Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Studly
Trad climber
WA
|
|
|
Aug 26, 2009 - 03:46am PT
|
I have personally never seen a Eiger hex. Cool....
|
|
Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
|
|
|
Aug 26, 2009 - 04:08am PT
|
> The Robbins biners, from the mid/late 1970s, were made from hollow stock, hence the lightness.
There are two kinds of Robbins biners:
1. Robbins/Salewa which is hollow, as described above
My college climbing partner has a bunch of these.
From around 1977.
2. Robbins oval, non hollow, also made by Salewa
Says "R. ROBBINS 3000 lbs." / "SALEWA - W GERMANY"
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Aug 26, 2009 - 09:03am PT
|
There are two kinds of Robbins biners:
I think both Robbins designs were the first attempts at making lighter-weight
carabiners, a concept that was ahead of its time (though these two specific
designs both had weakness).
|
|
Scared Silly
Trad climber
UT
|
|
|
Aug 26, 2009 - 10:14am PT
|
Here are three biners showing a bit of history:
Left to right, Bedayn with a brake (circa 1950s), Chouinard Alcoa (circa 1960s), Chouinard Featherweight (circa 1980s)
The Featherweight came out about the same time as the Robins. Very ligthweight, enough so that many did not trust them.
RJ - The eiger hexes as I remember were solid - can not remember if they were symmetric or asymmetric. I used to have a couple but sold them along the way.
|
|
hooblie
climber
|
|
|
Aug 26, 2009 - 11:11am PT
|
those hollow robbin's were the mainstay of my rack. rolled out of modesto with three dozen of them,
piloting a vw van one handed and giddily flopping one of those ovals like a vegas card shark.
don't know which makes me queezier, the thinwall at the bow of that van, or the image of a leeper hanger slicing thru that biner.
paradoxically, i lugged some case hardened 11.5mm cord around. (stratos?) never doubted that my whillans trumped a swami.
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Aug 26, 2009 - 11:27am PT
|
don't know which makes me queezier, the thinwall at the bow of that van,
or the image of a leeper hanger slicing thru that biner
Useta seem so easy to shrug & not see the risks. Is it just that we got older,
or did the world change too?
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Aug 26, 2009 - 12:03pm PT
|
Mighty Hiker:
There is a Bill Thompson who lives in Vancouver, but who came here from the US in the late 1960s or early 1970s. He would now be at least 60, maybe more. I'm not sure what he does for a living, but it's something to do with UBC, and he is a climber. If you send me a PM with a bit of information, I can pass it on to him.
There was an earlier discussion about several climbers with this name, but
looking back on that I'm not sure who was who.
|
|
mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
|
|
|
Aug 26, 2009 - 01:20pm PT
|
Roc said "The eiger hexes were equalateral weren't they? And solid? No lightening holes?"
YEp that's the one, the stamp "Eiger" is offset at a slight angle. It is a six sided hex.
Damn, alot of stuff to go through but I will get a photo.
What year did they begin manufacturing the hexes?
|
|
BoKu
Trad climber
Douglas Flat, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 27, 2009 - 12:29pm PT
|
So, what is the relationship between Bedayn and Eiger? Did Bedayn make carabiners under his own name, and then adopt the name Eiger? Or what?
As for my thrift-store Eiger biner, unless anybody wants it for their collection (I'll trade it for any modern wiregate), I'll probably submit it to the Break-o-tron and see where and how it breaks.
Thanks, Bob K.
|
|
Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
|
|
|
Aug 30, 2009 - 04:49pm PT
|
here's a 'biner from my historical stash...
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Aug 30, 2009 - 06:11pm PT
|
If memory serves -- and that's a big IF, more knowledgeable folks should jump in here
it was the Chouinard/Salewa biners like Ed's pictured above that were once subject to a
recall.
The recalled ones were all tested, and if they passed (I heard that almost 20% did not!)
they were returned to the owners with a stamp. One of mine has a clear "tested" stamp.
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Aug 30, 2009 - 06:19pm PT
|
Others, however (I think in the first round of testing), were stamped with a much less
distinct "T" before the 2200kp label. You can see the "T" right before the "2" on this one.
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Aug 30, 2009 - 06:33pm PT
|
On other Chouinard/Salewa biners in my closet, the "T" for tested has been obscured
by normal-use scratches, so that I can't even be sure it's there.
|
|
Scared Silly
Trad climber
UT
|
|
|
Aug 30, 2009 - 11:42pm PT
|
Interesting, I did not know about the Salewa being tested. Most of the Chouinard gear started being tested in the early 80s. I have a bunch stoppers and bashes marked tested via a sticker that is on the swag and under the shrink wrap.
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
|
Aug 31, 2009 - 10:57am PT
|
Maybe Don Lauria or someone else here who worked with Chouinard in the late 60s
(early 70s?) can fill in the true story about those recalled biners.
|
|
mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
|
|
|
Oct 27, 2009 - 10:09pm PT
|
Here is the Eiger Prototype hex #5, I do not know the year but the hex is in perfect unused condition. The friend that gave it to me got it in 73-76 in C4.
|
|
Blinky
Trad climber
Hillsborough, NC
|
|
|
Oct 27, 2009 - 10:24pm PT
|
I remember Eigers and Libertys being pretty sub-standard compared to Chouinard. Haven't seen'em in a long time. I have an old Bonatti I keep my nut tool on.
|
|
Fritz
Trad climber
Hagerman, ID
|
|
|
Oct 27, 2009 - 10:51pm PT
|
Chiloe: Yes on your input on tested Chouinard binners!!
In 1973 Bruce Franks, (currently the boss at Asolo/Lowe USA) sold me a rack of Chouinard D's that were stamped tested. He was leaving Moscow Idaho to become the first ever Camp 7 rep and was "lighting his load."
He explained that there had been a recall and test. He sent his batch in and got them back stamped tested: on the gates.
I was not aware of the smaller T test batch.
I suppose this makes any of the original untested Chouinard/Salewa D's from that period: "dangerous and collectable."
Damn! I don't have any!
|
|
Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
|
Oct 28, 2009 - 12:31pm PT
|
Does anyone know who founded Eiger equipment and where the company had a physical location? Those of you in the biz back then, (like Lauria or Fritz) what year did Eiger enter the marketplace? I made my first Eiger purchases in 1970. As the Eiger offerings were fairly limited, I wonder if the gear itself was made in the USA as stamped or elsewhere?
Two RR biners of the three that carried his name. The most recent is a solid body offering (upper biner). The main problem with hollow carabiners from a liability standpoint is bending and buckling under load when clipped into awkward fixed pitons. A tube deforms over an edge far more easily than solid rod stock. Beyond that, the production cost in such a fussy design likely made the price point too high.
|
|
Fritz
Trad climber
Hagerman, ID
|
|
|
Oct 28, 2009 - 04:04pm PT
|
Steve: I can't help you with Eiger history. I got into climbing 1n 1969 and climbing retail in 1973. I used to own one anodized Eiger that I kept with my boating gear.
I do recall that the first Chouinard rep in NW, Dale Day, had previously worked for Eiger and he was a S. Cal. boy. Dale was in Portland, last I knew: reping footwear to shoe stores.
I do have another Robbins binner to add to your photos. This was the solid one stamped 3000 lbs. that came out late 70's. I also have the identical product: stamped Salewa W. Germany on one side and 3000 lbs on the other. Which leads me to believe that Robbins was "private labeling" existing Salewa items. Both weigh 53 grams, while the hollow robbins is 44 grams.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!