Strong Opinions: The Oval - A Fading Relic

Once popular, the oval is no longer the staple of rock climbing that it once was. As the classic design gets a modernized revival, does the humble oval still have a place on the modern rack? Short answer: nope.

— An old timer with an eyepatch, out-pacing you on the approach, carries a crow on one shoulder and an old tattered gear sling on the other. Slung nuts, drilled out hexes, and a handful of titons dangle from beefy ovals. Such are the sacred relics of our religion a burden of a fading era.—

Don’t buy old school ovals—it’s a sin. The dated, ‘classic,’ oval design has been almost entirely discontinued. Made with heavy round stock, weaker symmetrical baskets, squeaky solid gates, and large obstructive gate catches, older style ovals should really all be retired. For some unknowable reason, and in spite of their objective shortcomings, major retailers still sell this clunky design.

Many manufacturers have modernized their ovals by adopting lighter I-beam cross sections, stronger D-shaped geometry, and snappy wire gates or else keylock noses to reduce snagging, but don’t be fooled. Even with dramatic improvements, the modern oval has no place in recreational climbing. Where they are used most often, there are usually better, lighter alternatives.

Misguided Uses

Racking Nuts
Racking wired nuts on an oval allows the gate to open smoothly without crowding the other wires. This is an absolute requirement, but not a problem, even for the markets smallest carabiner. Splitting your stoppers onto two are is common but not for lack of space; they’re just easier to select.

Racking Pitons
I know better than to stir up the old timers: if you swing a hammer, you have your own opinion on how best to rack pitons. Typically, limiting three or four, and sometimes only two pins to a carabiner will make them easier to handle, regardless of what shape the carabiner is, so it really isn’t a huge deal either way.

Aid Ladders
Attached at the top of your aid ladders, ovals provide a little extra space to open the gate while your daisy chains are attached. The trick is, ovals have unfavorably broad, deep-curving noses and nose shape is more important than space. The ideal carabiner for ladders has a narrow, shallow-curving noses to make it easier to clip and unclip gear quickly.

Ascenders
Ovals can be used to ‘lock’ ascenders to the rope through the top hole of the device. It will be smoother to use an oval here instead of a typical carabiner which will actually rub against the rope and create additional friction. However, when cleaning on a traverse, it’s more effective to lock off the ascender by clipping the rope through the carabiner attached to the bottom hole. Note: with either locking strategy, the extra step serves a purpose that is already, satisfied by your backup knot so locking off your ascenders isn’t necessary, (this is not a tutorial, don’t forget to backup your system).

Top Rope Anchor
If you’ve inherited ovals or you were suckered into buying some, they’re probably best purposed at an all day top-rope anchor. Instead of sawing back and forth on your more expensive lockers, two or three ovals, opposite and opposed will serve you well. (Yes, non-lockers are safe to use at the masterpoint.)

At the end of the day, even the modern oval carabiner should be reconsidered. It is not uncommon to see it being used in narrowly specific scenarios, but there are better solutions for your needs. LET THE OVAL DIE!