Felix Genecand was a Swiss jeweller and passionate climber based in Geneva. He designed a new boot, and nailing system in 1912 having found a way to harden the nails and join them – by brazing – to a softer malleable section which could easily be attached to the boot. The nails were then aligned around the edge of the boot allowing for much better grip than previously available. Genecand was known to his friends by the nickname of ‘Tricouni’ from his association with a climb of the same name on the Saleve climbing area near Geneva, so the name of his newly invented nails became Tricouni. Guisepe Tricouni was an Italian mountain climber -born in Treviso 1908 – who ended up in Canada where there is a mountain named after him in British Columbia. Not sure of the link between Felix Genecand, the Saleve and Genecand’s nickname – if indeed there is one. The Tricounis, and other nails we have here in the collection, have been collected by Mick Tighe, from various sources, over the years.