How to Choose Quickdraws

When you are out shopping for quickdraws there are several things to look out for. The three basic questions you need to ask yourself are first of all, how many quickdraws do I need? Second, ask yourself what gate opening you need/prefer. And finally you need to decide on the length of the sling. More advanced climbers know that there is a bit more to it, like carabiner size&shape or sling material&width and of course weight strength ratio but let's stick to the first 3 for now. 

So here we will focus on point 3, what length sling do you need?

It is always good to have a variety of sling lengths in your quick draw kit, you never know what the situation will demand of you.

Short slings are good because they are lighter and better to grab should you need to. 

Long slings can come in handy in two different situations. First of all, when you first go into a route to put up the draws, maybe you find a clipping point to be to hard and would be a lot easier if the bolt was a bit closer. Since you can't really move the bolt or drill a new one, you could clip a long slinged quickdraw so that when red pointing the clipping is easier. Furthermore, a long quickdraw comes in handy if there is a roof leading into a slab and the clip is just above the roof. Here you want a long quickdraw so that the carabiner of the quickdraw can hang freely and not rub against the rock.