Trad climbing nuts vs hexes reddit 4-3 so little grey to big blue (dmm 0-5 maybe). Good places to stand and place and fiddle with a hex are good places to break an ankle. Offset hexes were the norm when I started to climb in 1977. There are stores in town to buy whatever you might want. Micro Nuts. Double up 2-7. Neil Gresham gives us a masterclass in the basics of placing nuts as Trad climbing protection. Once I finally got out and started using some cams, I got hooked. Sending a hard sport climb is satisfying, but trad climbing offers a feeling of accomplishment unmatched by clipping bolts. This shape is considered more secure in flares and pin scars. The judgement we need to select a placements for Hexes and Tri cams is very similar to selecting a nut placement. Depends on where you plan on climbing. Nut and Hexes Ranging in size from the thickness of a matchstick to the size of your clenched fist, nuts (also called chocks, wires or stoppers) and hexes are inexpensive pieces of trad protection. I’ve currently got a single set of DMM Wallnuts and a single set of BD C4s. This! If you are doing TR only, they are my favorite hexes and you can set up probably any TR with just hexes and nuts - but they can be a pain to use in "cam mode" with just one hand. You could also probably get away with just hexes and no cams. If you must carry a full rack, they can be racked in groups of 2-4 per carabiner. Most trad climbing involves lead climbing, in which the rope starts at the bottom of the climb with the climber. So I have been saving up money to start building a trad rack cause I want to start trad climbing. Same thing when I did own the Torque Nuts before I sold them in favor of the Rockcentrics. Apr 13, 2025 · How much does a full rack of climbing nuts cost? A full rack of climbing nuts will cost around $120. I’ve been told to avoid hexes, but if you feel strongly, I’d love to hear why. A lot of the options for cutting cost on a trad rack don't actually save you money, just delay you spending it. But for the record; things harder than I'll ever climb were established with nuts and hexes. 1. I’m on fairly moderate trad grades, 5. Using that money I want to get into trad climbing but want to know the absolute essential/basic trad rack. I already do…. BD stoppers 4-13 would also be a great addition, but many people feel much safer with more cams than nuts. More cracks in your area? More cams. Fuck the hexes off. Is it worth picking up a second set of nuts, either DMM offsets, BD or others. In short, trad climbing, more formally known as traditional climbing, is a form of rock climbing that requires placing your own gear for protection, rather than solely relying on pre-placed bolts. Don't be afraid to hit them hard with your nut tool; they're very durable. We like to compliment the Black Diamond Stoppers with a set of offset nuts. A micro nut is used where no other protection will fit. As noted by u/muenchener it might date from the late 70's but I suspect it's from earlier then that. The Phoenix (13a) for example. Then you could have made the decision, informed by experience that you do not, nor will you ever need will never need hexes. Trad climbing opens the door to the adventure of starting a climb well before the sun comes up and stumbling back to the car way after the sun goes down. Climbing hateful things with thin pro? Brassies/rps. I've recently started trad climbing as well and am using DMM nut set 3 (includes a set of nuts, offsets and hexes). When I started trad climbing, I couldn't afford the cams, so I led exclusively on nuts, hexes, and tricams for probably 40 of my first 50 pitches on gear. Mostly though, look at what you'll be climbing. . if you plan on doing mixed climbing in the long run, you'll probably end up wanting at least some hexes. So I'm seeking potential burner nuts or replacement for the Trango It's very expensive to replace those regular nuts with offset nuts, to replace those hexes with cams, to replace those standard camalots with ultralights or totems, etc. Most areas have a guidebook with a rack recommendation. In some areas I would call them essential. 155 votes, 63 comments. Older cams generally perform well, just gotta resling them, but one thing I’ve noticed is that for brand new trad climbers, it often benefits you to start with a cam that has a relatively standard sizing. 4 vs #4) Master point equalization with respect to previous three points Likelihood of follower fall Likelihood of leader fall on the first few moves of the next pitch You really can do almost anything on passive gear. First off is the rock secure than then you need to look at how well the device sits in the shape of crack. You can either cut up your cordelette, cut up one of your nice expensive Dyneema slings or take my sage advice about carrying at least one tied runner. For any beginner trad climber I'd have suggested starting with a much smaller rack (maybe nuts, and single from 0. Historic area with lots of pin scars? Make sure to grab totems and tricams. Next time you have a route with a long approach that uses a double rack, take the tricams instead of the second set. 5-3 C4 cam size. Posted by u/Dank3509 - 34 votes and 68 comments Direction of belay stance vs direction of follower fall Directionality of gear placements Type and size of gear placements (nuts vs cams, 0. Lots of jamming and stemming. More weird rock (granite/sandstone)? More nuts. 5 and #0. I was wondering what would be a good size range for cams and how many nuts is enough nuts? I have money for about 6-7 cams and for the nuts I was planning 1-11 in normal nuts, 7-11 in offsets, a set of peenuts 1-5 and hexes, 1-4 Depends on what you are climbing but a standard set of nuts, offsets, 0-5 (silver - big blue) dragons if you have them and maybe the green and red hexes would be mostly more than adequate. Have done most of my trad climbing on sandstone. Toproping. offsets nuts are really nice to have Trad climbing opens the door to the adventure of starting a climb well before the sun comes up and stumbling back to the car way after the sun goes down. These were fiddly to place for freeclimbing and tended to lift out but could still be used for aid climbing. My ideal rack is probably going to be a 2-1 ratio of cams to nuts, with other gear added as needed for different climbs. SLCDs have a broader working range than nuts and hexes, and they fit in pockets and parallel cracks more readily than most passive pro. if the rock type is suited to offsets have a set of theirs also. 7 and down. I find the hexes and offsets tend to have the strongest placements and get placed more often but I definely still use the nuts a lot. A lot of climbers will go for nut and hexes first when placing pro. Most trad here in Stockholm is face climbing broken up granite and I personally place my HB offsets more than even cams. cams . Use the side of the nut tool and smack the hex as hard as you can the opposite way it went in. DMM offsets are great nuts but there's only 5 of them, so if you buy a set of regular nuts (DMM wallnuts are again awesome, but most brands of nuts are also good to great) you'll have 10 more pieces. 75 with either totems, c4s, or z4s. A hex can be removed the same way as a nut in most cases. Even so, we heavily use passive pro here because of the challenges with cam placements in limestone and because they exert less force on the rock. Depends where you'll be climbing. there's a lot of information in the stickied post on this sub but standard rack is doubles . Being honest about why you're doing this and how much risk you're willing to take is important. Once I started climbing on gear routes that physically challenged my climbing ability the rapid placement of a cam became welcome[1]. When I started getting into trad, I thought I was gonna hate them, and was going to rely on mainly nuts, hexes, and tricams. This is different from toproping, where the rope is pre-hung at the top of the route. I'm running old Tango "made by Hudy Sports" nuts, and I recently realized that they are actually offset in one plane and parallel in another plane. That being said this method is not for the feint of heart. Nuts=Stoppers Have a full set. See full list on climbing. Black Diamond Offset Stoppers will work perfectly as a One thing I’ll add—think carefully about the trade offs you want to make between getting used cheap gear vs new and state of the art. 2 extra trad draws for nuts. I'm assuming limited rack so one sling per cam. yosemite) then they are nice i think. Offset nuts are considered more of a supplement, whereas standard ones are just that: standard. Happy Climbing! honestly i think you can find shitty personalities in every kind of climbing--sure you've got trad dads who won't climb harder than 5. I have a friend who climbs in JTree a lot, and he swears to them so presumably there is a geological feature there that eats them as well. Get some nuts and that will probably carry you into plenty of 5. For unknown long climbs . And yes we are scared of falling. Offset Nuts: Rather than curved surfaces, these feature a wedge with a top-to-bottom taper and a front-to-back taper. Most nut placements here take offsets much better than straight ones. Trad climbing is a lot broader than sport. the whole "hexes aren't good" is definitely just an internet meme though. Nov 23, 2016 · Hey Matt, if you are going up the learning curve in trad climbing, I highly recommend you buying hexes. At crags with splitter cracks, I obviously place more cams. Trusting a cam is certainly easier than trusting a nut or hex. Small nuts, big nuts and offset nuts 6 cams (built in slings) 4 hexes (built in slings) 4 quick draws, 16 and 25cm 4 60cm alpine draws 2 120cm slings 1 240cm sling And various screwgates etc Cams are expensive and you don’t need them for easy trad. Nuts and hexes (although I dislike hexes) are perfectly adequate and safe. If that’s the case, get doubles up to 0. Share gear, it's muuuuuuch cheaper this way too. For trad climbing many places consider a “standard rack” something like cams bd sizes 0. I currently have quite a horde of nuts so will try to restrain myself to just that suggestion in the normal sizes. I however started with exactly the cams you have (or maybe first with hexes I don’t remember) and a single rack of nuts. Since you're asking about trad climbing, at some point in your career you're going to have to untie and thread your sling or use it for rap tat. Trad climbing often involves crack climbing , which is a different style of climbing from face climbing. That said, folks climbed a lot on nuts, hexes, and tricams before modern camming devices were invented. The big decided is what kind of rock you climb and being able to see good nut placements. There’s no need to buy a huge amount of gear before you spend some time climbing trad. Direction of belay stance vs direction of follower fall Directionality of gear placements Type and size of gear placements (nuts vs cams, 0. Additionally, their holding power actually increases when a fall exerts a dynamic force on them. The totems inspire a lot more confidence because they tend to sit nicer in the "not-quite-parallel" placements. Plenty of people use cams but don't use hexes. if you plan to only do cragging, the majority of people would suggest you save for cams. e. That being said, I love cams. A set from 0. We tested all of the products in our review in a variety of rock types in places like Squamish, Eldorado Canyon, Yosemite Valley, the North Cascades, Smith Rocks, Red Rock, Joshua Tree, Zion, and more. g. On any given route, only allow yourself to push your limits in one of these. i find many beginners willnplace a cam wherever and think that the mechanics will hold them. I also run DMM offsets, I feel okay about them. However, if a hex has rotated into place tightly, you'll have to reverse the way it rotated in order to retrieve it. Jan 8, 2024 · In the late 1980s into the 1990s in UK climbing, there was a decisive move away from a mix of individually racked hexes of all sizes & medium nuts on cord towards using only larger hexes, plus nuts on wire (with quickdraws) due to ease of use. 2 to 4?) and getting used to what you like and don't like before getting doubles. you can supplement with bigger or smaller gear if you need to. For nuts I would either good for a set of wild country rocks 1-10 or dmm wallnuts 1-11. every area is different but that one fits a large majority of climbs. In Italy I did some trad multipitch in val di mello with beautiful granite and again it was mixed but on most pitches there were some placements. Offset cams are nice for flaring pin scars-- if you climb places where this is common (e. Random gneiss around saxony in Germany generally took nuts well. offsets nuts are really nice to have I know nothing about these in general, but tricam-type designs are totally valid protection. Obviously this resulted in carrying more equipment so was heartily encouraged by gear manufacturers. 3 to 3 and a set of nuts. In which case, you can either put them on the same carabiner with your big nuts (for small hexes), or clip them further back on your harness on their own separate carabiner (for bigger sizes). The home of Climbing on reddit. Totally, not trying to shit on hexes but I think a lot of beginners don’t totally know how to use them properly. 75. A typical trad rack will contain 10-12 nuts and maybe one or two mid-size hexes. Smaller than a standard nut, it's used in thin cracks and old piton scars. If you plan on getting into leading, skip these and just get a set of cams - they will be way more useful. 95. Most of the time, you'll only be carrying one or two hexes. They have strengths and weaknesses, and I wouldn't argue that they're really an acceptable replacement for cams in modern trad climbing. Odds are their guidebook will call for cams and nuts that they’ll learn to use first. set of nuts. com I set my Rockcentric hexes as hard as I can and they have never rattled loose during a climb. Nuts, hexes and slings will get you started just fine. There's plenty of trad climbing around NZ! Different regions/crags/climbs will prefer certain sizes, but you cant go wrong with a single rack i. 7 but go on about how "sport climbing is neither," but you've also got sport climbers who shit on trad climbers for the precise reasons you've outlined and argue the opposite side of the coin that sport climbing Posted by u/PulpFiction849 - 16 votes and 29 comments The only time I do the single carabiner sling is on alpine climbs and I'll put the sling trad draw style using the racking carabiner directly on the cam. HTH I'm 15 and just got a job. Another upside of using strictly hexes and nuts is that if/when you decide to invest in cams you have a better understand of where works well for what kind of gear. lo an behold it pops out and In Poland I climb on old granite and it takes nuts and hexes extremely well. I also instruct my second how to easily remove them. 6 or so alpine draws a few of your sport quickdraws, some 7mm cord to build anchors and some lockers. There are three aspects to traditional climbing; there's the physical aspect, the mental aspect, and the gear aspect. if you can place a hex = elephant bomb proof! but the weight, take only what you expect to place size 3 & 6 if you have a full set of nuts. Learn the skills to stay safe and have confidence when climbin Folks have explained to you the nut but the wired hex is older. 4 vs #4) Master point equalization with respect to previous three points Likelihood of follower fall Likelihood of leader fall on the first few moves of the next pitch The grades might also seem harder as well, because most trad routes are just a different style of climbing. And I really love them nuts. Also have a few micros of offsets & stopper/rock/nuts. In normal multipitch id much rather have trad draws with 2 biners than single biner. 3M subscribers in the climbing community. Posted by u/Sigmund--Fraud - 29 votes and 71 comments I don’t know your rock type but in my experience many easy climbs can be done cam free with just nuts (and hexes if you want). Still love the hexes for clanking up the old-school 5. 3-1 (black->blue) weighs less than a #0. Want to sound like an escaped cow? Hexes. Oct 31, 2024 · This review focuses on climbing nuts used for protecting traditional free climbing routes as well as for aid and big wall routes. ik im late asf but for people new to trad u always recommend getting a full set of nuts and hexes before even thinking about cams (can obv change depending on location) but its good to learn how to place passive gear first. Learn how to use nuts and hexes. One of the best value for climbing nuts is the full set of Black Diamond Stoppers, which come in at $119. May 29, 2020 · Lead Climbing vs. 6. 10 trad climbing as well as alpine stuff. I hung out with a professional guide in JTree for a bit who only had offsets for his climbing there, since the majority of cracks are flaring, water-made cracks. It covers everything from hard single pitch cragging where you're basically sport climbing on gear to sketchballs alpine climbing where the gear is mostly there so they can follow the rope to find your body. pckks elviz emwbw itkhp moorw zynigq duxzjo efnp esbypob aipnmwk
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