Three sigma (or 3σ) is a statistical rule that states that for a data set with a normal distribution (with most of the values close to the average and very few being at the extremes) nearly all values will lie within 3 standard deviations of the mean. In effect this says that by performing this statistical function you can account for 99.73% of all values.

It is impossible to test climbing equipment destined for shops to destruction, for obvious reasons. Traditionally most climbing manufacturers used a fairly arbitrary system of: testing a few from every batch, taking the average, knocking 10% off. If that was higher than the expected strength, the batch was ok. With three sigma testing you can extrapolate from just a few results that 99.73% of a batch will fall between two known values, with the other 0.27% at the extremes.

This then means that 99.865% of a batch is equal to or higher than a known value. In most cases climbing equipment exceeds the stated strength anyway, making the statistical chance of one product out of a tested batch failing below the stated strength negligible. DMM were the first climbing company to implement three sigma testing, but Wild Country and Black Diamond have now followed suit.

Hot forging is a method used to form stock metal into complex shapes. For many years aluminium alloys have been the material of choice for climbing equipment as they are lighter and much easier to manipulate than comparable steels. For decades carabiners and many other products were made using a technique called cold forging, which isn't possible with steel. This essentially involves squashing 'cold' (room temperature) pieces of stock aluminium alloy with a mould, known as a die, under very large pressures until it takes the form of the mould.

Recently manufacturers have started to move towards hot forging which involves heating the alloy in a furnace before forging it. This makes it much more malleable and allows substantially more complex and subtle shapes to be moulded under higher pressures. Both of these techniques are known as drop forging, when huge a huge hammer is 'dropped' onto the material to create the pressure.

The major benefit for the end user is that equipment can be formed using the bare minimum amount of metal required, rather than using more primitive shapes, making it lighter (and in some cases stronger aswell). It also makes the application of heat treatments after the forging much easier to control, increasing consistency and, by extension, safety.

Magnetron Technology uses two magnetic arms in the gate and a steel insert in the carabiner's keylock nose to create an ultra-secure, self-clearing and redundant locking mechanism that can be easily used with either hand.

Amazingly it adds virtually no weight to existing screwgate karabiner designs. This new way of closing karabiners was developed by Black Diamond and remains a proprietary technology.

• Magnetic attraction to a steel insert in the carabiner nose keeps two independent arms securely locked
• Locking arms must be individually depressed before the gate can be opened
• Once open, opposing magnetic fields repel the arms to ensure smooth and reliable gate operation
• Symmetrical design allows for easy one-handed operation (right or left)