Carabiner

A carabiner or karabiner (/ˌkærəˈbiːnər/),[1] often shortened to biner or to crab, colloquially known as a (climbing) clip, is a specialized type of shackle, a metal loop with a spring-loaded gate[2] used to quickly and reversibly connect components, most notably in safety-critical systems.

Often referred to as carabiner-style or as mini-carabiners, carabiner keyrings and other light-use clips of similar style and design have also become popular.

Non-locking carabiners (or snap-links)[6] have a sprung swinging gate that accepts a rope, webbing sling, or other hardware.

Rock climbers frequently connect two non-locking carabiners with a short length of webbing to create a quickdraw (an extender).

These then became the clip used to hold a cavalry carbine or arquebus, with the earliest known mention of them being in 1616 by Johann Jacob von Wallhausen, in the Holy Roman Empire.

[12] German and Austrian mountaineers started using them during the late 19th century, with a mention of their use from 1879,[13] and their continued use for climbing by climbers in Saxon Switzerland.

[8][14] The common myth suggesting that mountaineering carabiners were invented or made by German climber Otto "Rambo" Herzog in the 1910s has no basis in fact.

Raffi Bedayn, an engineer from the San Francisco Bay Area was assigned the project to meet a need for swift, strong and secure rope attachments for use by the infantry.

Bedayn was one of the early "golden age" Yosemite mountain climbers with years of involvement with the American Alpine Club and drew on his experience to inform his design.

Rock climbers such as Yvon Choinard [18] were credited for ongoing evolutionary adaptions of the basic design - such as the "D shape" carabiner and locking features, which facilitated better safety and stability during climbs.