Yeah, same for me. I started climbing in 1946 when I was in the Boy Scouts; our troop leader had been with the 10th Mountain Division during WW-II and was enthusiastic about teaching kids to climb. We used 120' lengths of 7/16" hemp rope. The rope was tied around our waists and we would use a short length of the same rope to anchor a belay. We climbed in Joshua Tree beginning with friction climbing and then working our way to more technical stuff using pitons and carabiners. We wore tennis shoes with the sole corners sanded off and the sole thinned. Rappelling was mostly "dullfersitz" style, straddling the rope, bringing it around one hip and then over the opposite shoulder. A fast rappel could produce some spectacular rope burns. We would also occasionally use the "French" rappel or the arm rappel.

When I moved to Seattle in the early 50's, I went through the Mountaineers climbing course and started using some different equipment. We still used hemp rope tied around our middles although Army surplus nylon rope was available. We used prussik slings made of 3/8" manila rope; sometimes with wood rungs tied in. These were used for crevasse rescue and occasionally for direct aid climbing. My boots were like most with Tricouni nails embedded in the thick leather soles. These were great for mossy logs, ice and wet rock but were heavy and cold. We used these mostly on approaches and on glaciers. When we got to technical rock climbing, out would come the whittled-down tennis shoes. If the rock was wet, not unusual in the NW, we would get out the rope-soled booties and put them on over the tennis shoes. The rope-soles were simply a lace-up canvas bootie with raggy cotton rope firmly stitched to the sole. The bootie would stick like glue to most wet rock, even that with thin moss. I still don't know why they fell out of favor; they were light and worked great!

We started using jam nuts in the early 60's. These were simply threaded nuts with the threads filed out, a chamfer on each side of the hole and a cable or nylon loop through the hole. We carried a hacksaw blade for maneuvering the nut into and out of the crack and orienting the nut so it would jam in place. We also used home-made wooden pitons for large cracks. I don't think I would have liked to have tried to hold a hard fall on one but they were great for aid climbing.

I never heard of using chalk until the late 70's. Still not sure that I approve of it. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />