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Rave About Your Rack Please do not post retail SPAM.

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the necessity of hexes these days


sabu

2-Feb-2005
9:21:05 PM

my rack is still pretty small at the moment and i was wondering wether if it's worth investing in a set of hexes or just a lot of cams and nuts?

dalai

2-Feb-2005
9:40:56 PM

Just invest in a set of pitons and a hammer. Will protect most Arapiles routes like the those on the Watchtower face!


cheesehead

2-Feb-2005
9:54:26 PM

While you're at it, dry tooling makes tiny crimps so much easier, and extends your reach by some 8 inches...

gfdonc

2-Feb-2005
9:54:45 PM

Depends what you're climbing. Hexes are still underrated IMHO. Nothing quite like a bomber hex placement.


sabu

2-Feb-2005
10:06:04 PM

basicly trad climbing ... not dry tooling!


runnit

2-Feb-2005
10:47:20 PM

I find I don't use hexes all that often during the actual climb coz they're a bit fiddly (one placement is just too big, one is just too small etc), but I love em for anchors when you got a bit less on your mind and you're after something super bomber.

I've got 4 on my rack from pretty big to pretty small, sorry to get all technical = P, and I've found it's enough to get me by.


cheesehead

2-Feb-2005
10:47:50 PM

Troll!!

Yeah I agree - a good hex placement can be fantastic. Cam replace the need for hexes in nearly every situation in my experience, though hexes are a lot cheaper and lighter - thus you can carry more of them, etc.
They are more fiddly to place, which is their biggest downside. They certainly don't replace cams - there's stuff and SLCD does that other pro just can't do.
Slightly off topic, just be wary of your cam placements - any sucker can place a cam. Any sucker can place a dangerously bad cam. ie, don't allow the technology to replace 'nut craft'


adski

2-Feb-2005
11:59:23 PM

Okay, some 'interesting' comments so far.

I got my rack 2nd hand with quads of some sizes of cams but no hexes. Everyone knows hexes are bomber so I got some! I only carry sizes 5-10, and they're great for large bottlenecks where cams rattle out. I imagine the same person that says hexes aren't useful is the one who considers suing gear manufacturers when his cams fall out.

Realistically, when doing short pitches with mixed bolts and gear I rarely take my hexes. On long pitches they always come along, and provide real peace of mind. I runout on hexes alot more than cams, because they're so damn solid. So by adding hexes to my rack, I climb with less gear (if that makes sense). When a hex is physically bigger than the rock below it, rock failure needs to occur for it to blow out, and that's reassuring.

Also, there's some belays that are quite hard to set up with cams that are dead simple with hexes - D-Minor for example. Should you need to retreat off a route, leaving a hex behind is alot cheaper than a cam.

And when you're feeling like mixing it up a bit, you can go *real* trad style and climb on nothing but hexes, just to see if you have what it takes to have been a climber in the 70's.


cheesehead

3-Feb-2005
12:04:09 AM

>And when you're feeling like mixing it up a bit, you can go *real* trad
>style and climb on nothing but hexes, just to see if you have what it takes
>to have been a climber in the 70's.

Or knotted socks... (see Onsight's new Czech gallery for more).

Good point Adski - After all that, I don't often cary my hexes. I tend to more for long multipitching sorta stuff, rather than quick blasts, like you say.

Not sure what I think of BD's wired hexes. Hmm. I think plastics are good though (but that thread's been done to death).


Hatman

4-Feb-2005
7:23:00 AM

You find climbs that just need a fat hex! i was leading a multi pitch last week and used a #8 BD hex in a constriction wich had very flared sides so no way a cam could do the job. My second managed to drop the stupid thing 40m onto my lunchbox. It was needed on the second pitch so we had to back off!

In my short trad experience I have noticed that i usualy cary way to much crap (even my single big bro cause it looks so good! even though I haven't used it yet!)

But the medium hex's are always there and I have used them alot.

Wendy

4-Feb-2005
5:17:01 PM

they're always good to throw at the possums


sabu

4-Feb-2005
10:59:24 PM

lol, make a good weapon! thanks to all who responded in due time i shall buy a few "cheesegraters" (a term my uncle once used for a hex twice the size of a fist). in summary a few hexes are good for long trad routes, and can sometimes replace a cam placement. thanks again


cheesehead

4-Feb-2005
11:05:06 PM

hey yeah, a cheesegrater would be a lot cheaper than a fat hex....


Paulie

5-Feb-2005
1:11:47 AM

On 4/02/2005 Wendy wrote:
>they're always good to throw at the possums

:D So true...

I have every sized hex and hardly ever use them, I find my cams are so much easier to place, but then again I mostly climb granite...they're awesome things to use at Araps.


shaggy

5-Feb-2005
6:46:55 PM

Hex Good,
Cam Bad.

Maybe too old school, but from what I've seen, I probably taken out 3 bad cams, to every good hex placement I've cleaned.
I do climb with cams, but I use them usually as my last option, or in parallel cracks, where nuthin else will work.
You cant beat a bomber Hex!


shaggy

5-Feb-2005
6:49:58 PM

Actually, just to add to above, Hex's do work in parallel cracks, just a bit more fiddly than a cam.
Anyway, Last summer I made a bet with a few americans, the bet was that I have to go and lead "Super Crack" at Indian Creek, on hex's alone. Funny thing is, that if I do it, I get rewarded with a couple of Camalots. In addition to this, if I take a winger on one of the forementioned hex's, they'll chuck in another!


shmalec

6-Feb-2005
3:54:06 AM

you can get all the hexes you need for the price of one cam. just buy them and see how you like them.


maxots

6-Feb-2005
11:45:14 AM

did you lead it, or are you yet to fufill the bet !?

cudoss to you if you do! (easier than getting 10 number 2 cams i guess)


adski

6-Feb-2005
11:14:03 PM

we affectionately term the #11 hex "the roo killer"


Breezy

7-Feb-2005
11:23:07 AM

On 6/02/2005 adski wrote:
>we affectionately term the #11 hex "the roo killer"

and what term do think best decribes "the chockstone Hex" :P

There are 92 messages in this topic.