an awful and tragic ACCIDENT to befall this young man.