Founder of The Scottish Mountain Heritage Collection, Mick Tighe, got a bit of a trade going in 2013 with a guy called Art McCarthy over in California, the idea being that they swapped a few items of excess gear. Mick sent a box of stuff over in the Autumn of 2013 and Art reciprocated in the Spring of 2014 – these beamchoks were part of the consignment. Though they have moved to Virginia, CMI (Colorado Mountain Industries) are still in business in 2014 so Mick sent an e-mail to see if they had any info on the choks; this is the reply Hi Mick, Yes, what you have pictured is an old CMI beamchok. They were made by CMI during the early 70’s when the company was headquartered in Cincinnati and was owned by Ethan Becker. They didn’t sell very well and were discontinued by me when I purchased the company in 1978. Regards, Ron Kirk Most helpful- thanks Ron. Nice to have a wee bit of American climbing history in amongst all our Scottish stuff.