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That's just, like, that guy's opinion, man... I'd prefer not to screw around with opinion when one non-locker is keeping from hitting the ground.

"good chance" are the operative words in BD statement... Petzl's stance is quite different and the fact they don't agree and the ambiguity there is enough for me. Why take chances with this stuff? To save $6?

3 times a negligible number is still negligible. However if you don't trust your biners then definitely keep them around to replace anchors and such

where can I get a petzl biner for $6? I am in.

this reminds me of Barry Broley. For those that don't know him, he lives in Indianapolis, climbs in the Red frequently, has 30+ years of experience, climbed extensively in the Valley, Eldo, etc... The dude has long juice, been there done that.... and his experience and opinion matter to me based if nothing else on that he has seen what can happen. I learn from his experience without having to actually have the same near misses, bad outcomes, etc...
So all this to say, Barry has a very finite few people that he will take a catch from, he never will repel on two cords tied together unless he physically tied them himself (even if he just watched you tie them correctly), and a few other idiosyncratic habits. Because of this, I try to do the same.
The bearing this has on this discussion is this- if Dustonian has such a strongly held opinion on the safety of dropped gear, and I know Dustonian has been climbing at a high stakes level for a long time, I don't summarily disregard it. I actually consider what he says and perhaps change how I was operating (which in this case was using all the crappy old gear that I could and never throwing out drop carabiners).

Aluminium does not fracture to our detriment in this manner. If it did the people climbing at the load and taking repeated falls on those draws with the top carabiner catching and grinding on the hangers would simply die. We test the theory repeatedly. I am not going to toss a quickdraw after one or 20 hard falls and neither will the most anal among you.

so lurk...does the second have to untie and retie the knot to be consistent wiht this view? seems to me that would be elevating some wierdness there..ie- you trust the guy to catch you on some multipitch epic, but don't trust the knotting of two ropes?

I am just saying, if someone who I judge to have more experience than I feels strongly about a safety issue, I don't disregard , but in fact regard what he/she has to say and consider my on behavior relative to theirs.