Most pitons have a makers stamp; Stubai, Cassin Clog etc. The absence of one usually indicates that they are homemade, though possibly prototypes or one that escaped the stamping machine.

We think the flatter of these two is homemade, most likely in an industrial workshop as many climbers were engineers too. The other one is very similar to an early Stubai, so possibly a stamp escapee or a homemade version. The flat one shows the patena of age, but doesn’t look like it’s been used, the other one has been battered around a bit. We reckon they both date from the 1960s and we found them lurking in the piton graveyard.