Latest posts
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Reading the Markings on a Connector
A connector that has been picked out of a kit bag tells you almost everything you need to know about whether it belongs in the system you are about to build — but only if you can read it. The letters, numbers and pictograms stamped or laser-etched into a carabiner body are not decoration or…
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Connector Basics: Gates, Axes and Loading
A connector is the smallest component in most rope-access and confined-space systems and the one most often loaded in a way it was never designed for. Every anchor, every lanyard, every descender and back-up device is attached through one, and the difference between a connector working at its rated strength and failing well below it…
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Connector Shapes and Where Each Belongs
A connector’s shape is not cosmetic. It decides where the load sits inside the frame, whether an attached device stays aligned under load, how much room there is at the basket for a hitch or a second connection, and how easily the gate can be pressed against something it should never touch. Two connectors with…
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Connector Locking Systems Compared: Screw-Lock, Two-Stage and Three-Stage Auto-Lock
Every rope access or confined-space system comes down to a handful of small metal parts that hold the whole thing together. The connector at the harness attachment point, at the anchor, on the descender and on the back-up device is where a system most often fails through human error rather than material failure — a…