Editing Carabiner (section)

==History==
[[File:Codex Loeffelholz F 38v - detail - carabiner.png|thumb|left|Hooks with a sprung, hinged gate, depicted on a horse's muzzle in the Codex Löffelholz folio 38v, about 1505]]
[[File:Fotothek df tg 0000956 Kriegskunst ^ Pferd ^ Arkebussier ^ Gewehr ^ Rüstung.jpg|thumb|right|Rather poor depiction of a carabiner attached to a shoulder belt, from Johann Jacob von Wallhausen's Kriegskunst zu Pferdt, 1616]]
[[File:Kaibil.jpg|thumb|right|A Caribiner used as the [[Kaibiles]] special forces logo]]

The first known hooks that had a sprung, hinged gate where the spring kept it closed (characteristics expected of a carabiner)<ref name="ukcavingmain">{{cite web|url=https://www.cavinguk.co.uk/info/verticalterminology.html#carabiner|title=Carabiner history|website=www.CavingUK.co.uk|access-date=2024-01-17}}</ref> were depicted by [[Nuremberg]] [[Patrician (post-Roman Europe)|patrician]] {{ill|Martin Löffelholz von Kolberg|de}} in about 1505 in the Codex Löffelholz, in the Holy Roman Empire. These then became the clip used to hold a [[cavalry]] carbine or [[arquebus]], with the earliest known mention of them being in 1616 by {{ill|Johann Jacob von Wallhausen|de}} in the Holy Roman Empire.<ref>{{cite book |last=von Wallhausen |first=Johann Jacob |date=1616 |title=Kriegskunst zu Pferdt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yy-6GKH8CngC |location=Holy Roman Empire |publisher=de Bry}}</ref> They were widely used in many European countries during the 17th century,<ref name="ukcavingmain" /> and typically had a belt attachment and swivel joint, much like a modern [[luggage]] [[strap]] or [[handbag]] strap. The load bearing latch was added in the 1790s,<ref name="ukcavingmain" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Pierre |date=2006 |title=Soldiers' Accoutrements of the British Army 1750-1900 |location=United Kingdom |publisher=The Crowood Press |pages=36–37 |isbn=9781861268839}}</ref> for the British cavalry design. They were used for many other purposes during the 19th century,<ref name="ukcavingmain" /> such as for luggage straps, mining and connecting ropes. Some common designs first appeared during that time, including S-carabiners. Oval links, which had also appeared in 1485, also reappeared as carabiners. Screw gates and internal springs were developed. Prussian fire brigades began to use carabiners for connecting themselves to ladders in 1847,<ref>{{cite book |last=von Quast |first=Ferdinand |date=1847 |title=Notiz-Blatt des Architekten-Vereins zu Berlin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oE9IAAAAcAAJ |location=Prussia |publisher=Riegel |page=47}}</ref><ref name="ukcavingmain" /> and this became the modern gourd-shaped design by 1868.<ref>{{cite book |last=Magirus |first=Conrad Dietrich |date=1877 |title=Das Feuerlöschwesen in allen seinen Theilen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0fTH3nxunEC |location=Kingdom of Württemberg |publisher=Selbst-Verlag des Verfassers |page=125}}</ref> German and Austrian mountaineers started using them during the late 19th century, with a mention of their use from 1879,<ref>{{cite book |last=Seitz |first=Carl |date=1879 |title=Mitteilungen des Deutschen und Österreichischen Alpenvereins Vol. 05 (1879)|url=http://www.literature.at/viewer.alo?objid=1045037&viewmode=fulltextview&page=110 |location=Germany/Austria |publisher=Deutschen und Österreichischen Alpenvereins |page=104}}</ref> and their continued use for climbing by climbers in Saxon Switzerland.<ref name="ukcavingmain" /><ref name="bigwallgearmain">{{cite web|url=https://www.bigwallgear.com/p/first-carabiners-for-climbing-summary|title=First carabiners for climbing-summary|website=www.BigWallGear.com|access-date=2024-01-17}}</ref> The majority used gourd shaped carabiners which were created for mining or other utility purposes.<ref name="ukcavingmain" /><ref name="bigwallgearmain" />

The common myth suggesting that mountaineering carabiners were invented or made by German climber {{ill|Otto "Rambo" Herzog|de|Otto Herzog (Bergsteiger)}} in the 1910s has no basis in fact. He used them for some challenging climbs and some new techniques at a time when such "artificial aids" were still controversial in mountain climbing, but he did not invent them or develop any designs, and he was born long after other climbers were already using carabiners.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cavinguk.co.uk/info/verticalterminology.html#rambo|title=Carabiner history|website=www.CavingUK.co.uk|access-date=2024-01-17}}</ref><ref name="bigwallgearmain" />

During the 1920s many designs were used by mountain climbers, such as gourd-shaped, oval or elliptical, mostly sold for general hardware.<ref name="ukcavingmain" /><ref name="bigwallgearmain" /> By the early 1930s, a form of carabiner were being sold for climbing,<ref name="bigwallgearmain" /> oval designs being the most popular. During this decade, hardened steel carabiners appeared and the first aluminium carabiner prototypes were made by [[Pierre Allain]], although they were never sold.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bigwallgear.com/p/next-for-volume-3-aluminum-carabiners|title=Next for Volume 3 (aluminum carabiners, nylon ropes)|website=www.BigWallGear.com|access-date=2024-01-17}}</ref><ref name="ukcavingmain" />

The modern carabiner that endures today was first designed and widely distributed during WWII for the US Army. Raffi Bedayn, an engineer from the San Francisco Bay Area was assigned the project to meet a need for swift, strong and secure rope attachments for use by the infantry. Bedayn was one of the early "golden age" Yosemite mountain climbers with years of involvement with the [[American Alpine Club]] and drew on his experience to inform his design.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://verticalarchaeology.com/2016/02/18/bedayn-carabiners/ |title=Vertical Archaeology: Documenting the evolving tools of our vertical world}}</ref> Bedayn crafted a smooth steel oval with a spring-operated lever opening (or "gate") and a rod-and-hook gate closure that imbeds in the carabiner body to prevent twisting, a design still in use today.  Bedayn innovated the use of lighter aluminum when steel became scarce during the war. Early carabiners from Bedayn's commercial production efforts during the late 1940s - 1960's have "Bedayn California" or "Bedayn Calif." engraved on the gate or on one end of the oval. These were the first commercially produced carabiners designed specifically for climbing.

Later innovations included offset D-shaped carabiners and locking mechanisms. Rock climbers such as [[Yvon Chouinard]]<ref>ref name="Yvon Chouinard">{{Cite web|url = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvon_Chouinard |title=Yvon Choinard, article}}</ref> were credited for ongoing evolutionary adaptions of the basic design - such as the "D shape" carabiner and locking features, which facilitated better safety and stability during climbs. Aluminium carabiners were first sold to the military in 1941,<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://cdeporte.rediris.es/revista/revista48/artdesarrollo315e.pdf|access-date=2024-01-17 |last1=Baena-Extremera |first1=A. |last2=Granero-Gallegos |first2=A. |year=2012 |title=Desarrollo de un modelo de utilidad en descensores para deportes de montaña / Development of a utility model in descender for the mountain sports |journal=Revista Internacional de Medicina y Ciencias de la Actividad Física y el Deporte |volume=12 |issue=48 |pages=681–698 |language=en}}</ref> which were the first commercial carabiners designed specifically for climbing. Slightly offset D-shaped carabiners were sold in the late 1940s, which became the standard offset D-shape (which is now the most common) in the 1950s.<ref name="ukcavingmain" />

Chouinard Equipment introduced the 22&nbsp;kN aluminium carabiner in 1968, though this strength had already been far surpassed by steel carabiners.<ref name="ukcavingmain" /> Wiregate carabiners were first patented in 1969, and were sold for maritime use.<ref name="ukcavingmain" /> They were first sold for climbing in 1996. The popular keylock, which avoids snagging, was developed around 1984–1987.<ref name="ukcavingmain" />