Piton

Piton
Type	Climbing gear
Tech Level	TL–4
Cost	Cr5
Size	0.1 liters
Weight	0.3 kg

Pitons are metal spikes fitted with a ring at one end with (to pass a rope through), which are used in mountain climbing as a hold. Several specific types are available. The simplest TL–4 pitons are soft iron spikes driven into rock. An advanced TL–7 version, is of similar design but uses superior alloys. At TL–8, pitons have a radical design: they are not driven into rock at all, but use a quick-setting superglue to attach themselves to rock faces. Once set, they cannot be removed without using special solvents; however, use of these pitons' doubles ascent speeds. The solvent weighs 0.5kg (500 applications) and costs Cr20.

The ultimate in pitons, the sophisticated devices at TL–10 include a small battery pack and a powerful heating element in the tip. When activated, a sudden white-hot burst of heat helps set the piton with a minimum of effort (just steady pressure by the climber). This will also set pitons in soft iron, armor, steel, and crystaliron as well as stone and cement.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Marc Miller. Imperial Encyclopedia (Game Designers Workshop, 1987), 63.
• Greg Porter. Central Supply Catalog (Imperium Games, 1996), 28,33.
• Martin Dougherty. Guns, Gadgets and Gear (Avenger Enterprises, 2007), 54.
• Matthew Sprange. Central Supply Catalogue (Mongoose Publishing, 2016), 47.