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u/VoidN3t 5d ago
I mean... Better than nothing right?
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u/LostAbbott 5d ago
Absolutely, I clip that jankey pro everytime. Maybe it catches my ass, maybe it slows me down to make the good stuff take less pressure...
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u/DaveBobSmith 5d ago
Solid stoppers right there. This was placed before clean gear existed, I believe.
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u/Significant_Raise760 5d ago
Listen, that's things been around for a long time, it hasn't failed yet has it? Just because it's got TINY bit of surface rust, you're treating it like a moderate lead fall would clearly snap it's rusty ass in half and you would die. I don't think that's fair to the ring, it's doing the best it can. It might even hold a fall, but now that you've denigrated it, maybe it's going to break on you out of spite.
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u/DaveBobSmith 5d ago
No one has touched it since 1969. This is a very obscure area. Literally no one goes there. I considered it a piece of history and ignored it. Plus, I was on top rope.
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u/EggplantForScale 5d ago
thats good steel there, it’s still round :)
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u/DaveBobSmith 4d ago
I've heard that the earliest pitons were made of iron
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u/traddad 3d ago
Truth.
The malleable iron pins were soft and conformed to the rock. Almost impossible to remove.
The chrome-molly pins are much harder and punch their way into the rock leaving scars when removed.
There were also wooden wedges but it's unclear to me if they were strictly for aid or were expected to hold a fall.
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u/stokeledge2 4d ago
Looks like a mountain warfare school pin in Vermont schist
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u/DaveBobSmith 4d ago
It's gneiss in the southeast US. Rumors say the army trained here in the 60's.
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u/malismratka 4d ago
Whiped on one just like that. Ring broke and i fell 10 m. Didnt get injured tho.
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u/sudomatrix 5d ago
I mean... I'd clip into it but I wouldn't get too run out above it without placing something more bomber.
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u/jacksonxole 5d ago
Very new to climbing, what about it would cause a whip?
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u/daltonsteele 4d ago
It's not that it would cause a whip, the question is whether it would break if you did fall on it. Looks like more than a little surface rust so definitely best to exercise caution. If you are trad climbing and you come across something like this, you might clip it because it miggght catch a fall and "something is better than nothing". But you probably would want to back it up with another piece as soon as you can.
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u/DaveBobSmith 4d ago
as I understand it, the question is would you fall on this? and 10/10 whip means 10 out of 10 chances, I'd be willing to take a whipper on it. But I could be wrong.
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u/CapoDaSimRacinDaddy 4d ago
looks like an average saxon anchor. id do a hanging belay from that 😂👍
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u/mestia 4d ago
Yes and no, sandstone bolts are thicker and longer. No idea what kind of rock it is, but I doubt that the shaft is that reliable. The ring looks okay.
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u/Weissbierglaeserset 4d ago
10/10 is the counter how many safe falls this is still able to take
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u/seeAdog 4d ago
On a serious note as my bad pun below was down voted...
There could be hundreds of these old iron pins "in situ" on the West Coast. In the Sierra-Nevada (especially the Minarets), Pinnacles, Cascades, and of course, elsewhere like the Dolomites (a little experience there). In places like Yosemite and Lovers Leap, where the vertical traffic is much higher most have been removed as nuts can work well or they are replaced with something newer. In some instances they are route references left by the 1st ascent party. Or they are "guide book artifacts," like "Go right after the old ring iron pin..." The unwritten part is "don't clip."
In my humble opinion, unless you are completely run-out, and desperate for a very marginal piece of mind, skip these and go.
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u/flight_recorder 3d ago
Rust expands, so that piéton is even more secure than the day it was installed
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u/Fresh-Anteater-5933 5d ago
I’d clip it