Early Chouinard Knifeblade Pitons

Early 1960’s Chouinard Knifeblade pitons from the personal rack of Steve Komito the well known Estes Park, Colorado cobbler and climber. Komito has been a steady fixture of Colorado climbing for many years. He often partnered with Layton Kor (and others) on notable ascents throughout the state. He once described himself as “Laytons piton retrieval machine” but his personality and generous nature made him much more than that. In the early 1990’s he rebuilt a totally trashed pair of Robbins Boots for me and did a much better job than the quoted price would have suggested. They are still in occasional use today!

These pitons date from between 1961 and 1964. They feature the square cut eye tab and a small rounded “tail” near the striking surface. The “tail” was added around 1961 to better protect the eye and add some additional stock where the pitons are often deformed by repeated hammer blows. This era of Knifeblade also only has one hole. The famous 1972 Chouinard catalog was the first to feature Knifeblades with two holes.