Late last year a company called Nite-Ize sent samples of some of their products. I recognized a couple of items—Gear Ties because I already used them and S-Biners because I’d seen them on display at the local home center. The plastic S-Biners are oversize double-ended carabiners designed for hanging cords, hoses, and anything else that will fit through the openings.
The S-Biner is a simple device with a minimumal number of parts. It has an S-shaped glass filled nylon body (plastic) and two stainless spring-loaded gates. There isn’t actually a spring; the gates have a twist to them that causes them to snap shut.
I received the #6, #8, and #10 plastic models—which are roughly 6”, 8”, and 10” long and rated to carry 50, 75, and 100 pounds respectively. There has got to be a safety factor in there because I’ve hung from the 100-pound model to see what 160 pounds would do to it and it hardly even deflected. In day-to-day use I never came close to the weight capacity of these carabiners because I used them almost exclusively for hanging cords and hoses. That’s not to say they wouldn’t work with other items; I could see using them to hang a tool bag or bucket from a ladder or staging.
These carabiners have been out for several years and given how handy they are I feel kind of foolish for not having tried them before. Nite-Ize also makes a scaled-down all stainless steel version of these clips. As with the plastic units, these can be used to hang or secure anything that will fit through the end: keys, tools, and items with a loop or lanyard. There’s even a model that can be used as a bottle opener.
Versatile and inexpensive, S-Biners can be purchased wherever tools and sporting goods are sold. The largest plastic model (#10) sells for less than $9 online. The largest stainless steel model (#5) can be found online for less than $6. Smaller sizes cost less.
Country of origin: China
