I obtained these pitons from a collector in France that was selling off his collectables. The pitons were made in the 1880's. I feel that the pitons were not made for climbing specifically, but more for the logging industry. I say this because the piton blades are in great condition where the piton ends are heavily pounded. The blades were being driven into wood logs or trees to be chained together and to be used as rafts for the workers to stand on as they moved timber down the rivers to the saw mills. The pitons were also used to tighten the tree trunk bundles on trucks for transport to the saw mills. I am sure some of these loggers pitons were used in some early mountain climbing ascents, but overall they were created for the logging industry.
John Middendorf adds: These pitons are also known as "Log Dogs."
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Log Dogs in the Neptune Mountaineering Museum |
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