Mammut Bionic Crosslock Carabiner for Sale, Reviews, Deals and Guides

This is my first and only carabiner with a belay retainer built in. I have briefly used Blackdiamond's Gridlock carabiner which i think is an interesting comparison. When the gridlock's gate is locked the belay retainer will not move. But on the Mammut Bionic Crosslock the belay retainer is free to move when the gate is closed or open. I was skeptical that it would work well when I got it and realized this. Mammut claims the spring loaded belay retainer is sufficient to resist crossloading. I've used the Bionic to lead belay with a Gri Gri and Revo and it does maintain proper orientation. Even when lead roped soloing it maintained appropriate orientation. I would also point out that this makes loading the carabiner onto your belay loop easier than with the gridlock because you don't have to hold the gate open while getting the loop in place. you can let the gate lock and then adjust things afterwards. Another thing I found was that the belay lock or retainer or whatever you call it has more resistance when you are trying to push it toward the narrow end of the biner as you would when sliding your belay loop into the locked area. It is significantly easier to slide the belay loop out of the locked area than into it. But it still holds in place just fine. The design of the retainer and the width of the gate mean that you can only put Gri Gri on the wide side of the carabiner. It will not slide around to the narrower side.