CAMP HMS Compact Lock Review: By CMS Guide Wes Calkins

CAMP HMS Compact Lock

The carabiner market is flooded with many different styles, brands, colors and intended uses. So what makes a carabiner stand out in the hands of someone who has handled hundreds of different styles throughout their climbing career?

The biggest factor for me is ease of use. When is comes to the CAMP HMS compact Lock this is a no-brainer. This carabiner is specifically designed for use with hitches like the clove and munter, that’s what the HMS stands for. This carabiner has the largest gate opening of any HMS carabiner that CAMP sells at 25mm(more on this later). What does that mean in the real world? It means that it’s super easy to secure the rope or anything else to this carabiner whether I’m wearing gloves or not. Along these lines the screw-lock mechanism is really smooth and allows the carabiner to be secured with one quick spin most of the time.

Next is versatility. I’ve already discussed how this carabiner is super easy to use, but it gets better. We all know that having a nice round stock carabiner is easier for ropes to move around when combined with a belay device. This is one of the things that I really like about this carabiner. After pulling miles of rope every year this round stock design really does make it easier to pull rope through a belay device. In an era where some manufacturers are moving away from round stock designs, I’m glad that CAMP is holding fast and still producing this carabiner.

BONUS: When guiding the North Face of Longs Peak you encounter some very large eye bolts. The bolts are so large that a typical carabiner is not able to clip the bolts. Enter the CAMP HMS Compact: it’s one of the few carabiners out there that can easily clip the eye bolt due to its spacious opening, and I never guide that route without several to go around for me and my guests.

With all of this it’s easy for me to see that this carabiner is gonna have a place on my harness for a long time to come.