Forged 7075-T6 Carabiners and Figure-8 Descenders for a Rescue Equipment OEM

At a Glance

• Client: a Chinese OEM manufacturer of outdoor and rescue equipment (name withheld at the client’s request)
• Products: carabiners and figure-8 descenders
• Material: EN AW-7075 aluminum alloy, T6
• Standards: EN 12275 and EN 362, tested and certified by an independent third-party laboratory
• Process: hot die forging → T6 heat treatment → deburring and machining of key features → hard anodizing

The Challenge

Climbing and rescue hardware is life-safety equipment: it must be as light as possible and still meet its rated breaking strength on every piece. The client’s previous supplier had two problems:

• Scattered breaking strength. Uneven grain structure in the forgings made breaking strength vary from sample to sample.
• High finishing cost. Heavy forging flash and burrs added machining cost downstream.

Our Solution

Aviaforge forges the parts from EN AW-7075, one of the strongest aluminum alloys. Forging follows the part’s curved shape with continuous grain flow, so strength is highest where the load runs.

• Forging: hot die forging
• Heat treatment: 7075-T6
• Machining: deburring and machining of key features
• Finish: hard anodizing in black or grey

Results

Carabiner breaking strength, third-party tested:

Load direction	Required	Measured
Major axis, gate closed	≥ 22 kN	24–27 kN
Minor axis	≥ 7 kN	8–10 kN
Major axis, gate open	≥ 7 kN	8–9 kN

• Forging pass rate of 98% or more
• Carabiner blank weight: about 75–95 g
• Lead times: 4 weeks for samples, 5–7 weeks for production orders