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This is probably a dumb question, but can anyone help a newb out and let me know the difference between the two if there is one?

Thanks!

sport draws usually come as a packaged deal, with a thick peice of dyneema or similar in between 2 carabiners, usually a non-locking straight gate on one end and a non-locking bent gate on the other.

Trad draws generally consist of 2 carabiners attached to a tripled up dyneema or similar sling, also known as an extendable. I cant speak for everyone but ive always used two small wiregate carbiners, one on each end.

The difference is the trad draw can be extended or shortened, in order to reduce rope drag that would happen from not being able to place gear in a straight line, or if going over a big roof or something. With sport climbing, the bolts are generally placed so that rope drag isnt much or a problem, thus extendables are not usually needed


ps to anyone, is it spelled extendable or extendible?

Thanks for the help. Your reply brings up another question.

figurenine wrote:usually a non-locking straight gate on one end and a non-locking bent gate on the other.

Why a bent gate on one end and straight on the other? Is it just ease of clipping?

Thanks again

zachary_dc wrote:Thanks for the help. Your reply brings up another question.

figurenine wrote:usually a non-locking straight gate on one end and a non-locking bent gate on the other.

Why a bent gate on one end and straight on the other? Is it just ease of clipping?

Thanks again

Straight gate is just a regular biner. Bent gates are for making it easier to clip the rope.

The rope supposedly clips easier on the bent gate. I personaly don't notice a difference, but I am a n00b

I find that a more versatile option than bent-gate QDs are wire-gates. They also clip easier than a straight gate, and can be used for anything else you might need. I use the super-light new Hotwires, as when I'm short biners for trad missions they come off the QDs and onto my rack.

But, if you know you are going to have dedicated sport draws, bent gates are nice.

zachary_dc wrote:This is probably a dumb question, but can anyone help a newb out and let me know the difference between the two if there is one?

A sport draw aka quickdraw is two biners + a short sling, used for clipping bolts.



A trad draw is two biners + a shoulder length (24" or 60cm) sling, tripled over.



(I found the above image on google -- there are several others like it, hint hint )

The idea behind trad draws is that often you will want to extend the sling (such as for nuts), to keep pro from walking or pulling out. And slinging stuff long can help keep rope drag to a minimum. Shoulder-length slings have a variety of other uses.

Some people rack trad draws, others prefer to just drape the slings over their shoulder with a single biner attached and have some spare biners on the gear rack. The idea there is to save weight -- usually cams have their own biner anyway. It's personal preference which system you use.

Climb with an experienced trad leader for a while and watch how they place gear first.

rhyang wrote:A trad draw is two biners + a shoulder length (24" or 60cm) sling, tripled over.

This is the best way I've seen to create an "alpine draw" as I've heard them called. It's great because you can unclip one biner to lengthen the sling without worrying about the other biner flying off the other end.

ARosenthal wrote:This is the best way I've seen to create an "alpine draw" as I've heard them called. It's great because you can unclip one biner to lengthen the sling without worrying about the other biner flying off the other end.

As opposed to sport draws which tend to self destruct and fly in all directions when you unclip one biner from the dogbone.

DanTheMan wrote:As opposed to sport draws which tend to self destruct and fly in all directions when you unclip one biner from the dogbone.

...Read it again - Alpine Draws.... I'm talking about creating a draw from a longer sling, not quickdraws. Obviously quickdraws are great at what they do, but are significantly less versatile than an alpine draw when it comes to reducing rope drag.