Hooking Up with Carabiners

10 Ways I Use Carabiners:

1. To attach my house keys to the inside of my bag so I can find them when I get home. (locking carabiners)
2. To attach my earbuds to the outside pocket of my bag so I can find them on the airplane (mini “s” carabiners)
3. To attach my wallet to the inside of my bag so I don’t lose it and pickpockets can’t take it out (locking carabiners)
4. To attach my sunglasses bag to the inside of the outside pocket of my daypack (medium “s” carabiners)
5. To lock the one end of my daypack strap to the other to strap my bag on my rolling bag handle (locking carabiners)
6. To attach the neoprene water bottle sack to the outside of my daypack (medium clip carabiners)
7. To repair a broken zipper (mini “s” carabiners — may I say you cannot have too many of these!)
8. To attach the bag I keep my jewelry in when I take it off for security to the inside pocket of my daypack. (small “s” carabiners)
9. To hang my toiletry bag in a variety of ways in a strange bathroom. (large “s” carabiners)
10. To hold the zippers on my rolling bag sections together (mini “s” carabiners)

About my little friends:

Carabiners come in a vast – I mean VAST – variety of styles and are the best thing when traveling to solve the unexpected storage problem.  Carabiners hook to your bag, help you convert a bag with a strap to a backpack, hold water bottles, coats, secure luggage stacks, and keep you from losing your earbuds, house keys, asthma inhaler, or gloves. A carabiner can lock your purse zipper shut and foil the efforts of a pick pocket.  It can be used to replace a button that flies off your coat, hold a shoe together, pants together…in short, a carabiner is one of the Wonders of the Modern World.

Variations are plentiful, to help you achieve the effortless movement through an airport that we call seek after.  Here is a sample of carabiners you might find handy – ask for a Christmas Stocking full!

Your local outdoor supply store will have a wide variety of carabiners and you’ll find the perfect one to attach those extras you just don’t want to travel without.  DON’T buy the decorative ones – buy the ones rock climbers use – locking, “s” shape, round, “d” shape – these are made to withstand lots of weight and hardship.  The idea is to prevent pickpockets from taking your stuff easily, and to protect you from having to dump out your whole bag just to find your earbuds.

Tell me how YOU use them!