1981 brought major changes to the Chouinard/Great Pacific Iron Works/Patagonia Software catalogs. Although Chouinard published a Great Pacific Iron Works catalog that combined the two divisions of his empire, with 32 pages of his climbing gear & another 17 pages of Asolo Boots & other accessore, & 32 pages of Patagonia Software, he also published separate Chouinard & Patagonia Software catalogs. For the next 8 years he kept the two companies in separate catalogs & Great Pacific Iron Works did not appear on more catalog covers.
1981 Combined catalog cover.
1981 Chouinard catalog cover.
1981 Patagonia Software catalog cover.
The only thing new to his carabiner program in 1981 was that each carabiner was now factory- tested & stamped tested.
1982 brought big changes with the introduction of his first locking carabiners. He liked the new Big D so much he put it on the catalog cover.
The Big D was a hit & stayed in Chouinard's catalog, with only minor changes until the end in 1989.
In 1987 the texture on the locking knob was changed on Chouinard's locking carabiners & this photo from the first Black Diamond catalog in 1990 shows that difference.
Chouinard also introduced a Light D & Oval Locking carabiner in 1982. The Light D was also a hit & stayed in the line until the end, but the Oval Locker was dropped from the line by the 1983 catalog. It is now quite rare. I've only seen 3 Oval Lockers on EBay in the last 15 years.
In the 1983 Chouinard catalog two new locking carabiners are introduced, the very-large Pearbiner & an anodized version of the Big D, the Marinabiner for salt-water use.
1983 catalog copy on each model.
Here's a page from the 1984 Chouinard catalog that shows the line of large Lockers a little better.
Chouinard also introduced a new solid aluminum version of the hollow Featherweight in the 1983 catalog & named it the "Improved Featherweight."
This solid version of the Featherweight stayed in the line until 1984 & then with the very slightest of changes, it was renamed the New Standard, in what I think was a Marketing Department move. The New Standard stayed in the line until the end. In this photo the oldest variant is at bottom.
