For those looking for a robust quickdraw that never wears out, the Edelrid Bulletproof Quickdraw is a no brainer. Thanks to the innovation over at Edelrid, the Ederid Bulletproof Quickdraw features a steel inset that sits inside the biner that makes contact with the rope while climbing, drastically reducing wear and increasing the life of your quickdraw. Placed within an aluminum biner, the steel inset of this draw packs a punch. Over our six week field test of these draws, they showed no signs of wear after being used in some very sandy conditions.
Not only did this quickdraw stand up to beach-like conditions, one of the best (and unexpected!) features of the Edelrid Bulletproof was how easy it was to place and clean when sport climbing. The nose of the Bulletproof has been designed to narrow at the end, allowing the carabiner to slide in and out of bolts when placing or cleaning the quickdraw. With its key lock gate, large biner size, and thicker dogbone, the Bulletproof proved itself to be a smooth operator from clipping to cleaning (and even in those desperate times when you have to grab a draw!). For those looking for longer draws, the Bulletproof quickdraw comes in a 12cm and 18cm dogbone version
The biggest question we got when testing these draws was whether or not the Bulletproof is heavier than other draws and our answer is YES. Weighing in at 118 grams, the Bulletproof is the heaviest quickdraw on the market when compared to it’s aluminum counterpart. Although we did not find the weight of the draw to be a factor when putting up the draws, the weight of the Bulletproof quickdraw is noticeable when holding them in your hand and when racking up. We also found that the draw seemed to hang heavier when placed. After our six week review, we concluded that 1) Yes, this draw is heavier than other quickdraw but 2) the weight was not substantially noticeable when climbing and 3) overall, the security of having draws that do not wear out was worth the extra weight when climbing. It should be noted that these draws were tested during sport climbing and the weight of these draws may be more substantial when performing other types of climbing.
Overall, we were very psyched on the Edelrid Bulletproof and would highly recommend them to our readers. First and foremost, these quickdraws will simple last longer than you aluminum draws because of the steel inset placed in the rope side carabiner. Secondly, the design of these quickdraws have been thoroughly tested and undoubtedly are one of the easiest draws to place and remove when sport climbing. Finally, we concluded that the weight (and extra cost!) of these draws are worth the safety benefits that are associated with longer lasting draws.
The Edelrid Bulletproof Quickdraw can be purchased at MEC and
