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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 19, 2017 - 09:45pm PT
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Found a rock hammer out of an estate, where the guy was a climber 1930 thru the 60's. Any idea of the age on it?
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Apr 19, 2017 - 09:51pm PT
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looks well used. probably some good stories in there, if only it could talk.
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 19, 2017 - 09:55pm PT
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Also found stacks of climbing magazines from 1930 thru the 70's, as well as a Bedayn carabiner. Also, early crampons, crampon points that individually attach to your boot.
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Apr 20, 2017 - 08:00am PT
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Kinda looks like the longer ax/hammer available in the mid/early 70's.
I'd guess mid/late 60's to early 70's?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Apr 20, 2017 - 12:49pm PT
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Any idea what the guy's name is?
What sort of magazines are you finding that are that old? Summit started in the late 1950s and there wasn't much out before then.
I would go a bit earlier than Brian on the hammer because of the ice axe style head attachment and flared handle. Early 1960s IMO.
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Nick Danger
Ice climber
Arvada, CO
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Apr 20, 2017 - 02:03pm PT
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Studly,
I don't know I if this will help much, but from the looks of the point this rock hammer also looks like ones used by geologists many years ago before Estwing sort of took over that market. Also, there has been a small but vital overlap between the climbing community and the geology community going back to the early decades of the 20th century. Now I don't know that this hammer's former owner used it for climbing, rock hounding, geological field work, or all of the above, but such things did happen back in the day. Even early alpine hammers from the early '60's had serrated teeth on the end of the pick and this hammer has none of those. The barely curved pick on this hammer also resembles the curve on ice axes going back to the 1930's, but even those had some sort of serrated teeth. My scientific wild-aZZed guess is 1950's vintage, and it was used for numerous things.
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Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
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Apr 20, 2017 - 03:32pm PT
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Another clue might be the Stubai logo (of a mountain) that is also used on their climbing tools.
Someone has to have a catalog with a pic of that tool!? I googled a bit but couldn't come up with one.
The hammer side looks exactly like their ice hammers from the 70's.
Fun sleuthing!
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madbolter1
Big Wall climber
Denver, CO
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Apr 20, 2017 - 03:48pm PT
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Wow. Just look at the fit and finish, for example, where the metal neck seamlessly merges into the handle. Craftsmanship, indeed.
Impressive find!
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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Apr 20, 2017 - 08:33pm PT
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Sweet ice hammer!
My guess is late 1960s early 1970s.
Does the hammer cover have any markings on it?
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two-shoes
Trad climber
Auberry, CA
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Apr 20, 2017 - 08:56pm PT
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Stubai makes all kinds of tools. I think this looks like a geological pick/ hammer. Look at the multitude of tools they make: http://www.stubai.com/index.php/en/
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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Apr 20, 2017 - 09:14pm PT
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Item #F Stubai Ice Hammer has a more advanced head design but the handle looks the same. Bryan G Stokes 1971 catalog. I know there are Swiss ice hammers that go into the 1960s with this style head and handle, but thats Swiss and Stubai is Austrian
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 20, 2017 - 09:27pm PT
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Thanks for all the great insights guys! Steve, I don't know the guys name but will find it out. He wrote articles in some of the climbing magazines back in the 1960's though, and they said he climbed with Fred Beckey and some of the other Seattle regulars from that time. There is a stack of "The Mountaineers" climbing annual magazine starting in 1930 running to the 1960's. Then there is also a stack of Off Belay magazines.
No Marty, the leather hammer cover does not appear to have any markings that I can see.
Also out of the estate is a vintage military issue winter down bag that is marked US, but it is very light in color, almost a white color. Probably from the 1950's I would think or 60's. It appears to have never been used, and its got twice as much down as the standard issue US Army green sleeping bags. I might start using the darn thing its so nice!
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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Apr 20, 2017 - 10:10pm PT
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Studly - I at least identified the name of the hammer, "Ice Hammer" which has the same handle. For the hammer head it could go back to the early 1960s or earlier. Maybe Marlow has some information on the piece. I will search through some more catalogs to see if I can find a earlier listing. Thanks for posting and sharing your museum artifact! If you are parting with any of the magazines in the future, I may be interested in a few of them to fill holes in the Karabin Museum.
Always an Adventure!
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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Apr 21, 2017 - 03:13pm PT
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Dingus Milktoast - Thanks for the props! Rock climbing is such a special treasure for everybody. It shows in the great craftsmanship that so many gear creators have put into their creations. To me all of this gear is treasured art pieces that all have some amazing story to tell.
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 21, 2017 - 07:31pm PT
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On closer examination, the leather sheath of the rock hammer has embossed in it Estwing #3.
Here are photos of some of the climbing magazines if anyone is interested in them. The climbers name was Karl Erick Karlsson, and seemed he lived life to its fullest. He was also in WWII in Europe, and quite a photographer.
16 each- The Mountaineer 1931 thru 1951
18 each- Off Belay 1972 thru 1974
1950 American Alpine Journal
1960 Ascent
plus some vintage equipment catalogs
the above photo is the cover of a journal, but nothing left in the journal. Seems it probably covered his climbing exploits.
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IntheFog
climber
Mostly the next place
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Apr 21, 2017 - 09:42pm PT
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Karlsson sure did live a full life. Among other things, he was a member of the "What is South of Cascade Pass Anyway?" Expedition in 1953. They were the second group to do the Ptarmigan Traverse. Karlsson wrote it up for The Mountaineer. Tom Miller's pictures from that trip ended up in his book, "The North Cascades," which helped build support for the NCNP.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Apr 21, 2017 - 10:21pm PT
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Looks like a geologist's pick/hammer to me, but it may be a climbing tool. The "Estwing" emboss is telling, but the holster might have been borrowed from the geology closet. If that is the original sling (nylon shroud line) I might guess 1950s. Who knows?
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Apr 22, 2017 - 10:49am PT
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Studlt- I would be intersted in taking the whole lot if you are willing to part with them. Any journals, slides or other photos that the family is willing to pass along to a proper historical nonprofit or are you even dealing with the family directly. My email is scgrossman@msn.com.
Cheers
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Apr 22, 2017 - 10:53am PT
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That is most definitely NOT a geologist's hammer.
A geologist's hammer has a unique pick. It is pretty flat. Maybe a slight curve, but it tapers to a fairly sharp broad edge.
You pick up a rock with bedding planes, give it a tap with the sharp edge of the pick, and it will open up like a book. You find a lot of good fossils like that. Exposed fossils are often already damaged by weathering to some degree or other. Opening up a rock and splitting open a bedding plane shows you fresh fossils that are in much better shape.
They do not have a fat pick like the one pictured.
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