page_title: Rock-climbing equipment
section_title: Carabiners
hierarchical_section_title: Rock-climbing equipment / Carabiners
caption_attribution_description: English: Petzl
context_page_description: A wide range of equipment is used during rock or any other type of climbing that includes equipment commonly used to protect a climber against the consequences of a fall.
  See also the Glossary of climbing terms for more equipment descriptions.
context_section_description: Carabiners are metal loops with spring-loaded gates (openings), used as connectors. Once made primarily from steel, almost all carabiners for recreational climbing are now made from a light weight aluminum alloy. Steel carabiners are much heavier, but harder wearing, and therefore are often used by instructors when working with groups.
  Carabiners exist in various forms; the shape of the carabiner and the type of gate varies according to the use for which it is intended. There are two major varieties: locking and non-locking carabiners. Locking carabiners offer a method of preventing the gate from opening when in use. Locking carabiners are used for important connections, such as at the anchor point or a belay device. There are several different types of locking carabiners, including a twist-lock and a thread-lock. Twist-lock carabiners are commonly referred to as "auto-locking carabiners" due to their spring-loaded locking mechanism. Non-locking carabiners are commonly found as a component of quickdraws.
  Carabiners are made with many different types of gates including wire-gate, bent-gate, and straight-gate. The different gates have different strengths and uses. Most locking carabiners utilize a straight-gate. Bent-gate and wire-gate carabiners are usually found on the rope-end of quickdraws, as they facilitate easier rope clipping than straight-gate carabiners.
  Carabiners are also known by many slang names including biner (pronounced beaner) or Krab.
  The first climber who used a carabiner for climbing was German climber Otto Herzog.
  The Maillon (or Maillon Rapide) performs a similar function to a carabiner but instead of a hinge, it has an internally threaded sleeve engaging with threads on each end of the link, and is available in various shapes and sizes. They are very strong but more difficult to open, either deliberately or accidentally, so are used for links which do not need to be released during normal use, such as the center of a harness.
caption: Selection of carabiners
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