British Army Pitons (1952 issue)

Two pitons issued to British military mountain warfare troops in 1952. The long narrow “lost arrow” type pitons are heavy and thick with a large head and eye. Their weak point is where the head of the piton transitions into the blade and is where the piton would likely deform when hammered with too much force or inaccurate blows. Additionally, even when properly placed and sunk all the way into a crack, the eye sets some distance from the face of the rock causing it to bend or lever quite a bit. The pitons were rather crude, even for the time period, but they were cheap and adequately fulfilled the military requirements.