First padded sling? Rock lovers unite.

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Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Nov 24, 2009 - 10:39am PT
Let's see if you can spot the Pinbins?

Thanks, Steve, I thought I remembered such a photo! So they were used on the FA of Forest-Walker, and I think maybe on the Forrest Finish to the Yellow Wall as well?

Anyone know what Bill is up to these days? He was quite the inventor BITD.
steelmnkey

climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
Nov 24, 2009 - 11:12am PT
Last I heard, Forrest was in Salida, CO. I made a few attempts to get in touch with him to interview him about his early climbing in Arizona, but it never happened. Still like to talk to him someday.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Nov 26, 2009 - 10:24pm PT
How about the first commercial double wall gear sling? Mimi's classic J-Rat special from the mid eighties.


Great design and burly construction!


And all the modern conveniences, quick strips and chest harness loops for those BIG overhangs.
Brian in SLC

Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
Dec 21, 2009 - 01:17pm PT
Artist formerly known as jrat in his natural environment...(the Utah desert a couple months back):


The first ones I'm recalling (vaguely) were simpler than a biner -- just a single bent piece of steel, thinning on one side at the opening so you could snap pitons in or out.

But, not one of these?


Kind of a slick rig.

Cheers,

-Brian in SLC
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Apr 7, 2010 - 12:04am PT
My bandolier finally surfaced!

I think that this is a later generation than the ones shown earlier with the grommet in the strap. Bar tacks form the slots for the individual Pinbins. I added several more with the white piece of webbing.


Two of the original versions of the Pinbins made from a single piece of drawn wire before the spring-loaded gate came into use.

Best thing ever for holding tie-offs!
Fritz

Trad climber
Hagerman, ID
Apr 7, 2010 - 12:29am PT
Steve: Way cool piece of climbing history. Glad you found it.

When I first read the post: I had a similar thought when someone mentioned: padded Forest slings in Paisley. I thought "Christ---I still have one. Then I couldn't find it.

Over the winter, I dug it out and posted it in a Royal Robbins Birthday thread back in Feb. http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1089550&msg=1091782

I think I took it home from my outdoor shop in the late 70's, after no-one would buy it.


TomCochrane

Trad climber
Boulder Creek CA
Apr 7, 2010 - 12:42am PT
I still have padded hardware slings that I made in the early 60's

And then later discovered that repurposed Kelty pack straps work great
Mighty Hiker

climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Apr 7, 2010 - 12:43am PT
So Steve, how do you place those trapezoidal thingies, anyway? Are they active or passive? What sort of load are they good for if well-placed?
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Apr 7, 2010 - 01:03am PT
By your side, both and a load of misery if in a chimney.

For the photo, I stripped off the two layers of blue ensolite hand-stiched in place to take the bite out of that cotton strap. That and many wraps of cloth tape altered many a fine Forrest product for my end use! LOL
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Apr 18, 2010 - 12:20pm PT
Padded cell Bump!
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Apr 18, 2010 - 12:36pm PT
Yep, Steve's photos upthread show both the 2nd-generation (piston) and 1st-generation (simple spring loop) Pin Bins I mentioned earlier. I recall Bill as a regular visitor to Holubar Mountaineering, ca. 1970-71, where he would show off his latest inventions.

I wasn't persuaded by the Pin Bins, but adopted other Forrest innovations like his sewn aiders, leg loops, copperheads, foxheads, and Grade IV pack (still got it!) as fast as Bill brought them out.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
May 16, 2010 - 04:45pm PT
Forrest gear failing to perform was never an issue and I still have some aiders in use. I wonder if he ever got sued on product performance?
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
May 17, 2010 - 10:18am PT
Chiloe- Any chance that you have some late sixties/early seventies era Holubar catalogs showing their hardware offerings? Do you recall ever seeing ringless angles sold bearing the Holubar stamp and when those might have started showing up for sale?
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
May 17, 2010 - 10:31am PT
Steve, I had Holubar catalogs long ago but I think they've disappeared over the years. The only catalogs still in my collection are a few early-70s Chouinard.

Don't recall their climbing hardware but I practically lived in a Holubar NP-22 parka for several years. It lives on in many of my slides from that period. I had some of the pre-goldline Columbia white rope they sold, too. Part of that still survives as a dog leash.

One catalog I really wish I'd kept was the first-year North Face, from which I learned what the logo means and where that brand got its name. I do still have a first-gen North Face down sleeping bag, which has outlasted many synthetic bags over the years.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Jun 12, 2010 - 03:04pm PT
Here's a teaser for all you sewn gear freaks! Who came up with the first commercial all sewn hammer holster and when?!?

This might be a contender...but I can't exactly date it.

SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Jun 12, 2010 - 07:15pm PT

Oh, cap'n history, you look dreamy in those knickers!!!!!


(hee hee hee, Stevo. Just kiddin', of course. I had a pair
just like 'em)!
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Jun 22, 2010 - 01:54am PT
Soft goods bump!
steelmnkey

climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
Jun 22, 2010 - 09:27am PT
I have one of those JRat holsters around somewhere.
Would be circa late 80', early 90's timeframe.
Patrick Oliver

Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
Jun 22, 2010 - 01:10pm PT
I always hated those kinds of slings, because I couldn't
slide them around. The pad would get stuck in the carabiners,
or they would slide around on their own. More often than not
the small part of the sling would end up on my shoulder and the
pad somewhere in the way, below. Plus it seemed like
too much of a luxury... as would prove to be the way of the
world in subsequent years. Back when, we had some strange notion
that a certain pain was right and good, i.e. the Kamps-esque,
single loop of rope to tie in with, painful if you fell... but
it kept us from falling!
TrundleBum

Trad climber
Las Vegas
Jun 22, 2010 - 03:05pm PT
I have one of those things as well
(even use it once in a while if I have to rack a cpl of pins)

What is it called and who made it, I'd like to know?


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