Before we dive too deep into our top rope anchor videos, let’s take a closer look at how to make carabiners “opposite and opposed” for the Master Point (the equalized point where the climbing rope runs through the carabiners).

For this technique you can use:

1 - locking carabiner -and- 1 non-locking carabiner
OR
2 - non-locking carabiners

When both carabiners are clipped into the Master Point, there are two critical elements to ensuring they are correctly opposite and opposed:

Opposite - The gates of each carabiner face opposite one another so that, when the two carabiners are viewed from the side (i.e. parallel), each side only has one gate. The opposite carabiner should show the spine of the carabiner, and not the gate.

Opposed - If the gates of each carabiner were on the same side, they should form a cross when opened. If they each open in the same direction then you would need to remove one and correctly clip it in opposing (i.e. backwards) from the other carabiner.

We hope you found this video helpful. Feel free to comment below with questions or thoughts!

Please remember, climbing is inherently dangerous. Climb at your own risk.