A carabiner is a metal loop with a spring loaded gate used to hook
onto things. The word carabiner comes from "Karabinerhaken", meaning
"hook for a carbine" in German¹.
Carabiner come in a variety of shapes including "D", off-set D,
oval, and pear. Carabiners used for activates such as caving,
climbing and rappelling are made from aluminum but some are also made
out of steel.
Climbers frequently connect two non-locking carabiners with a
hoop of nylon web called a "sling" to create a quickdraw. Quickdraws are
used to connect the rope to climbing protection, bolts or pitons
climbers used for fall protection.
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