Eustace Thomas created what we think was the first purpose built mountain rescue stretcher in the UK, back in the 1930’s and this was followed by the less well known, and not terribly well named ‘Duff’ stretcher in the 1950’s. Hamish MacInnes combined many of the better features from the Thomas and the Duff in the early 1960’s to produce the MacInnes MK1. This stretcher became the workhorse for most Scottish mountain rescue teams for decades to come with the MKVI version still almost universal in 2012. At some point along the way (circa 1980) Hamish produced this lightweight version of his stretcher, though as it was a one piece affair the rescuer ended up carrying more weight than before as other versions came in two halves. It was also found to be rather small for the average casualty, so whilst still a good, practical stretcher it did not become popular and several were left lying at the back of mountain rescue stores. We recovered this one from Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team’s store in the 1990’s.