Quickdraw

A quickdraw is a simple piece of hardware: two non locking carabiners connected by a stiff or slightly flexible sling called a dogbone. One carabiner clips to a bolt or piece of protection, and the other holds the climbing rope, letting a leader connect their rope to the wall as they climb.

Sport climbers usually carry a rack of a dozen or more quickdraws sized to the route length, while trad climbers use fewer quickdraws alongside cams and nuts for extending placements. Sling length matters, since longer quickdraws or alpine draws reduce rope drag on wandering routes, and gate orientation affects how easily the rope clips in in a hurry.

A frequent early mistake is clipping the rope backward through the gate, which can cause it to unclip itself if the rope runs across the gate under load, sometimes called back clipping. Learning correct clipping technique from an instructor or experienced partner, and inspecting slings and gates for wear, both matter more than chasing the lightest possible draw.