Carabiners & Quick Draws

Carabiners are something a rock climber can never have enough of. With hundreds of uses on and off the mountain, carabiners are always handy to have around. Carabiners come in many shapes, sizes, weights, and types and depending some are better suited to certain purposes than others.

Certain types of carabiners are used for different situations in rock climbing. For belaying, you are always going to want a larger locking carabiner. Either a screw-gate locking carabiner or an auto-locking carabiner will do the job here. Oval carabiners are always a good choice when building an anchor for top-roping. Be sure to use three with the gates in opposite directions, or just two locking oval carabiners, to make sure that anchor is bomber. Then of course, there are specialty carabiners like Black Diamond’s new Gridlock carabiner which will never allow your carabiner to become cross-loaded because it locks into your belay loop separately. The Petzl Freino is another specialty carabiner which is useful when using a grigri or when you need increased friction when rappelling or lowering.

Then of course, there are standard carabiners that you can just never get enough of, especially trad and sport climbers. Whether you’re putting together quickdraws for a trip to your local crag, or organizing the gear on your rack for your next Yosemite epic, you’re going to need carabiners. We always recommend using wire gate carabiners for quickdraws, as they are lighter and easier to clip in to. And remember, weight can add up very quickly, so if you’re hauling a lot of gear on your next multi-pitch, be sure to check out light weight carabiners like Black Diamond’s Neutrinos.

At Climb High, we hand pick some of the best carabiners on the market, and offer them at great prices. Check out our selection today.