So many questions!

Why carabiners?
Why leave them on?
Is this considered "cool?"

 

My first guess was that maybe they tow it behind an RV, and those are for the safety cables/chains. But I don't see any of the other towbar connectors so that's either the best hidden baseplate in the world, or my guess is wrong.

Maybe it's just to make them feel like "real" off-roaders.

 

I believe those are used to pull one stick of firewood on each side, not to be longer than 18 inches with a diameter not to exceed 2 inches. That, or they couldn't actually fit an actual offroad shackle into the connection point and wanted to look cool but hoping nobody would really notice the difference.

I've seen a few Subarus around here that belong to some kind of offroad Subie club but have never seen any offroad. I'm guessing they meet in a supermarket parking lot down in the Springs and then come up here and drive on some of the county roads that are dirt? You know, the kind of roads that we and many others live on, not the OHV trails out in the national forest lands.

 

I also thought it was for towing.