BlueWater (omegalight D) (bent gate)

BlueWater
(omegalight D) (bent gate)

Name:BlueWater (omegalight D)
Sub Item:(bent gate)
Category:non-locking
Shape:asymmetric D
Material:aluminum
Profile:flat
Nose:notch & pin
Nose Guard:none
Rivets:flat spun
Gate Shield:full
Weight:53.2 g
Dimensions:Length: 102.72 mm
Width: 59.28 mm
Depth (basket end): 8.66 mm
Depth (runner end): 8.66 mm
Gate Opening: 24.86 mm
Strength Ratings:Major Axis: 25 kN | Minor Axis: 9 kN | Gate Open: 8.5 kN
Other Markings:Forged: BLUE (bluewater-logo) WATER | UIAAⓁ(ratings)
Stamped: W 3
Batch Marking Location:spine-exterior-right
Summary:mid '90s quickdraw carabiner
Description & Commentary:

This appears to be a whitelabel production of Omega's Omegalite line of carabiners for Bluewater, from the mid 1990s. It would be considered a basic asymmetric D carabiner by todays standards, but this model does have a few features that would have felt modern at the time.

A full gate shield to protect the rope in the event that the carabiner becomes crossloaded during a fall. Ratings in kiloNewtons and UIAA rating, a shift that happened in the early 1990s. Batch markings for quality control. Flatspun rivets, supposedly less likely to hang up on soft goods, but in my experience the sharp edges actually catch webbing fibers more easily than domed rivets.

One thing noticable to modern eyes is that the gate open strength is marked in fractions of a kilonewton - 8.5 kN.

Clippings:Climbing-1994-146-08Aug-p53-omega_pacific