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.

Most are stamped with a "not for climbing" or similar warning due to a common lack of load-testing and safety standards in manufacturing.

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.