Peck Pitons
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- Three sizes of Peck shallow angle pitons
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- Each pin is stamped with the Peck company name
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- The pitons are stamped on the spine above the eye.
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- The eye of the pitons is slightly offset, providing a more robust striking surface for the hammer
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- One unique feature of the Peck pitons: The tips are beveled and finnished really well. Nice attention to detail.
Peck channel pitons were made in the mid to late 1960’s by Peck Climbing Company. Trevor Peck made a few different types of equipment but was better known for his “Cracker” chocks than his piton designs. He, along with Hamish MacInnes, also refined ice axe design to better serve climbers on modern ice climbing objectives.
The angles have a strong European influence. They have more in common with post-war channel type pitons than with the American style angle pitons being produced by Chouinard Equipment during the same period. They are listed in The 1964 Fisher & sons catalog as Peck Channel Pitons sizes: 1 1/4″, 2 1/2″, and 4″.
Peck Pitons had some features which made them interesting:
-They were made of high grade steel to resist corrosion when placed on sea cliffs or wet crags common to British climbers.
-They were very hard and very durable showing very little deformation of the striking surface even after aggressive hammering.
-They had a gently tapered beveled point at the nose of the piton to aid in digging into dirty placements.
I’ve driven different sizes of these pins into decent granite cracks and they drive and feel more like a Lost Arrow piton than an angle. The body of the piton is much thicker and the “U” shape is much deeper than an SMC shallow angle which they sort of resemble. The SMC shallow angles depend on their flex and spring for their holding power. The Peck angles simply power in and only slightly flex when placed. Their holding power in horizontal cracks seems adequate but the eye design and the narrow cross-section of the pin make them difficult to trust in a vertical placement where they can lever or rotate under load.
Hi – I have questions about two pieces of PECK gear that I own. The first is PECK channel piton. It is 5 3/8″ long overall and has flat back with square sides – not rounded. It is made from two pieces of metal with the eye welded to the channel. Only markings I find are PECK.
The second piece a piece I think is a PECK Cracker. But it is not marked at all and is 1 1/2″ long X 3/4″thick. The cross hatching is similar but not as rough and pointed. I have PECK B10 and B13 and this is between those two sizes.
Any help will be much appreciated
Bob Gould from Wisconsin USA
Hi Bob,
Can you send me a photo or two? The cracker sounds cool and the piton could be something very interesting. I have old catalogs and equipment that I can compare them to.