Finsterwalder PINLOCK (piece)

Paragliding carabiner from Titanal.

The ultimate paragliding carabiner - forged from Titanal (alloy 7075 T6). The Finsterwalder PINLOCK is compatible with conventional paragliding carabiners and is suitable for all paragliders and harnesses with webbing loops of 40 to 45 mm. Separate webbing chambers prevent shunt loading.
The Finsterwalder PINLOCK features a very large replacement interval but at the same time a weight reduction of 80-120 g per pair compared to steel carabiners!

Overview of the Finsterwalder PINLOCK's most important features

• Breaking load: 2,500 DaN*, certified fatigue endurance!
• Replacement interval for mono use: 8 years, unlimited hours of usage
• Replacement interval for tandem use: 5 years, unlimited hours of usage
• Drop-forged from Titanal

Weight: 80 g/pc.
Inner height: 40 mm

* 1 DaN (dekanewton) = 10 newton ≈ 1 kg

More information on the fatigue endurance of air sports carabiners

Paragliding carabiners are subject to permanent load changes during flight. Measurements by the DHV show that they can amount to between 10 and 110 kg and more, depending on pilot weight, pilot flight behavior and thermals, and that they can occur up to 26 times per second. Given the carabiners' high breaking load (at least 1.500 kg), such load changes should generally be unproblematic. However, conventional carabiners exhibit a construction-related peculiarity: their play in the gate. This play is necessary for the snap hook to open and close frictionless. However, the snap hook is force-locked only at weights of 30-120 kg (depending on the amount of play in the gate). As a result the pilot flies as if the carabiner lock was open within the range of the play in the gate. Since the carabiner construction - as practice and dynamic fatigue tests show - is not designed for such load cases, already the relatively low operating load during normal flight operations can lead to breakages due to material fatigue. As the play in the gate cannot be reliably limited and as it is difficult to control, we have constructed the SNAPLOCK in such a way that it is fatigue endurable also within the range of the play in the gate. Please note: Not all carabiners are tested for fatigue endurance. Special caution is required when the carabiner manufacturer does not give information about the replacement interval.

Steel is good ?

The fatigue endurance of carabiners is not a question of material but a question of design! In dynamic fatigue tests, some aluminum carabiners exhibited substantially higher fatigue endurance levels than steel carabiners. Although stainless steel is generally more fatigue endurable, harder and more resistant to corrosion, the difference in strength can easily be outweighed by a larger width of the aluminum component. Due to the better strength-to-weight ratio, high-quality aluminum alloys are the standard in aircraft construction.