We’ve a lot of pitons listed individually in the collection so thought we’d keep this little bunch together on the ring which is how they came, kindly donated by our good friend and retired mountain guide, John Cheesmond. As we write -in 2017 – pitons are pretty much a thing of the past though some winter climbers tend to carry the odd one to bang into an icy crack. The oldest one here is one of the ring pitons, probably from the 1930’s. There are also some homemades and a variety of ‘continentals’. Very few pitons were produced commercially in the UK until Clog started making them in North Wales in the 1970’s. Shown in the picture opposite:- 1. Cassin ring pitons – rope can be threaded through this ring for abseiling. 2. Cassin blades – nicknamed Ace of Hearts. 3. Charlet Moser offset. 4. Stubai blades. 5. Cassin ‘Peg’ Inside the ring.