Bit of a collector’s dream this little fella since early Pierre Allain karabiners are hard to come by. Allain was a French Alpinista (1904-2000) who, amongst other things, invented the first rubber soled boots for rock climbing which became collectively known as P.A’s – his initials. A guy called Otto Herzog had invented the first metal karabiner back in 1910 and it seems Allain created the first aluminium version in 1939. The one we have here in the collection is a pretty early version- circa 1950 as it doesn’t have a little pin where the karabiner snaps together – later versions did, which made them much stronger when / if loaded. The SGDG stamped on the side stands for ‘sans garantie du gouvernement’ which is a disclaimer required by French patent laws, meaning that if you break your neck don’t blame us! Brevette means patent.