Salewa began life in Munich way back in 1935 when a man called Josef Liebhart, registered a corporation for Saddler & Leather Wares (Sattler, Leder, Waren in German) using the first two letters of each word to get the name of his company – SA+LE+WA. Unsurprisingly perhaps, leather products such as footballs, saddle bags and leather rucksacks were the company’s staple products in the early days and we assume they made products for the German war machine during World War II, though as is often the case, this period doesn’t appear in the company history. The Salewa adjustable crampons appeared in the 1960’s and were a huge success ( you’ll find a pair elsewhere in the collection) – the company’s biggest ever. We reckon these karabiners were produced about the same time or maybe a little later – circa 1970 – a time when metal karabiners were fast becoming consigned to history and aluminium alloy ruled the roost, with a flood of them hitting the market from various manufacturers. These ones were part of Mick Tighe’s rack of gear back in the early days and whilst probably still serviceable, they have been replaced by more modern versions.