The absence of a maker’s name stamped on a piton usually indicates that it is home or engineering workshop made. We can’t see any markings on the couple we have here in the collection, so assume someone has made them in the shed, or maybe in an engeineering workshop. The silver one certainly has the rough and ready homemade look about it. The other one is beautifully engineered by someone who knew what they were doing. We suspect that both date from the 1960s, a time when there were few climbing shops around where you could buy gear and folk often made their own.

Not really sure where these guys (we think they are guys not gals) came from as we found them lurking in the piton graveyard (see above). Many thanks to the progenitors for some fine engineering.