REASONS TO BUY
Snag-free keylock design
Large size easy to handle
REASONS TO AVOID
Heavy
Petzl Djinn Straight Gate Review
Credit: Petzl
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Our Verdict
The new Petzl Djinn straight gate carabiner is designed to be “rugged for crag climbing.” They are one of the heavier models that we tested for this updated review, and while they work great on a quickdraw, overall they are a little too heavy for traditional climbing. That said, the large basket and keylock design make it a good choice for racking your nuts or slings, or for setting up a top-rope anchor that will get some wear. If you are starting your trad rack from scratch, pick up a couple of these carabiners, but choose something lighter like the Black Diamond Oz Carabiner for the rest of your set.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Petzl Djinn Straight Gate is a cold-forged carabiner with a keylock design for its solid gate. Gate opening = 24 mm wide, weight = 45 g (1.6 oz).
Performance Comparison
Petzl's new Djinn carabiner is full-sized and heavy. It is best used mostly for sport climbing, but there's no reason why you can't clip your gear with it as well if you're willing to lug the extra weight.
Credit: Scott Ring
Ease of Unclipping
The Djinn's keylock design means that there is no notch in the nose to snag on your rope or a bolt. This really comes into play when cleaning routes on steep terrain, whether it's an overhanging sport route or a roof crack. This biner is also a great choice for racking your nuts on. You can easily unclip it from the placed nut without it snagging on the wire.
The keylock design makes the Djinn a great choice for racking your nuts. After you place a piece you can easily unclip the Djinn without it snagging on the wire.
Credit: Cam McKenzie Ring
Ease of Clipping
The Petzl Djinn straight gate carabiner has a similar clipping action to the Petzl Spirit Straight Gate; fast and snappy, though a little bit creakier. It's also one of the bigger biners that we tested, and in particular our testers with larger hands found it very easy to clip. There is a slight indentation in the gate, which your thumb or finger sinks into, eliminating any sliding around on the gate and making clipping that much easier. (The Spirit has a similar, but smaller, indentation that doesn't seem to affect clipping much either way).
The Djinn on a classic North Carolina “eyebrow.” Our testers with large hands found this product very easy to clip.
Credit: Scott Ring
Ease of Handling
The Petzl Djinn straight gate earned mixed reviews in this category. Our testers found the Djinn easy to handle, thanks to its large size. But this model is also wider along the spine than most of the other ones that we tested, and too many of them on a rack or harness started to feel clunky and take up too much space. This is not much concern if you are only bring 12 quickdraws up a sport route, but when you have a double set of gear and draws, a narrower carabiner like the CAMP Photon Wire Straight Gate or Wild Country Helium is more efficient.
6 Djinns (right) vs 6 Photon Wires (left). The wider Djinns take up more space on your harness or rack and can feel a little clunky, though overall they are easier to handle than a smaller carabiner.
Credit: Cam McKenzie Ring
How Many Ropes Fit
Thanks to its deep basket, this model can easily hold multiple anchor points and still open.
Credit: Cam McKenzie Ring
This product was one of the top performers in this metric. It has a deep basket and a 24 mm wide opening. It was able to hold multiple 10 mm rope anchor points and the gate could still open completely.
This carabiner can easily accommodate two ropes, either twin ropes or two full diameter ones for when climbing with a party of three.
Credit: Cam McKenzie Ring
Rope Pull Smoothness
This was another top-scoring category for the Petzl Djinn straight gate. Our testers found it easy to pull a rope through this carabiner, as it has a wide rope bearing surface, unlike some smaller biners like the Black Diamond Oz or the CAMP Nano 22 Carabiner. This also results in less wear for the rope, particularly in a fall. The Petzl Djinn straight gate would be a good choice to use in a top-rope anchor setup.
The Djinn (left) has a wider rope bearing surface than the Camp Nano 23 (right), giving the rope a smoother pull; however, the Petzl model is also twice as heavy as the Nano.
Credit: Cam McKenzie Ring
Portability
This carabiner's rugged design, large size, and wide rope bearing surface come with a hefty weight. At 45 grams, it is one of the heavier products that we tested, and weighs twice as much as the Camp Nano 22. Twenty Djinns weigh two pounds, which might not seem like much if you are sport climbing and have them on a set of draws, but is much too heavy to be a realistic racking option for traditional climbing.
Best Applications
Petzl designed its new Djinn carabiners with sport climbing in mind, and that is where it excels. Our testers did like this carabiner for racking their nuts and to use for top rope anchors, and a few of them on your harness won't make too much of a weight difference. But if “light” and “fast” are your middle names, you'll want to avoid the Djinn.
This piece was made with sport climbing in mind, and is best suited for that. You can purchase the Djinn Axess quickdraw, which has a bent and straight gate version of this carabiner on a 16mm wide sling.
Credit: Cam McKenzie Ring
Value
Petzl has priced the Djinn slightly lower than the Spirit, and considering that it will probably last a long time thanks to its beefy construction, you'll be getting a lot for your money with this model.
Conclusion
Petzl is notoriously frugal in its non-locking carabiner department. Though they produce 10 different kinds of locking biners, up until they added the Djinn they had only three other non-lockers available. Of course, when one of those is the Spirit, you might not really need a large line of options. Really, Petzl has just created competition for itself with the new Djinn. It's heavier than the Spirit, but burlier and less expensive, and both are excellent carabiners for sport climbing.
—Cam McKenzie Ring
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