This might be the shortest article on my website. The answer is no.

Carabiner gates can face:

• both to the left

• both to the right

• toward each other

• away from each other

It makes no significant difference in the strength or security of your anchor for recreational climbing. The load in every case is along the spine of the carabiner which is the strongest configuration.

There are lots of things to pay attention to when climbing. This is not one of them!

The only time you need to be concerned about the direction of carabiner gates is when you put two of them together, which is called “opposite and opposed”. In that case you want to see an “X” made by the gates when they’re closed, and you want the spines on opposite sides. Just like the diagram below.