The redesigned Yosemite hammer that brought the model back after a seven-year absence, right at the end of the Chouinard Equipment era.
Identifying Marks
- Redesigned head with a hole through the pick end, new for this version
- Wood handle, stamped “CHOUINARD MADE IN USA” with the diamond-C logo in red ink
- Steel straps running down both sides of the handle below the head
- Handle end wedged in the eye of the head with a steel cross-wedge
- Phillips screw near the end of the handle, holding the leash
About the Model
Chouinard dropped the wood-handle Yosemite hammer in 1981, the same year its modular hammers moved to composite handles. When the Yosemite was redesigned and reintroduced in 1988, it brought wood handles back to the line for the first time since then. The hole in the head is the easiest way to tell this generation from the originals. In 1989, after Chouinard Equipment went into bankruptcy, a group of former employees led by Peter Metcalf bought its assets and founded Black Diamond, which carried the Yosemite hammer on under its own name.
Sources: identifying marks and dates from the Karabin Climbing Museum‘s Chouinard Equipment display; Black Diamond’s founding from Wikipedia. Stamp color, handle details and wood-handle history from the collection. Have something to add? Let me know.
