Carabiners
How to choose the right carabiner?
The carabiner is an important element of climbing hardware and more broadly speaking of your climbing and mountaineering equipment . This small metal object, available in several sizes and shapes, is the connector between your rope and your belay point. It is an essential safety element, so choosing and using it properly is essential before going out on an expedition. Its characteristics depend on your activity and your goals.
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Recommended price
£15.57
-24%
£11.75
The Petzl Attache Screw Lock Yellow is a lightweight, high-strength carabiner with a unique design for smooth rope handling and secure locking, ideal for climbing and mountaineering.
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Recommended price
£11.22
-15%
£9.48
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Recommended price
£11.22
-15%
£9.48
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Recommended price
£11.22
-15%
£9.48
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Recommended price
£11.22
-15%
£9.48
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Recommended price
£17.31
-25%
£12.96
The Petzl Attache Bar is a versatile, lightweight carabiner for climbing and mountaineering, featuring the removable BAR accessory for optimised load distribution and a smooth rope glide system.
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Recommended price
£15.57
-24%
£11.75
The Petzl Attache Screw Lock Gris is a lightweight, durable carabiner with a unique design for smooth rope handling and secure locking, ideal for climbing and mountaineering.
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Recommended price
£11.22
-15%
£9.48
The Petzl Spirit straight Grey carabiner offers lightness, safety and optimum performance for sport climbing thanks to its innovative design and Keylock system.
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Recommended price
£12.96
-22%
£10.00
Developed by Petzl to be lightweight, the Ange carabiner has an H-shaped profile, making it extremely easy to use, with reliability and sturdiness that never fail
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Recommended price
£12.96
-20%
£10.35
Designed in aluminum, the Ange S carabiner from Petzl is lightweight and durable, featuring a MonoFil Keylock finger for easy opening and closing.
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Recommended price
£16.44
-23%
£12.61
The Petzl Rocha Screw Lock Gris is a lightweight, pear-shaped carabiner with an H-shaped cross-section, offering excellent strength-to-weight ratio, easy rope feeding, and snag prevention.
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What are the various types of carabiners?
To begin with, we will cover the parts shared by all carabiners. A carabiner is constituted of a frame in the shape of a link, this is the load bearing part. And a gate, the spring-loaded side of the carabiner, it opens and is used as a connexion to your equipment. For mountaineering and ski touring, aluminium carabiners are favoured for their lightness.
Oval shape carabiners
Oval carabiners have been a classic for decades. This shape allows easy rotations while being very stable. An excellent choice to connect a pulley. However, it can show its limitation when the force is important due to its symmetrical shape that transfers the load evenly between the frame and the gate, weakening the whole in the process.
D shape carabiners
Designed around an asymmetrical shape, a D shape carabiner transmits the force more toward the frame than the gate to maximize strength. It is the most common shape, it allows to connect an anchor point or use a bit of tether. Furthermore, thanks to this design, it is lighter and has a wider opening than the others.
Pear shape or HMS carabiners
Designed for belaying, this shape very easy to use thanks to its very wide opening. Its thick frame allows to receive big knots and various devices. If you are undecided on which shape to choose, a pear carabiner is a safe bet, and is suitable for most manoeuvres.
What are the various locking mechanism types for carabiners?
A locking carabiner has a similar design and function as a non-locking carabiner. The difference? A sleeve on the gate is used to securely close it on the nose. This provides extra safety and avoids the risk of unwanted opening. Carabiners featuring a locking mechanism are called safety carabiners, those without are called progression carabiners.
Screw-lock carabiners
Screwgate carabiners feature a threaded sleeve that must be manually done or undone to close or open the gate. It remains possible to handle it with gloves on and does not freeze. However, be careful not to forget to lock it!
Auto-lock carabiners
Automatic locking carabiners, like the name suggests, lock automatically in two or three moves, depending on the model. Locking is done thanks to a sleeve that requires twisting, preventing you from forgetting to lock it and guaranteeing maximum safety. However, the system is more sensitive to freezing, dirt or dust and has a tendency to make opening more difficult.
What is the best carabiner for a lanyard or belaying?
Depending on the intended use, you won’t choose the same type of carabiner. Various situations, require carabiners of varying shapes. For belaying with a tube style device or Munter hitch, a a pear shape carabiner is ideal thanks to the large rope bearing surface. A model equipped with a gate that secures the rope in place improves safety even further when belaying.
If you need a carabiner for a lanyard, a D shape carabiner is better suited. It must be a locking model as well, when it comes to climbing and mountaineering, safety first!
Which carabiner to use with a Grigri?
Petzl recommends using a D shape carabiner, a pear shape model can rotate more easily and end up in the wrong position. As you are connecting only one device, a large opening isn’t needed. An automatic locking mechanism is better if you’re forgetful.
Wire or solid gate carabiner, which is the lightest and strongest?
This may seem counter intuitive, but wire gate carabiners are stronger! Of course, they are lighter as well. Their main drawback is the difficulty to fit a keylock system on them. Luckily, manufacturers have developed solutions to prevent nose hooking. To this day, there is no locking mechanism for wire gate carabiners.
Strong and ultra-durable carabiners for belaying at Glisshop
On this page, we offer a large selection of carabiners for rock climbing and mountaineering, to furnish the gear loop of your harness and complete the most beautiful climbs! If you’re still unsure about the model to choose, stop by our store in Aubière, Auvergne, France, close to Clermont-Ferrand or contact our experts via email, phone or chat, they’ll help you select the carabiner you need for your goals.