Gate Tension

A carabiner clipped to a harness is just jewelry until you test it under actual load. I advanced past the damp boxwood roots toward the dark green garden hose coiled around an iron wall reel. Stretched taut between two spokes was a length of stiff, plastic-coated wire. I unclipped the black mini-carabiner from my belt, snapped the spring gate cleanly over the wire, and dropped my full weight into a controlled slide. The aluminum barrel glided down the angle with a dry metallic buzz, touching my boots down securely on a clay pot saucer below. Gate tension intact, slide clean. Field hardware officially verified.