Back in the 1970's, I was not a fan of Summit Magazine, for reasons mentioned in the article, but I was aware of it, even though I prefered Mountain, Off Belay, & that marvel of climbing literary art, Ascent.
However, in late 2017, Paula Crenshaw, Jean's niece, posted on a now defunct blogsite that she had a bunch of old pitons, chocks, hammers, & a couple of biners to sell. She posted a single photo of some very-rare 1960's climbing gear. There were some problems getting her to share her email & trust the folks who were interested. She later mentioned that she needed to research what similar gear had sold for on EBay.
Hopefully, this post of mine helped win her trust:
"PaulaAnn: I want to mention when you look at climbing gear listings on EBay, especially if you do more selective searches like Chouinard, there are folks listing gear, who way over-estimate its value. I prefer to search the Sold category, which shows what folks are actually paying for that gear.
Second, there are sellers that do a very-good job of photographing & describing old gear & those who don’t.
Third, there are those who start their gear auctions at what most serious collectors would think is a reasonable price, and those who don’t.
And then there are the EBay gear sellers who have a following of folks who trust them. The number of knowledgeable old climbing gear collectors, who have any money, is surprisingly tiny. You are seeing many of them on this thread.
So -----there have been some great offers made here by folks I know, trust, & like, Steve Grossman & Marty at the Karabine Museum, & others like Roots, who I also know, trust, & like, want you to quote prices.
If you are willing to sell this collection on EBay, you will do way-better if you break it down into batches of 5 or less pieces per auction, use the most reasonable possible shipping method, & follow my other suggestions above.
Final offer from me on the photo of pitons & carabiners. Per the circled items in the below photo, take the wonderful offers from my friends on those items. The spoonbill piton at bottom center has offers from both Steve Grossman & Marty at the Karabine Museum. Steve is also interested in one of the shiny carabiners at top, if it says Alcoa on it.
I'll take the other shiny carabiner & everything else in that photo that is not circled, for $200.00. Please email me for free advice. In my link to sold Chouinard listings, the first two pitons were sold by me, so I do know what I am doing."
I ended up with 9 pre-1966 Chouinard Lost Arrow Pitons in un-used condition for $192.00 & one of the first Chouinard carabiners for $100.00. I think the other collectors mentioned above got stuff at fair prices that made them happy too.
It turned out that some 1960's gear manufacturers sent free gear to Summit Magazine, for magazine reviews & then most of it was stored in a closet. Paula was selling it to pay retirement home expenses for her aunt, 50 to 60 years later.
Thanks Paula!
Some of those old hand-forged Lost Arrows are in this photo. Each is a piece of iron-working art.
