In the early days of rock climbing, climbers would carry pebbles or small stones to jam into cracks which they could then thread a rope around to make an anchor. Many decades later ‘chockstone’ has become the generic term for all kinds of things which climbers stuff into cracks even though they are no longer made from stone!

Engineers nuts – as in nuts and bolts – followed on from chockstones and when the first mass produced chockstones, or chocks, first appeared they took the shape of an engineer’s nut – hexagonal.

The UK based companies, Troll and Clog, were first on the scene way back in the 1960s and we’re delighted to have four, mint condition, Troll Hexagons here in the collection which date from that era – very rare indeed. Interestingly, Troll were pioneers in nylon tape technology and much of their gear came with Troll tape already sewn in place, whereas Clog left you to fix your own tape or rope. These particular hexagonals were salvaged from the Joint Services Mountain Training Centre in Scotland when it closed in 1900+ something.