Discussion Topic |
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 21, 2009 - 09:16pm PT
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Any body out there with a mint condition factory drilled #8 that they would be willing to part with? I recently scored a short set for the YCA and would love to fill it out. The stamp on these is on the topside ends just like this #11.
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Captain...or Skully
Social climber
North of the Owyhees
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Jan 21, 2009 - 09:19pm PT
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Sweet gear, Mr. G.
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Jan 21, 2009 - 09:26pm PT
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Man, talk about your scratch-free old gear... very nice!
#11 still in use!
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Captain...or Skully
Social climber
North of the Owyhees
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Jan 21, 2009 - 10:00pm PT
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I'd call that vision, of a sort.
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Jaybro
Social climber
wuz real!
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Jan 21, 2009 - 10:08pm PT
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Is that one, on the lower right?
I have drilled some out on my own, using the templates that 'nard used to provide, wish I still had the template, that would be part of history, as well.
if it looks good I'll mail it to you or Ken, in any case, (though Duecey seems to think it's worth some coin) next time I am at the Ranch...
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Scared Silly
Trad climber
UT
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Jan 21, 2009 - 11:44pm PT
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Steve, I would not worry too much about it. I have a full set of both symmetric and asymmetric sitting here for Ken. (Along with a bunch of tube chocks and first generation stoppers) I just need to get off my butt and mail them.
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Thorgon
Big Wall climber
Sedro Woolley, WA
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Jan 22, 2009 - 12:01am PT
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I have a set, but no extra, also have a set
of those Tube Chocks! Love that old gear!!!
I would ask Don Lauria, he had more old gear
than I had ever seen in my life in Bishop.
I never realized there were 14 different
rock hammers and 23 piton styles!
Thor
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 22, 2009 - 12:07am PT
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It shouldn't be too hard to find a mint one out there. Thanks for responding.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 22, 2009 - 01:07am PT
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I think that I have those templates tucked away somewhere. What a novel do it yourself service YC and TF provided to take the weight off those pups. An undrilled #11 could drop a charging rhino!
I have one of those fiberglass Hummingbirds, too!
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Bill Mc Kirgan
Trad climber
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
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Jan 22, 2009 - 10:17am PT
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Looks like they're smiling...
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 22, 2009 - 11:16pm PT
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They would be smiling harder if the one-eyed kid had a buddy....
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Todd Eastman
climber
Bellingham, WA
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Jan 23, 2009 - 01:22am PT
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I got one that is not mint but is still in use. Though I replaced the original sling about 15 years ago, it often inspires my friends to use their more modern gear when we climb.
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Jaybro
Social climber
wuz real!
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Jan 23, 2009 - 02:20am PT
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Steve, I took tha hummingbird to an ice crag, not all that long ago, and when I started to use it, one of my droogs, put his hand on my arm, and held up a modern tool for my use,
"please, use this," he implored, "we'll all feel better"
When I bought it, the salesman assured me;
"It's the EB of ice climbing!"
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 23, 2009 - 10:55am PT
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I thought that the sado-masochism inherent in ice climbing would have had your friends not intervene in your suffering.
What? Friends don't let friends bruise their knuckles! LOL
Glad your droogs have heart.......
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 24, 2009 - 10:41pm PT
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Desperately seeking a mint bump!
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Jan 24, 2009 - 10:47pm PT
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Hey Steve, what's with the same color sling material? Won't that make it hard to reach for the right Hex on lead?
None of my Hexs are drilled. light or mint.
Me? Well yeah, I am drilled and light, and mint, too.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 24, 2009 - 10:57pm PT
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Ebay score but the perlon is definitely original issue since there were not so many cordage choices back then and I recognize that scheme.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jan 25, 2009 - 01:34am PT
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#7
Check
#9
Check
WTF???
I don't got no #8 either.
All these years.... whut to do
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jan 25, 2009 - 01:45am PT
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'Cord shud still be solid tho; right?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 25, 2009 - 03:13am PT
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Depends on how it sounds when you flex it!
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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Jan 25, 2009 - 04:12am PT
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It's a trick question. How could any self-respecting climber from that era still possess a "mint" hex? Or any mint gear for that matter?
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Jan 25, 2009 - 09:07am PT
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Here are the only original hexs that I have left. I think that some of the slings are missing because I used them for newer hexs or left them as rappel points.
Here are the only 'newer' hexs and tubes that I still have.
When did drilling begin?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 25, 2009 - 11:22am PT
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I would have to run a catalog search but I recall that GPIW sent out the do it yourself templates around 1975-76. I don't think that they factory drilled them until about 1978 just before the dies were re-done for the third time to produce the thin wall hex that required no extra machining. I suppose some alpine climbers drilled the thin wall hexes out too in the interests of weight saving. LOL
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jan 25, 2009 - 11:37am PT
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I felt thin wall was junk.
Didn't "bite" as well .......
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Jaybro
Social climber
wuz real!
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Jan 25, 2009 - 11:40am PT
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I didn't think mint, meant virginal, in this context. Aren't a certain number of buffings de reguir?
I was thinking the templates came slightly later, Steve. I remember my friend talking with 'nard about how much space to leave between the holes, while standing at the base of little John, in the spring of '77. though I guess that doesn't mean the templates weren't already out, by then.
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hoipolloi
climber
A friends backyard with the neighbors wifi
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Jan 25, 2009 - 02:08pm PT
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So, I have a bunch of photos that I have been wanting to post up here for a while. This is a bunch of my dad's old gear. I think his partner ended up with a lot of it as well. Im going to try to get in touch with him and see what he has, maybe he has the #8 in question.
I don't think thats a number 8 there with the red cord, at least not the generation you are looking for. It doesn't appear to have any label on it at all..wierd..See the wierd ass SMC nut in the lower left..funky (at least to me)
I think these are 2nd generation Choundard biners (as I was told by a friend). I have 2 first generation that are even cooler, I keep my nuts on them, they are the best biner for nuts ever.
Leeper Nut tool. the thing weighs a ton...
Forest Mountaineering T-nuts and Salewa shunt type things.
old jumars. how old? 70's?
some leeper type hook. it has no brand stamped onto it.
Same one as above, Funky!
MOAC ?
generation?
There are a couple more sizes around.
Lots of old pins. most are real old. Some have never been placed. I think he got a lot of pins right when he started but quickly clean climbing became the way to go, especially at the level he was climbing.
Some of these are really rad, you can see how some have the wavy marks from being hammered and forged.
Some of the KBs(right?) like this dont have a brand stamped into them, some, like the ones below are Chounards. Then there is one funky one also with a small stamp on it, looks like "A 30"
But the definate prize jewel of the things I have from his climbing days is the B.A.T. Hammock. its in amazing condition, minus some pealing of the inner waterproof liner. It never got used, except to sleep in the Senior Tree his last year of high school.
Anyways, Sorry to hijack a little. I have been wanting to post this stuff for some time. This thread motivated me to do it.
Thanks. Let me know what you think of any of that stuff, Im real curious about it all.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
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Jan 25, 2009 - 02:41pm PT
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I've got a couple of 8s but they were drilled by me when the drilling templates came out, only one is the newer offset style. The other one was used as a pipe with a thimble bowl for many years (in the 80's).
Oh yeah, they are FAR from mint.
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Doug Robinson
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Jan 25, 2009 - 03:27pm PT
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Nice old rack Hoipolloi!
Those Chouinard 'biners are not second gen but several after that. There were quite a few. Starting in 57-58.
Here's the oldest one I have. Not sure what generation, but bigger and beefier than the original.
The Bugaboo-like pin I'm pretty sure is a CMI. I always thought that design outdid Chouinard's Bugaboo for pure esthetics.
Drilling Hexes: I remember drilling for personal racks starting in the tin shed with the first 'excentrics' in 1974. Recall that bongs had already gone from chromoly (1960) to aluminum alloy ('61) and then to stamped holes, so the idea of lightening holes was well established. Frost was there every day to cast his Stanford-trained engineer's eye on how much metal could be safely removed from Hexes, and how much needed to stay to keep them from folding up.
The thinwall Hexes came about after drilling got boring and expensive. True, you had to seat them more forcefully, but lightness more than made up for that. They were engineered so thin I don't recall anyone ever daring to drill them.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 25, 2009 - 07:21pm PT
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The 78 catalog tells the tale perfectly.
Phased out in 78 after a year or so. The problem is trying to make money. Thirty seven drilled holes in a #11 that is supposed to retail for $5.80! Nobody works that cheaply!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jan 25, 2009 - 07:31pm PT
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Mmmmmmmmm yum ...straight sided stoppers!
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Jan 25, 2009 - 08:34pm PT
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The Catalogue glosses over the design change of the first Hexs (1971), the ones that were symmetrical, and the soon to arrive non-symmetrical hexs called 'Hexcentrics.' Anyone remember when the 'Hexcentrics' were first produced?
When they came out, I remember thinking they were a huge improvement--50% increase in sizes for the same rack--and a little put out that I had to buy a new set. I still used the original hexs, although, as you can see by the few that I have left (in my earlier post), they were always the first to be left as rappel anchors.
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Doug Robinson
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Jan 25, 2009 - 08:40pm PT
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Timeline in the '75 catalog lists the asymetrics -- the Hexcentrics -- as introduced in '74.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 25, 2009 - 09:32pm PT
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The two styles of hexes provided a perfect overlap on sizes. I used to carry both until cams came around.
They were always Hexcentrics, the hexcentricity just became more pronounced.
DR- you have an original straightgate modified D carabiner. YC's old gear marks started small and gradually grew in size. Three more with increasing amounts of nose projection showed up before the flat sided design showed up around 74 as the last Chouinard modified D.
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Thorgon
Big Wall climber
Sedro Woolley, WA
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Jan 27, 2009 - 12:26am PT
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This is what I have for hexes, etc.
Anyone remember the hollow Chouinard carabiners?
There is one odd ball?
Thor
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Captain...or Skully
Social climber
North of the Owyhees
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Jan 27, 2009 - 12:37am PT
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More than one, Thor......They're all over, rampant even, around here.
Get my drift?
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Thorgon
Big Wall climber
Sedro Woolley, WA
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Jan 27, 2009 - 07:13pm PT
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Get your "drift", why do you
think I moved to Sedro!?
Regards,
Thor
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Fritz
Trad climber
Hagerman, ID
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Jan 27, 2009 - 08:10pm PT
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I enclose photos from Oct. 1972 of what looks like a
drilled #7 or maybe #8 hex. Since I respect the opinions of
those posting here, and I also referred to my 1972
Chouinard catalog: this seems close to impossible.
Yes I do agree with Steve’s timeline.
I would love for one of the regulars (or an irregular
for that matter) to tell us what brand chock this
photo is of----sure looks like a Chouinard hex.
The photo (I found the original slide, dated Oct 1972)
was taken in the Bugaboo Lodge parking lot. I enclose
the original photo and a close-up of the mystery chock
that I cropped and blew-up. I suppose it is possible
that we drilled a Chouinard Hex. However, I was the
only one there with access to a drill-press and I’m too
lazy to have ever drilled a #10 Hex that I still have from
that era.
Great first trip to the Bugs. We had the brand new
A-Frame hut all to ourselves. The weather sucked,
there was lots of fresh snow, and all we managed to
climb was Crescent Tower. After four days some
Canadians showed up and informed us that the dreaded
Grizzly of Bugaboo Lodge had broken into our locked
car-top carrier and spread the uneaten contents
around the parking lot. After they shared the bear’s
rather impressive history of local camp and car raids;
we got to walk out in a snowstorm/rainstorm the next afternoon. Of course we had fresh Grizzly tracks,
steaming bear feces, and finally impressive thumping
in the surrounding forest.
We escaped intact----except for the car-top carrier.
Fritz
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 27, 2009 - 09:50pm PT
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To stay on track, I'm after an unused and factory drilled #8 specifically. Love the rack shots, make no mistake about that!?!
A nice rack is a thing of booty!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 30, 2009 - 11:21am PT
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Nothing personal, Klaus, but nut buffing is right out! LOL Restoring Hexes is more than I have time for but thanks anyhow!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 31, 2009 - 05:17pm PT
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Off the shelf-bump!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 5, 2009 - 11:00am PT
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The line is busy, try your Hex again later!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 18, 2009 - 02:31pm PT
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Still searching for the mint #8 nugget!
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Barto
climber
Minneapolis, MN
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Feb 18, 2009 - 03:40pm PT
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I might have some early "true" hexes in the basement. Is it worth digging those out?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 18, 2009 - 03:49pm PT
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Please don't go digging unless it is the specific item that I am after. Unless, of course, you just like fondling the tinkertoys!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 8, 2009 - 12:12pm PT
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Still bumping-----searching!!!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 15, 2009 - 11:15am PT
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And another......bump.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 28, 2013 - 04:37pm PT
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Hooray!
The Golden Nugget hath arrived just in time!
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| Messages 1 - 48 of total 48 in this topic |
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