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The rubbish we read aka public perception of climb 23-Nov-2006 At 11:13:13 AM IdratherbeclimbingM9

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The rubbish we read,
… aka public perception of climbing/ers.

Read a book (Scarecrow by Mathew Reilly) recently as it was recommended to me.
(I don’t recommend it btw).
It contains some stuff I thought 'real' climbers ought to know about.

A quote from page 145.
>It was the pitons, however, that intrigued Schofield the most. >He could understand a bounty hunter carrying a portable body bag with him, but pitons?
>Pitons are small springloaded scissor-like devices that mountain climbers jam into tiny crevices. >The piton springs open with such force – pinioning itself against the walls of the crevice – that climbers can attach ropes to it and hold up their bodyweight. >Schofield wondered what a bounty hunter might use them for.
>‘Question,’ he said. >‘What do you use pitons for?’
>Knight shrugged casually. ‘Climb over walls. Up the sides of buildings.’
>‘Anything else?’ Schofield asked. >Like torture perhaps.
>Knight held Schofield’s gaze. >‘They do have … other uses.”

On page 295 Knight uses it.
>Knight pulled a mountaineering piton from the vest and one-handed, jammed the piton into his left-handed manacle and pressed its release.
>With a powerful spring-loaded thwack, the piton expanded in an instant – and the old iron manacle around Knights wrist cracked open and suddenly his left hand was free.

On page 311 Mother used them to free Schofield.
>Two of Knight’s pitons made short work of his handcuffs.

On page 375 Schofield used one to kill a baddie.
>Zamanov leapt up and swung – just as Schofield lunged forward, ducking inside Zamanov’s swing arc, at the same time whipping something metallic from his borrowed utility vest and jamming it into the Russian’s mouth!
>Zamanov didn’t have time for shock, because Schofield didn’t hesitate.
>He activated the mountaineering piton – and turned his head away, not wanting to see this.
>With a powerful snap! The pitons pincer-like arms expanded, shooting instantly outward, searching for something to wedge themselves against.
>What they found were Zamanov’s upper and lower jaws.
>Schofield never saw the actual event, but he heard it.
>Heard the foul crack of Zamanov’s lower jaw being stretched far further than it ever was designed to go.
>Schofield turned back to see the Russian’s jaw hanging grotesquely from his face, dislocated and broken. >The upper arm of the piton, however, had done more damage: it had bruised Zamanov’s brain, leaving Zamanov frozen bolt upright in mid-stance, the shock having shut down his entire body.
>The Russian fell to his knees.
(snip)
>And he just let the Russian waver where he knelt, and then he watched as a moment later Zamanov fell flat on his face with a final bloody splat.

This book review has been brought to you by the makers of ….

As pure escapism it is lightweight enough, but with misinformation like this being consumed by general public it is little wonder climbers and climbing is often regarded badly imo.

What do other climbers think?