Giusto Gervasutti, Walter Bonatti, Emilio Comici and Riccardo Cassin – just a few of an array of Italian Alpinistes who danced through the high mountains of the Alps in the middle of the 20th Century – and like many of the world’s famous mountaineers, Cassin went on to produce his own brand of mountaineering equipment, in this case a full body harness. Continental climbers often preferred a full body harness i.e. waist, leg and shoulder straps whereas British climbers usually stuck with waist and leg loops which has meant that the Brits were more likely to turn upside down if they fell in a crevasse! Cassin first started producing gear in his home town of Lecco in 1947 and we think this harness is a fairly early one, probably from the 1960’s. It was kindly donated by Ken Rawlinson one time director of Phoenix Mountaineering here in the UK.