When clipping into quickdraws, is it dangerous to pass a finger through the gate?
When learning to sport climb, I was taught not to pass any of my fingers through the gate of the carabiner when clipping into a quickdraw. Lest any of my fingers get stuck and degloved in the case of a fall while clipping. Has this ever happened? Is this a realistic concern?
In an effort to lead climb more efficiently, I was researching different methods of clipping quickdraws. During my search, I found that one often recommendation when clipping with (eg) one's right hand into a quickdraw whose gate is facing right is
Pinch Clip Technique
- Starting from your tie-in knot at your harness, slide your hand down the rope to grab a length of rope.
- As you bring the rope up to the quickdraw, let it run over your pointer finger.
- Use your thumb on the spine of the rope-end carabiner to stabilize the carabiner.
- Push the rope and your pointer finger into and through the gate of the carabiner to clip the rope.
Source: REI, emphasis: mine.
Some sources warn against putting fingers through the gate while using the pinch clip technique:
Quick safety tips when clipping quickdraws
Keep your fingers out of the carabiner
Push the rope into the carabiner gate, rather than your fingers. You don’t want to lose them if the event of a fall!
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/22988. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
2 answers
In short: Yes this has happened, and so it is a realistic concern.
It's not common, but I have heard of it happening (usually resulting in a small finger scrape, not degloving). People in this reddit thread say they've seen it happen.
To illustrate the danger, try it. Put your pointer finger in between the gate and edge of a carabiner at home and pull it out very slowly. Now imagine doing it very fast. Not so fun.
More thoughts:
I think there's a bit more to this--yes, many climbers do pinch clip with no problem. This is partly because with lots of practice, the clip happens quick enough that the finger barely goes through the gate, relying on the stiffness of the rope to push through. Does that mean it's safe? No, but people do it.
You were probably told not to put your finger through the gate as a well-intended effort to make you nervous around carabiners. You were also probably told not to grab onto quick-draws (or carabiners) with your whole hand, because instead of scraping off a finger, you could get a biner through your palm--much worse. This is probably a good attitude to have, as climbing is of course dangerous.
Citation for impaling yourself on draws: https://rockandice.com/climbing-accidents/impaled-by-a-quickdraw/
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/22989. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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As there's ample anecdotal evidence, bad things can happen when doing this. There's also ample anecdotal evidence, that bad things will likely not happen. When bad things happen, scratches and even more rarely degloving is mentioned. I can reproduce scratches with placing my finger really badly below the opened gate. And sure, if I can avoid scratches, I'd rather do. Then again, scratches are a permanent companion of mine when climbing. So to put i perspective: It happens rarely and the outcome isn't particularly dramatic.
In addition I consider this a non-issue, due to: Rule 1: You don't fall while clipping.
While clipping you are at the highest possible point above the last protection. You may also be exhausted and need a rest. So before you decide to clip, you must judge the situation whether you have a position you can maintain during clipping. If not, adjust it, or if you are too exhausted, descend or make a controlled fall into the lower protection. Anything is better than an uncontrolled fall while clipping. And you don't want to fumble that draw, maybe even get panicky and then fall while clipping. So train clipping until it's second nature and really fast.
(As pointed out in comments: As every good rule this isn't absolute and has exceptions, e.g. when trying to send a hard project on your limit (in which case you anticipate the fall and know the rock and falling/"impact" zone and the associated risk.)
About some scary evidence of impaling your hand with a quickdraw: The case documented in John Hughes answer was from grabbing a quickdraw in a fall. Now if no-one ever told you that, let me do it for you: Rule 2: Do not grab anything to try and stop your fall. You are on belay (hopefully), so there's no reason to do so. Even if you don't injure yourself (remember, impaled quickdraw *urgh*), you will likely make the fall worse (instead of just falling, you might turn and twist and hit the wall side-ways or whatever). Do fall training, so it's in muscle memory how to behave when falling.
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