If making refrigerator pickles you need to be sure the recipe is acidic enough to prevent botulism.
Then, if so, you can add Pickle Crisp from Ball to make them firm. Same thing commercial industry uses.

Do not use pickle crisp as it makes the pickles less acidic and makes them more dangerous.

Commercial Industry has all kinds of expensive high level measuring equipment and PhD on payroll to monitor the acidity and complete quality control way beyond what anyone can duplicate at home.

You do not need Pickle Crisp to make them crisp.

But you gave no information on what you did so no one can answer your question correctly. All answers will be not valid.

Sorry, but your answer is not valid, gardendawgie....
Pickling Crisp does NOT make them less acidic. That is pickling LIME. Not at all the same product.
The Pickle Crisp is Calcium Chloride.
I teach food preservation safety and would not suggest anything unsafe.
Sure, many things cannot be duplicated, but this one can be. I even use it in my canned potatoes to keep them firm.
Check the labels on the cans of tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, pickles, etc. in the stores. It is in all of them.

You are correct. I made a bad error. I got confused. I thought that PC was pickling lime.

However, I have made hot pepper pickles crisp without PC.

I will agree that Calcium Chloride is OK for pickling safety. Calcium Chloride is Pickle Crisp.

Gardendawgie, I should have said I was teasing you by adding the statement you made. I knew it was a common error.
I did want to apologize in case I seemed serious and upset you in any way.
Hugs, Gardendawgie !