Hi Ben,

Advice given to me when I was asking the same question was a full set of DMM Walnuts and a half set of Wild Country Super Rocks. Was good advice. The Walnuts go most of the time. The Super Rocks go in very strange places. Since then the asymmetrical HBs have come out and they are very useful. I also have a set of DMM Peenuts and even smaller HBs.

Me personally, if I was going to double up any, it would be the midrange Walnuts 3 and 4, but I’d rather have other brands around the same size, but different shapes. Now have more than 30 in a range of shapes and sizes. They don’t weigh much.

Important advice. Don’t be nice to your seconder. When you’re the leader it’s your neck. Give nuts a good tug to seat them and to stop them from wiggling out.

If your seconder has to use a nut key, so what. It’s far better than looking down when you’re about to fall, and seeing that your protection has wiggled out and is hanging on your rope in a nice row three placements down.

Unzipping, is when the rope tightens on your belayer and comes away from the rock pulling your nuts out from the bottom up. The reason being they were placed to stop a downwards force not an outwards. Be aware that your first few placements may need to handle forces from directions other than the obvious downwards fall. A cam in low down will usually stop this.

Safe climbing,

Toc.

If you’ve got friends who have nuts, try theirs if you can (geez that sounds bad!), that’s what I did (sounds even worse).

After trying several types I couldn’t tell any difference so I bought the prettiest ones. 🙂 Some people disparage my nuts but I love ’em!

Di has big brassy ones tehehe 🙂

I was trying to….sort of.

So, why would some people ‘disparage’ the use of Black Diamond Stoppers?

So apparently I prefer stubby multicoloured nuts. I also quite like hexes and am still using my ex-boyfriend’s cams.

But at least I can admit these things and use my real name unlike our stubby marsupial’s disparaging mate above . . . . :O

Hi Ben,

I like DMM Wallnuts because of the double taper – let me explain. When you place a Wallnut “normally” then the top of the nut is wider than the bottom right? HOWEVER, if you turn a Wallnut sideways then the top is still wider than the bottom!! Eureka!!! Both pairs of the opposing sides are slanted so the nut tapers either way. This has the major benefit that each nut can be put into 2 completely different sizes of cracks. Most other nuts don’t seem to have this feature, the old BD ones did not, don’t know about now as have not bought any nuts for years. I have both Wallnuts and BD Stoppers and find Wallnuts heaps better.

Warning – Metolius make really horrible and useless anodised nuts, stay clear of that and of anything European continental (e.g. Camp). They climb on bolts so have no idea how to make trad gear.

The No. 1 and 2 RPs are very useful also, for shallow cracks.

hexes are very good on Bluff Knoll. If you have just a few cams and a tight budget then you can supplement rack with them. But if money is no object and BK does not becon then I would steer clear.

i agree with the wombat’s friend. go for wallnuts. ross is right, ut most nuts have the double taper – it’s just more pronounced with the wallnuts.

i also recommend peanuts. RPs are not thta usefull for beginers as they are mostly needed on runout slightly dubious climbs that you will not be leading anyway…. as for hexes – if you have a beard they are mandatory. otherwise – for WA they are not worth the money as they don’t perform well in granite. however if you were climbing at araps on a budget then hexes would be the way to go.

Thanx Dinah. I try =)

But seriously, I’d rather spend 2 years slowly learning to climb and more importantly, stay alive, than try to be a hero only to make one bad placement and leave the crag in an ambulance….