A maillon, maillon rapide or quick link is a metal link, similar to a

carabiner A carabiner or karabiner () is a specialized type of shackle, a metal loop with a spring-loaded gate used to quickly and reversibly connect components, most notably in safety-critical systems. The word is a shortened form of ''Karabinerhaken'' ...

. Maillons have a threaded sleeve which tightens over a thread, as opposed to a hinged gate like a carabiner, making them stronger, but more difficult to use. Like carabiners, maillons are available in a range of shapes and thicknesses (i.e., strengths), and often offer greater versatility over carabiners as their different shapes and lack of hinged gates allow them to be used in multi-directional load situations. The word ''maillon'' comes from the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in N ...

, meaning "link".

Usage

Maillons are used primarily in

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done ...

and

caving Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology i ...

. In caving, they are used to make secure and vital connections such as those required when using

single rope technique Single-rope technique (SRT) is a set of methods used to descend and ascend on the same single rope. Single-rope technique is used in caving, potholing, rock climbing, canyoning, roped access for building maintenance and by arborists for tree cli ...

,http://www.cave-crag.co.uk/721/Maillon-Rapide-10mm-Semi-Circular.html or for attaching ropes to anchor points. In climbing, they are used to construct leave-in-place

abseil Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...

anchors. Maillons can also be used for fastening harnesses with a dual attachment point.

Variations

* The length of the gate opening, and of the maillon itself, can be varied. Suppliers typically have a short and long (symmetrical) oval in their range, as well as other shapes. * "D" maillon: the central component of a caving harness or

kit on which all items of equipment are attached. So called because it is shaped like the letter D. * "Delta" maillon: a variation of the D maillon, the delta maillon is triangular in shape, rather than semi-circular.

References

Climbing equipment Caving equipment {{Climbing-stub