NARROW CRACK PROTECTION - WIRES

Sally Baxendale and Richard Tolley on Harry Kelly's ultra-classic Rib and Slab Climb (HS), Pillar Rock, the English lake District.

Brilliantly desgned small curved wires for thin cracks up to finger-sized. Most climbers would carry two or three of each of these sizes up to Size 7, maybe a couple apiece of size 8 and 9, and one Size 10, though some of these might well be a DMM Wallnuts.

This new design for 2005 is colour-coded for ease of recognition, but there is more to it than that. Each nut has been redesigned with the taper in the opposite direction. While not affecting the use of the nut, it means the larger sizes are up to 10g lighter than before. Finally the size range has been extended up to size 14 (which is a bit of a monster!).

Two part sets are also available: Sizes 1-8, and Sizes 9-14 (see below).

These are the best nuts to start a rack with. We would suggest buying a set of 1 - 8 plus a size 9.

WC Anodised Rocks
number	colour	mm	kN	gm
1	Violet	7x13	7	16
2	Green	8.2x13.8	12	25
3	Silver	9.6x14.5	12	28
4	Gold	11.3x15.3	12	30
5	Blue	13.3x16.8	12	32
6	Red	15.6x-19	12	36
7	Gun Metal	18.4x21.2	12	36
8	Turquoise	21.6x24	12	41
9	Gold	24.4x27.7	12	49
10	Silver	30x31	12	60
11	Green	34x35	12	70
12	Red	38x38	12	81
13	Gold	44x41	12	94
14	Blue	50x45	12	109

 

Quantity:  

Size 1 £9.50 2 £9.50 3 £9.50 4 £9.99 5 £9.99 6 £9.99 7 £10.50 8 £10.50 9 £10.50 10 £10.99 11 £10.99 12 £11.99 13 £11.99 14 £12.99 Size Stock 1 £9.50 5+ 2 £9.50 5+ 3 £9.50 5+ 4 £9.99 5+ 5 £9.99 5+ 6 £9.99 5+ 7 £10.50 5+ 8 £10.50 5+ 9 £10.50 5+ 10 £10.99 5 11 £10.99 5 12 £11.99 2 13 £11.99 2 14 £12.99 3

Stock

5+

Quantity:  

Quantity:  

Stock

5

Hugely popular old style Rocks on Wire - set of 1 - 10 plus a Wild Country Straight Gate Karabiner to rack them on at a Bargain Price!!!!
RRP is £60 without the krab! Save approx £10!
Ideal starter set of Rocks for those on a budget.

NB Krab and wires in picture are not to scale. 

Quantity:  

Stock

5+

Superlight Rocks have the same cross section as standard Rocks, but are much narrower. They are in fact similar in shape to Black Diamond Micro Stoppers, but larger. By using this slim shape, and putting them on a single cable rather than a loop of cable, Wild Country have significantly reduced the weight of these wires over standard Rocks, albeit at a reduction in strength.

They will be of most interest to winter climbers, alpinists, and greater ranges mountaineers, or any sports and icefall climbers wanting to include a set of wires on their rack "just in case".

A set of these carried on the same krab as a set BD Micro Stoppers (or similar) makes a great lightweight set of extra kit for long pitches at your top grade.

WC Superlight Rocks
number	colour	mm	kN	gm
1	Violet	7x7.25	4	10
2	Green	8.2x8	4	13
3	Silver	9.6x9	6	15
4	Gold	11.3x10	6	16
5	Blue	13.3x11.5	6	20
6	Red	15.6x13	6	22

A couple of quotes from test users:

"The Superlight Rocks are going into the review this issue. I liked them so much I had to get them in. They are the best nuts I've ever used.
Having just the one wire lets them seat much better than standard nuts. I was very surprised by the difference. I thought it would be slight, but it was massive. Even in regular, deep slots they are less problematic to fire in, and then they seat better.
I did notice that the Superlights were roughly a regular Rock, cut down the middle. For my uses, I place Rocks (and all nuts) in their narrow profile probably 99% or more of the time ... I can't actually recall ever placing a nut, aside from a hex, in a placement along its wide axis. So, for me, the
Superlights are ideal ... I don't give up a thing, except weight".
Duane Raleigh, Group Publisher, Rock and Ice, 1101 Village Road, Suite UL D4, Carbondale, CO 81623

"Just come down from an attempt on the Messner Pillar on the North Face of the Droites (we climb 13 pitches then traversed over to another route to finish), where we used the new superlight rocks and giant rocks. F****** awesome!
The best thing about the big rocks is that they're a no brainer, as you can just go up in size from your normal rocks, rather then trying to work out what will fit after a rock 10.
As for the SuperLights they worked really well, and even though we tried to keep the weight to a minimum (a full set of Rocks) again you could take a full set of superlights without much thought as you are basically getting twice the number of nuts for half the weight.
The nuts were hammered in, hammered out, stamped on, twisted and generally abused, and although neither of us ever lopped onto them they looked fine after the climb - and I can see why people have raved about them. Best off all they went where rocks wouldn't, replacing heavier and more costly RP style nuts."
Andy Kirkpatrick, Gear Editor - Climb Magazine 

Quantity:  

Size 1 2 3 4 5 6 Size Stock 1 1 2 1 3 2 4 2 5 2 6 2

A set is also available: Sizes 1-6. 

Quantity:  

Stock

5

A good complement to Rocks. Sizes are almost identical but different shape means they are better suited to flared placements. The new style is considerably lighter than the old style ones in the larger sizes. However they are also slightly more prone to getting stuck. These new Wallnuts are colour coded in the same colours as the equivalent sized Wild Country Rock.

DMM Anodised Wallnuts
number	colour	mm approx	kN	gm
1	Purple	7x13	7	16
2	Green	8.2x13.8	9	26
3	Silver	9.6x14.5	11	28
4	Gold	11.3x15.3	12	30
5	Blue	13.3x16.8	12	34
6	Red	15.6x-19	12	40
7	Grey	18.4x21.2	12	33
8	Turquoise	21.6x24	12	43
9	Gold	24.4x27.7	12	47
10	Silver	30x31	12	52
11	Green	34x35	12	57

 

Quantity:  

Size 1 £7.99 2 £7.99 3 £7.99 4 £8.50 5 £8.50 6 £8.50 7 £8.99 8 £8.99 9 £8.99 10 £9.99 11 £9.99 Size Stock 1 £7.99 5+ 2 £7.99 5+ 3 £7.99 5+ 4 £8.50 5+ 5 £8.50 5+ 6 £8.50 5+ 7 £8.99 5+ 8 £8.99 5+ 9 £8.99 4 10 £9.99 5 11 £9.99 3

Set of 6 new anodised Wallnuts, as above, sizes 1 - 6. 

Stock

2

Quantity:  

Set of 5 new anodised Wallnuts, as above, sizes 7 - 11. 

Stock

2

Quantity:  

Set of 11 new anodised Wallnuts, as above, sizes 1 - 11. 

Quantity:  

Stock

3

Based on the famed HB (Hugh Banner) Brass Offsets, these nuts have been produced using modified versions of the original HB dies. DMM have brought them back into the world and bought them up to date with colour coded sizing. Hurrah for DMM!

These strangely shaped nuts have a loyal following because their complex offset shape offers placement opportunities when nothing else will fit. They are especially suited to British rhyolite mountain crags.

DMM 'HB' Brass Offsets
number	colour	mm	kN	gm
0	Gold	3.75	2	4.5
1	Blue	4.5	4	7
2	Red	5.5	5	9
3	Grey	6.3	5	10
4	Purple	7.3	7	14
5	Green	8.5	7	17
6	Silver	10.3	10	24

 

Quantity:  

Size 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Size Stock 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 0 6 0

Mini set of three Brass Offsets, as above, sizes 2, 3 and 4. 

Quantity:  

Stock

0

Complete set of seven Brass Offsets, as above, sizes 0 - 6. 

Quantity:  

Stock

0

Based on the famed HB Alloy Offsets, these nuts have been produced using modified versions of the original HB dies. DMM have brought them up to date with colour coded sizing, recessed wires and lightening holes in the largest two sizes.

These strangely shaped nuts have a loyal following because their complex offset shape offers placement opportunities when nothing else will fit. This is particularly true of some of the pegscar cracks one encounters in places like Yosemite.

DMM Anodised Offsets
number	colour	kN	gm
7	Gold	12	31
8	Blue	12	34
9	Red	12	38
10	Grey	12	43
11	Turquoise	12	55

 

Quantity:  

Size 7 8 9 10 11 Size Stock 7 2 8 3 9 3 10 3 11 3

Set of five Alloy Offsets, as above, sizes 7 - 11. 

Quantity:  

Stock

1

Stoppers have been around for longer than most climbers, though they have changed a bit from the originals with sizes 6 upwards aquiring a curved shape similar to Rocks.

BD Stoppers
number	colour	mm	kN	gm
1	Red	4.3x9.1	2	7
2	Gold	4.8x9.9	2	8
3	Blue	6.1x11.4	5	15
4	Grey	6.9x12.4	6	16
5	Purple	8.4x13.5	6	18
6	Silver	10.2x15.5	6	32
7	Red	11.7x16.3	10	34
8	Gold	13.5x18.3	10	37
9	Blue	15.2x20.8	10	39
10	Grey	17.3x23.4	10	43
11	Purple	20.1x26.7	10	51
12	Silver	22.9x30.5	10	58
13	Red	26.4x35.1	10	71

 

Quantity:  

BD Stopper on wire Size 1 £6.99 2 £6.99 3 £6.99 4 £7.50 5 £7.50 6 £7.50 7 £7.50 8 £7.50 9 £7.99 10 £7.99 11 £7.99 12 £7.99 13 £7.99 Size Stock 1 £6.99 2 2 £6.99 2 3 £6.99 2 4 £7.50 2 5 £7.50 2 6 £7.50 2 7 £7.50 2 8 £7.50 2 9 £7.99 2 10 £7.99 2 11 £7.99 2 12 £7.99 2 13 £7.99 2

A full set of Stoppers from sizes 1-13 plus a small plastic key ring krab at over 10% off the standard price if bought individually. This works out at only £6.15/wire for a top quality product!!! 

Quantity:  

Stock

2

Metolius say Curved Nut shape offers all the advantages of existing curved nut designs (3 points of contact), but it is naturally more stable in flares, and because they have a straight taper from top to bottom, it is much easier to judge placement quality.

By attaching the cable directly to the nut and eliminating the swage Metolius say that they have made these nuts some 30% lighter for a set than the originals.

Metolius Ultraight Curved Nuts
number	colour	mm	kN	gm
1	Blue	9.1-13.2	7	19
2	Gold	10.2-13.7	7	19
3	Red	11.4-14.2	7	19
4	Maroon	12.7-16.0	7	21
5	Black	14.2-17.8	7	22
6	Green	16.0-19.8	10	34
7	Turquoise	17.8-22.4	10	36
8	Purple	20.1-24.9	10	45
9	Maroon	22.4-27.9	10	45
10	Blue	24.9-30.5	10	53

 

Quantity:  

Size 1 £10.99 2 £10.99 3 £10.99 4 £10.99 5 £10.99 6 £10.99 7 £10.99 8 £10.99 9 £10.99 10 £10.99 Size Stock 1 £10.99 2 2 £10.99 2 3 £10.99 1 4 £10.99 2 5 £10.99 2 6 £10.99 2 7 £10.99 2 8 £10.99 2 9 £10.99 2 10 £10.99 2

Buy a set of 10 and save a few bob!

Please note that this new set no longer includes a nut key. 

Quantity:  

Stock

1

Intriguiging system of double nuts, saves bulk and weight. Particularly suitable for alpine type routes where a minimal rack is being used, or as a small back up set for bolted climbs.

Note that each larger nut is duplicated on the next size up so that buying numbers 1, 3 and 5 actually gives a good set of 3 with all but the largest size nut.

Camp Bolo Nuts
number	nut sizes	colour	mm approx	kN	gm
1	1 & 2	Red/Purple	13x7/16x10	4	16
2	2 & 3	Purple/Blue	16 x10/20x13	8	28
3	3 & 4	Blue/Green	20x13/23x15	10	46
4	4 & 5	Green/Gold	23x15/27x18	10	57
5	5 & 6	Gold/Silver	27x18/29x20	10	68
6	6 & 7	Silver/Black	29x20/33x23	10	81

 

Quantity:  

Size 1 (1&2) £10.99 2 (2&3) £11.99 3 (3&4) £12.75 4 (4&5) £13.25 5 (5&6) £13.50 6 (6&7) £13.99 Size Stock 1 (1&2) £10.99 2 2 (2&3) £11.99 2 3 (3&4) £12.75 2 4 (4&5) £13.25 2 5 (5&6) £13.50 2 6 (6&7) £13.99 2

Peenuts are a set of 5 offset wires similar in style and ranging in size from around Wallnut 1 to Wallnut 2. They are particularly useful in old peg scars and smooth sided, slate-type cracks.

DMM Peenuts
number	colour	kN	gm
1	Red	4	6
2	Grey	5	6
3	Purple	5	12
4	Green	8	18
5	Silver	8	18

 

Quantity:  

Size 1 2 3 4 5 Size Stock 1 3 2 3 3 4 4 3 5 3

Or buy a full set at a bargain price. 

Quantity:  

Stock

2

Hand made in Australia by Roland Pauligk, these tiny brass micronuts are precision instruments eminently suitable to the minute shallow cracks and placements so common on British mountain crags. The method of manufacture is very labour intensive.

RPs
number	mm	kN	gm
0	3x4	1	3
1	3.5x5	2	6
2	4.5x6.5	4	10
3	6x8	5	12
4	8x9	6	19
5	9x10	7	20

Unfortunately RPs seem to have gone the way of the Whillans Harness and Fire Rockboots and are no longer available (although it is rumoured that you can still buy them in Australia). However, a very good alternative to RPs, readily available and cheaper, are Black Diamond Micro Stoppers (aka Swedges) - see below. 

Previously known as Swedges and an excellent alternative to RPs - their slight wedged shape means that they often sit better in cracks. Unique high strength construction method involves making heads from compressed powdered steel. Highly recommended!

Buy individually, or buy a full set plus a BD oval wiregate karabiner to keep them on at a bargain price which means you get the krab for about £2. Only problem with an oval krab is that you can't tell which way is up! But you can always use the krab for something else.

BD Micro Stoppers
number	mm	kN	gm
1	3.7x5.1	2	4
2	4.6x6.5	3	7
3	5.1x7.5	5	10
4	5.9x8.4	6	13
5	7.4x9.4	6	15
6	8.8x10.4	8	21

 

Quantity:  

Size 1 2 3 4 5 6 Size Stock 1 4 2 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 6 5

Get a full set, plus a BD Oval wiregate krab to keep them on, at virtually the same price as buying them individually - a bargain! 

Quantity:  

Stock

2

Based on the famed HB (Hugh Banner) Brass Offsets, these nuts have been produced using modified versions of the original HB dies. DMM have brought them back into the world and bought them up to date with colour coded sizing. Hurrah for DMM!

These strangely shaped nuts have a loyal following because their complex offset shape offers placement opportunities when nothing else will fit. They are especially suited to British rhyolite mountain crags.

DMM 'HB' Brass Offsets
number	colour	mm	kN	gm
0	Gold	3.75	2	4.5
1	Blue	4.5	4	7
2	Red	5.5	5	9
3	Grey	6.3	5	10
4	Purple	7.3	7	14
5	Green	8.5	7	17
6	Silver	10.3	10	24

 

Quantity:  

Size 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Size Stock 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 0 6 0

Mini set of three Brass Offsets, as above, sizes 2, 3 and 4. 

Quantity:  

Stock

0

Set of Seven Brass Offsets, as above, sizes 0 - 6. 

Quantity:  

Stock

0

Offset micronuts similar in many ways to the old HB Offsets and made out of silicon bronze which Metolius say is the perfect material for micro-nuts (although very costly) as it exhibits high strength, yet is still soft enough to let the nut bite into the rock’s surface and seat into position with maximum holding power.

NB These wires are not CEN tested and are only sold for passive use in aid climbing - use them for leading trad climbs at your peril! They are only available in sets of five, not singly I'm afraid.

Metolius Astro Nuts
number	colour	mm	kN	gm
1	Grey	3.1x6.1	2	5.7
2	Blue	3.5x6.1	2	6.0
3	Gold	4.1x6.1	2.5	6.2
4	Red	4.6x6.5	2.5	6.5
5	Black	5.3x7.4	2.5	7.0

 

Quantity:  

Stock

1

This set of four wires cover sizes below Wallnut 1. There is not much to choose between them in size so a good choice for most racks would be a 00 and a ½ rather than buying the lot. They are a cheaper construction than solderered type micro wires, but they need deeper cracks and are not as strong. The new anodised type has a new style new milled head which protects the wire from damage by 'counter-sinking' it.

DMM Micro Wallnuts
number	colour	size mm	kN	gm
00	Gold	4.4x9.6	2	6
0	Blue	4.9x10.6	2	6
½	Red	5.6x11.6	4	10
¾	Silver	6.9x12.1	4	10

 

Quantity:  

Size 00 0 ½ ¾ Size Stock 00 3 0 3 ½ 3 ¾ 3

A full set of four, 0, 00, ½ & ¾.  

Quantity:  

Finding unique colors of electrical tape to mark your gear is tricky when there are only about four colours easily available. Then, when you actually get everything marked, the first time you head for Spain the adhesive walks and you get sticky muck all over your gear.

Rack Tags are a good solution. They are fast and easy to apply and have a superior adhesive that withstands temperatures from -40°C to 80°C. They are available in 10 bright colours with a special UV finish to protect the high gloss colour and they are made out of one of the highest abrasion resistant materials available which maintains its colour even when abraded. The rounded ends prevent peeling and the stickers are the perfect size for krabs, wires, cams etc.

Supplied in packs of 100 tags and available in 10 colours.

Trango Rack Tag Colours

Yellow

Orange

Red

Maroon

Magenta

Purple

Blue

Green

Grey

Black

 

Quantity:  

Colour Yellow Orange Red Maroon Magenta (Pink) Purple Blue Green Grey Black Colour Stock Yellow 0 Orange 3 Red 1 Maroon 1 Magenta (Pink) 5+ Purple 5+ Blue 5+ Green 5+ Grey 5+ Black 5+