Ancient Web: Carabiner Collection treated climbing hardware

Sam Johnson’s catalog groups hundreds of carabiners by gate, lock, and design—including engineering dead ends that never became standard. The site explicitly isn’t safety instruction; it’s a record of how a small tool evolved through design tradeoffs. Sometimes the obscure nose geometry is the whole story.

Original hardware archive: http://www.carabinercollection.com/

Full Switchboard article: https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/ancient-web-carabiner-collection-treats-climbing-hardware-like-industrial-archaeology/

#ancientweb #climbing #industrialdesign #gearhistory