Karabiners

Karabiners or Carabiners (aka "krabs" or "crabs") have been around since at least Victorian times, and were used by continental alpinists prior to the First World War but only really caught on in the British climbing scene in the late 1940s when masses of ex War Department ones became available. In recent years the design of karabiners has gone through a rapid period of evolution with ever lighter and more radical models appearing.

Karabiners were originally made from steel and were Oval, but it was soon found that "D" shaped ones were stronger and that these could be given a greater gate opening by making them as an Offset "D". In the 1970s alloy karabiners replaced steel for mountaineering use as they were so much lighter. Initially these were quite big for strength but improved design reduced the size and weight. Original krabs were Straight Gate, then Bent Gates were developed to allow easier clipping when sport climbing. In the mid-90s, Wire Gates, despite being derided initially as nappy pins, revolutionised karabiner design, enabling considerable weight savings to be made.

Screw Gates are designed for use where it is especially important that the gate remains closed (eg belays) and the HMS version (Halbmastwurfsicherung) was originally designed for use with a Munter (or Italian) hitch for belaying and abseiling, but are now much used with belay devices - though specialist Belay Karabiners, which prevent dangerous cross-loading, are a better choice.

In recent years, new innovative designs have appeared such as Pulley Karabiners and Locking Karabiners that do not have a screwgate.

The strength of karabiners is rated in kiloNewtons (kN) and are usually given for gate closed (along the back), gate open (along the back) and cross-loaded (between the back and the gate). A fall can engender forces of up to ca 6kN so it is important that all aspects of a karabiner are stronger than this. In the early days of lightweight krab design (ca 1980!) gate open strengths were not very high and karabiners could break in a fall if the gates were knocked open or the krab was cross loaded. These days karabiners have very high gate open and cross loading strengths meaning that modern karabiners made by a reputable firm are most unlikely to break.

One thing for certain is that today's climber would probably find it hard to imagine, or indeed manage, climbing without karabiners - they are so fundamental to modern mountaineering, yet British climbers did just that for well over 50 years from the foundation of the sport in the early 1880s and it was only after WWII that they became widely available.

Petzl Sm'D Triact Lock Karabiner
Petzl Sm'D Triact Lock Karabiner
£20.00
2 In Stock

Triple-action Sm'D karabiner is virtually impossible to open by mistake.

Wild Country EOS
Wild Country EOS Locking Karabiner
£16.20
£18.00
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5 In Stock

Lightweight large offset D locking karabiner with a very smooth running thimble and keylock nose.

DMM Zodiac 12mm Offset D Keylock Screwgate Karabiner
DMM Zodiac 12mm Offset D Keylock Screwgate Karabiner
£14.99
5 In Stock

DMM's large extra strong screwgate uses hot forged I beam technology to shave off the grams.

Petzl Am'D Ball-Lock Karabiner
Petzl Am'D Ball-Lock Karabiner
£20.70
£23.00
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1 In Stock

Clever button auto-locking large D karabiner.

Grivel Plume Twin Gate HMS
Grivel Plume Twin Gate HMS
£13.00
3 In Stock

A compact and very light HMS Karabiner with a twin wire gate system.

Grivel Mega Twin Gate Karabiner
Grivel Mega Twin Gate Karabiner
£15.00
1 In Stock

HMS type pear-shaped forged karabiner with innovative "auto-locking" twin gate (Straight Gate + Straight Gate).

DMM Phantom HMS Screwgate
DMM Phantom HMS Screwgate DMM Phantom HMS Screwgate DMM Phantom HMS Screwgate
DMM Phantom HMS Screwgate Karabiner
£17.09
£18.99
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5 In Stock

An extremely compact, lightweight and yet strong, true HMS shape karabiner. 56g.

DMM Phantom HMS Kwiklock BLT
DMM Phantom HMS Kwiklock Karabiner
£18.90
£20.99
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Lightweight HMS - Kwicklock version has a double action self locking gate.

DMM Phantom HMS Locksafe BLT
DMM Phantom HMS Locksafe Karabiner
£19.80
£21.99
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Lightweight HMS - Locksafe version has a triple action self locking gate.

Wild Country Ascent HMS
Wild Country Ascent HMS Karabiner
£14.40
£16.50
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Out of Stock
Classy super lightweight large HMS with a very smooth running thimble and keylock nose.
Petzl Rocha Karabiner
Petzl Rocha Karabiner Petzl Rocha Karabiner
Petzl Rocha Karabiner
£16.20
£18.00
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3 In Stock

Ultra-lightweight, ultra-compact, pear-shaped HMS screw-lock karabiner.

Petzl Attache HMS Karabiner
Petzl Attache HMS Karabiner Petzl Attache HMS Karabiner
Petzl Attache HMS Karabiner
£15.75
£17.50
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3 In Stock

A compact HMS karabiner, easily manipulated with one hand.

Black Diamond Vaporlock Screwgate SIZE?
Black Diamond Rocklock Screwgate
Black Diamond Vaporlock Screwgate SIZE?
£16.00
4 In Stock

A super-light pear-shaped locking karabiner.

Black Diamond Vaporlock Twistlock SIZE?
Black Diamond Rocklock Screwgate
Black Diamond Vaporlock Twistlock SIZE?
£20.00
5 In Stock

A one-hand operable autolocking karabiner, involving two motions to open the gate.

Black Diamond Pearlock Screwgate SIZE?
Black Diamond Rocklock Screwgate
Black Diamond Pearlock Screwgate SIZE?
£19.00
4 In Stock

A workhorse HMS karabiner with a modern design blended.

Black Diamond Pearlock Twistlock SIZE?
Black Diamond Rocklock Screwgate
Black Diamond Pearlock Twistlock SIZE?
£19.00
5 In Stock

A one-hand operable autolocking karabiner, involving two motions to open the gate.

Black Diamond Rocklock Screwgate
Black Diamond Rocklock Screwgate
Black Diamond Rocklock Screwgate SIZE?
£14.00
Out of Stock

Designed for great handling, and features a larger rope-bearing surface.

Black Diamond Twistlock Screwgate
Black Diamond Rocklock Screwgate
Black Diamond Rocklock Twistlock SIZE?
£18.00
3 In Stock

A one-hand operable autolocking karabiner, involving two motions to open the gate.

Black Diamond Triplelock Screwgate
Black Diamond Rocklock Screwgate
Black Diamond Rocklock Triple Lock SIZE?
£22.00
3 In Stock

Designed for great handling, and features a larger rope-bearing surface.

Camp Photon Lock
Camp Photon Lock Janja
From £10.80
£12.00
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6 In Stock

A belay karabiner for alpinists and multi-pitch climbers.

DMM Shadow HMS Titanium/Lime
c63_14027_A682Swatch DMM Shadow HMS DMM Shadow HMS DMM Shadow HMS
DMM Shadow HMS
£16.19
£17.99
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7 In Stock

A large, yet lightweight, HMS karabiner with a short gate to maximise gate opening.

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