One of the first creations that Ed made was the Leeper bolt hanger in 1962. The first Leeper bolt hangers had a offset cut on the top, and had a square bottom. The bolt hanger carabiner holes were small and the hangers were thin. In 1964 Ed redesigned the bolt hanger but yet it still was thin and had a small carabiner hole. Ed was trying to keep the hangers as light as possible and the small carabiner holes were perfect for the oval carabiners of that time. But over the next few years Ed could not keep up with the demand for his bolt hangers as he was witnessing the increase of climbers putting up routes everywhere. So in 1968 Ed made his bolt hangers out of thicker metal and increased the size of the carabiner holes. But even then Ed could not keep up with the demand for his bolt hangers. At first Ed saw climbing as people that were going to the mountains and were after first ascents. But then climbing changed to recreational where the routes were being repeated by many other climbers. And climbing just kept growing from there...... Ed made 95,000 bolt hangers between 1962 and 1984.


​Summit magazine June 1972 Ed Leeper advertises that he is no longer making bolt hangers. Even though he came to this decision he still at times would manufacture bolt hangers for friends but not for the overall public. Ed was mentioning his concerns of Leeper bolt hangers in all of his catalogs even though he stopped making them completely in 1984.
Leeper catalog June 1980
Leeper catalog 1982
Leeper catalog 1990 (?)



The upper Leeper hanger is the 1962 second version of the Leeper hanger. The top edge is angled directly off of the 90 degree metal bend. the hanger still has a square bottom.

The 1962 first version of the Leeper hanger is the hanger with the Phillips screw on it. The top of the hanger has a extra cut and the bottom of the hanger is square. 
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Leeper bolting info shown on ebay
Leeper June 1980 catalog



​Ed helped me find a bunch of different Diamond brand drill bits and sent me notes on the items he was sending to me.
1964 Sports Chalet catalog showing the first design style of the Leeper bolt hanger