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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 25, 2011 - 03:04pm PT
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Any more ideas on this pin?
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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Dec 25, 2011 - 03:11pm PT
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Merry Christmas Guido.Ken
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 25, 2011 - 09:04pm PT
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Merry Christmas to you Ken.
Those Germans don't mess around with their stamps! SS
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R.B.
Trad climber
47N 122W
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Dec 25, 2011 - 09:46pm PT
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The one I have almost just like it is stamped "Austria"; except is has a silver finish to it.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 27, 2011 - 01:04pm PT
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Dam Fritz-what a coincidence, just the other morning I noticed I had run out of dental floss.
I'm a wondering if this is a Cassin, pre-galvinized era? if such an era existed?
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Dec 27, 2011 - 01:13pm PT
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LOLOLOL hahaha!!!! Guido!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Still scratching my head over this one. The anvil and eye finishing are about the only thing to assess on a vertical piton
My Austrialpin hardware is buried but that is my best guess. A tiny MADE IN AUSTRIA is all you will find and not even that, often enough.
Cassin usually carried a distinctive stamp but not very early on. Same goes for the plating on Cassin hardware.
Boche might have something similar in his stash...
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1104287&tn=60
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 7, 2012 - 11:38pm PT
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Good call Steve and other observant souls.
Hennek is visiting and we took said pin outside in the sun and with the combined eyesight of 132 years we were able to just see the Austria stamp. Reinforced with a giant magnifying glass and sight enhancement paraphernalia and voila the puzzle solved.
I guess the true value of this pin and its sentimental and nostalgic virtue is associated with an early ascent the Higher Spire.
It would be interesting to know more about the era in which these pins were first introduced to American climbing.
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bookie
climber
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When you have an old piton with writing that you can't read, use some white grease pencil or chalk, rub it into the letters and blow/wipe away the rest, maybe you can read it then. I have a box of old pitons just like this one, I think I'll do that sometime.
In 1972 I was working at Kelty Pack in Glendale California and we did a lot of business with the US Army, selling them pitons. I think we were selling to some units in California. We also sold gear to the Air Force Mt Rescue groups. They sent us a purchase order with technical specifications for all sorts of pitons that matched up to old soft iron piton dimensions, and old army pitons, which I didn't know anything about at the time.
So we worked with one of the European gear importers, now it's called Liberty, may have been owned by Sport Chalet. We ordered 500 or so pins from Austria and we eventually got them and sold them to the Army. And I remember they actually paid for them! Maybe a buck each. (We also shipped 100 Kelty Packs to Nepal for the Peace Corps.)
Why they didn't buy Chouinard pitons, or use their own, I had no idea, and I didn't think to ask them. That was just about the time nuts became available, but hey, the Army changes slowly. In fact, I had just gotten out of the Army reserves in 1971, and we still had Garands and BARs.
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bookie
climber
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Identifying old gear is getting harder and harder as the old timers are passing. Is anybody threatening or promising to write a book about old gear, in detail? I know some people have done a lot of research and collecting. O maybe put up a website?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Feb 19, 2012 - 06:41pm PT
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I was tidying up and found a cluster of four what I assume to be Austrialpin soft iron pitons just like the one in the OP.
The only gear mark.
Two verticals the bottom one a match for the OP piton.
Two of the same size horizontals. Hand-formed from a vertical blank.
I have a bigger stash buried somewhere. LOL
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Feb 20, 2012 - 12:02pm PT
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Presidents Day Bump!
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WBraun
climber
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Feb 20, 2012 - 12:07pm PT
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guido dives in dumpster and finds prize .... :-)
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 20, 2012 - 12:26pm PT
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Hey Steve, what is the date on that dime-dam it may be worth some dinero.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Feb 20, 2012 - 06:07pm PT
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1944 when liberty was being thoroughly tested.
Elegant little coin and my favorite prop for scale at 11/16" in diameter same as the Eisenhower.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Mar 10, 2012 - 07:33pm PT
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The rest of my Austrialpin soft iron stash...
Same horizontals as posted earlier but in mint condition.
Universal and ring vertical designs.
Lots of the Universals were sold and left around and less of the ring pitons I suspect.
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Zander
climber
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Mar 10, 2012 - 10:58pm PT
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You guys are killing me here......
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