Wavy said:
While organizing my vertical gear - I found an old Chounard standard gate
carabiner - (somewhat weakened perhaps) - with the initials EDF deeply stamped
into it.
The most famous initials EDF I can think of stand for Électricité de
France, the French electrical utility. They drove a tunnel into the Salle de
la Verna in the famous Réseau de la Pierre Saint-Martin in the late 1950's,
which provided easy access to the lower reaches of the cave. Since Chouinard
is of French heritage, maybe that was used as a brand name or other designator
for a line of vertical gear. Do those initials look like the manufacturer put
them there, or like they were added later?
Mark Minton
