The Ange is the most striking wiregate carabiners we have seen. Instead of a loop of metal that every other wiregate uses, the Ange uses a single straight piece: the gate looks like a toothpick that stabbed a raisin. My first reaction was, "That looks cool, but is it really necessary?" I mean, the new gate design doesn't make this the lightest carabiner out there. Petzl, says that the reason they have never had wiregate carabiner in the past is they never found a design that would not weaken over time. They have some number of times (something like 20,000) that a carabiner gate needs to open and close without a hitch. They achieved this with their extremely durable Petzl Spirit Straight Gate and other biners but were not able to get this with a traditional wiregate design. Hence, the long wait until they figured out a new design: the toothpick gate (not their term). For reasons I can't remember (I got all this info at a trade show and the beer was free) this new design leaps ahead of traditional wiregates in gate durability.
I'll be honest, gate durability has never been a big factor for me when choosing a carabiner. Maybe I don't sport climb enough, but I just can't wear out a biner before I decide to move on to some new biner design that is generally lighter. A much bigger factor for me is weight and handling. The Ange is light. It comes in two sizes: medium and small (sorry for the inexact sizing, i didn't have calipers). Neither are THE lightest for their size. It's not lighter than the CAMP Nano 22 Carabiner. But it is light.
So that is as much as I can spray about this carabiner until I get my paws on it. I really hope it comes out soon as I am deciding if this year's big wall rack will be dominated by the small Ange or the Nano 22.
