Objects Database

H.B (Hugh Banner)Micromate

Accession Number

1683.2022.1

Object Name

H.B (Hugh Banner)Micromate

Created

02/09/2022

Creator

Hermione Cooper

Accession Date

02/09/2022

Brief Description

Micromate camming device

Materials

metal, plastic

Dimensions

17(L) x 3.8(W) cms

Number Of Objects

1

Inscription Description

"MICROMATE 0"

Colour

silver, gold, blue, orange

Object Production Place

England

Provenance

Russian mountaineer, Vitaly Abalokov, is credited with inventing a spring loaded camming device, though there are other contenders.
It was American climber, Ray Jardine, however, who set the climbing world alight with his ‘Friend’ in 1978, setting a very high bar for others to jump over.
A vast array of variations on the theme have appeared over the ensuing decades, one of which was the TCU (Three Cam Unit)
The first ones seem to have been created by an American, Steve Byrne, around 1985 and sold via his company, Wired Bliss.
We know for sure that British climber, inventor, creator, Hugh Banner, took out a patent on a similar device in August 1987 and called it Micromate; a nice little example of which we have here in the collection. Hugh is no longer with us and his Micromates are history.
There are other versions available as we write in 2022 and no doubt the TCU will remain popular for decades to come.
Rather confusingly, it seems that Clog marketed the Micromates per the advert opposite. They were owned by Wild Country back then, so who actually made them, we are not quite sure.

Acquisition Date

02/09/2022

Condition Check Date

02/09/2022

Rules

Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007

Modified

02/09/2022

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