Cypher Cicada Review
April 16, 2014
80 The Good
- Large, full size carabiners with a contoured shape make handling and clipping easier
- Keylock carabiners with tapered noses make cleaning steep sport routes easier and prevent snags on harnesses, ropes, and slings
- The dogbone runner is stiff and easy to handle
The Bad
- Heavier than other quickdraws
- Dogbone runner isn’t as thick as other beefy, high performance sport draws, making it harder to grab when working sport routes
- Expensive compared to many other quickdraws
- Rope-end carabiner can move out of position
Heavier than many other quickdraws, the Cypher Cicada is a high performance quickdraw that’s best for working on those hard redpoints. Its most notable feature is the ergonomically shaped keylock carabiner that makes for easy handling and clipping.
Carabiners
The Cicada makes use of two full sized, ergonomically shaped keylock carabiners that handle well and make clipping easier. The pronounced fish hook shape and large size of the carabiners make these carabiners comfortable to hold and easy to handle. The tapered spine and small grooves on the gates help provide purchase when clipping. The Cicada was a favorite of testers because of the feel and handling of the quickdraw when clipping.
The keylock noses are slightly tapered but are more square shaped than other keylock carabiners such as the C.A.M.P. Photons. Hence, they make cleaning sport routes easier but snag on hangers and harnesses more than some keylock carabiners.
Runner
The Cicada uses an 11 cm long, 16 mm wide dogbone runner that is thick, stiff and easy to handle. The runner isn’t as wide as other dogbone runners on similar high performance quickdraws such as the Trango Smooth or Black Diamond LiveWire so it’s not as easy to grab when working on routes. Some climbers will find the runner to be sufficient for grabbing on emergency clips while others will desire a wider runner. The runner is stitched fairly tight on the rope end side but the carabiner can move out of position while climbing and did so on a few occasions during testing.
Weight
The Cicada is one of the heaviest quickdraws tested at 3.88 ounces and weighs slightly more than similar high performance quickdraws like the Trango Smooth or Black Diamond LiveWire. For a quickdraw that is best suited for hanging on a sport climbing project many climbers won’t worry about the weight and instead will appreciate the easy clipping and handling.
Value
The Cypher Cicada is one of the most expensive quickdraws tested at $24.95 each. It can be purchased in a package of 6 with a HMS locking carabiner for $149.95.
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