'Pass the Pitons' Pete's Aid Trinkets

Top left:

Three used heads from my ascent of Jolly Roger.

Aren't those the sickest damn things you've ever seen? You'd have to be crazy to climb on stuff like that! Especially twenty-five consecutive moves on stuff like that.

And that's like a "toonie" for scale, eh?


Top right:

My valid Canadian passport showing the photo of me with Wee-Wee the Big Wall Crab on my left shoulder, and a Merrican dime for scale.


Middle right:

My little pecker! The swaged cable is a custom job.


Bottom right:

Mangled and beaten-up rusty old #3 knifeblade probably bootied off of some wall somewhere, or maybe I actually bought the thing - who knows?


Bottom:

On the right is an A5 Birdbeak an amazing invention by Jim Bridwell, a piton that works with a hooking and camming action. The rad thing about beaks is that you hammer 'em in, but you can often pull them out with your fingers by just wiggling them a bit!

Just to the left of the beak is a Black Diamond Grappling Hook that I straightened out on a daisy chain fall during my solo ascent of Native Son. If you want to see what the thing is supposed to look like before you fall on it, please click here to see one with the proper curvature.

Here is a not-so-great photo of how to sling a Grappling hook. The sling is about twice as long as it should be - you lose too much height that way. Also, you'd better crank down on that knot, eh?!


Bottom right:

Kong-Bonatti Adjustable Fifi Hook rigged for left-handed operation. Even though the hook itself has "7 mm" stamped on it, you should use the slipperiest 6mm cord that you can find.

I used to need the cord to be arm's length, but since the invention of adjustable daisies you can now get away with the cord being about two feet long. Be sure to allow for the knot on your harness, and the keeper knot which is shown.

You'll also want to tie a hunk of 3 mm cord through the top to make it easier to remove. You can see that I have tied a couple knots in the 3 mm cord to prevent it from slipping over the hook. That's a little trade secret, eh?

Take a good look at that hook. You can see that it is very well used and hence the reason for its retired status. It is so chewed from hanging over wires, there is a big gouge out of thing that was making it too difficult to pull out!