Gary_Yngve Posted July 4, 2004 Posted July 4, 2004 the oval biner is noseless only writing on it says: Recreational Equipment Inc ten years old? more? On a slightly unrelated note, does anyone remember any specific biners that do or do not work in the homemade hangers on EBD of SEWS (i.e. neutrinos)? Quote
glacier Posted July 4, 2004 Posted July 4, 2004 I'd agree - 20 or so, if its similar to some old noseless Kongs I had. Quote
Gary_Yngve Posted July 4, 2004 Author Posted July 4, 2004 We also found a noseless Liberty biner. I haven't heard of Liberty, so I guess they're either defunct or bought out? Too bad there's no way of knowing how long the biners had lying there when we found them. Would have been fun to know how long it had been since people have climbed there. Quote
chirp Posted July 4, 2004 Posted July 4, 2004 My first "rack" had some Orange colored Liberty biners ( look at the back cover picture in the book Yosemite Climber of Dave Diegleman on Separate Reality...his chalkbag biner is an old Libery Orange flat nose.) In 1996 I found an old oval biner on an obscure rappel in the Kolob (at the west end of Beatty point) with the name TROUT etched into the side of it. I am guessing it was formerly owned by the desert climber/explorer Ken Trout. Fun stuff regardless Quote
MisterMo Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 Could easily be 35+. Mine identical to that were purchased late sixties. Don't remember when they came out with the nose on the gate. Quote
lancegranite Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 Anybody know about" Bedyan, California" on a old noseless? Quote
Szyjakowski Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 what en tarnation are you fukin talking about man? Quote
Off_White Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 I'm guessing he means there are no funky old hangers on it that might require one of the above discussed "noseless" biners. But I dunno, you speak "bp" better than I do. Quote
catbirdseat Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 Forgive a naive question, but what is the function of the nose on the biner? I presume it is to reduce the chance that the gate will be opened by pressing against the rock? Quote
whirlwind Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 adds strength to the beiner while under a load... i think??? Quote
ChocChick Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 We also found a noseless Liberty biner. I haven't heard of Liberty, so I guess they're either defunct or bought out? Too bad there's no way of knowing how long the biners had lying there when we found them. Would have been fun to know how long it had been since people have climbed there. Now I'm interested! Where were you climbing when you found these old biners? Where they on the ground? On route somewhere? Do tell! Quote
cj001f Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 Anybody know about" Bedyan, California" on a old noseless? Raffi Dedayn - 1st Ascent of Shiprock, among others. 1st American Maker of Oval Biners? My most interesting old biner is steel D with the old toothed gate. Too rusted to find out anymore Quote
ania Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 We were doing our own variation on the west ridge of Mt Stuart. We tended to stay higher (closer to crest) and/or slightly on the north side of the ridge than the more standard sandy ledges. The biners were not all that far up our route. All were clipped to slings (we got 2 REI And 1 Liberty). I attached a photo. Quote
Terminal_Gravity Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 Nice photo. You're lucky; all the liberty biners I have are ovals...the D is choice. The noseless REI is circa early to mid 70's and I think was made by SMC for the evil empire. Those biners were replacing the older style that had a simi-key shaped kind of like an arrowhead. There was a period after the noseless that there was a little notch put into the slot to grab the gate pin and help keep deformation of the catch on the body so that the biner wouldn't open on a heavy load. There was a brief period at Taquitz/suicide where it was popular to file that notch yourself. Go figure, SMC snacked up the idea. The nose was put in to counter act the inherent weak point. The fact that they are far less likely to open against the rock was an un-intended benifit. This as I foggily remember it Quote
Dru Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 used to see a guy with his nuts racked on a noseless oval and he kept opening the wrong end and dropping nuts on lead Quote
Terminal_Gravity Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 Also, I think that Liberty made one of the first light weight small narrowing D's ... the same shape as most of the small biners today. At the time they were amazingly light for there strength. I bought a dozen around 1978 and still use them on alpine routes. Quote
lancegranite Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 The nose of the carabiner is just there to show you what end of the gate opens Quote
Terminal_Gravity Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 The nose of the carabiner is just there to show you what end of the gate opens Bull Quote
Terminal_Gravity Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 Really!? I'm surprised...A long time ago I saw an old over stressed biner that had the gate catch tongue bent down. I don't know if it had failed and opened. Quote
cracked Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 The nose of the carabiner is just there to show you what end of the gate opens Bullshit. The nose makes the biner stronger. Duh. Quote
Off_White Posted July 7, 2004 Posted July 7, 2004 The Liberty biners look the same as the old Eiger ovals, and the ultralight ones TG refers to remind me of the Bonatti biners we favored for alpine games. Both can still be found somewhere in my piles of gear. I've probably got some other sketchy biners floating around, like an old hollow Robbins biner and some first generation Chouinard units. Quote
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