Needle Sports - More Nuts Stories

More Nuts' Stories:

by Stéphane Pennequin

Here are a few more nuts' titbits for the real cognoscenti!

Porter Nuts: Many climbers have played with stacked or opposed nuts for years. One of the first to improve on this idea was Charlie Porter. Sometime in the early 1970's Porter had a machine shop in Briceburg, downstream from the Yosemite Valley. He made his own aluminum stoppers, opposed them together on swaged cable loops and came up with adjustable sliding wedges. Porter sold these handy units to many climbers and some may still have them. Porter Nuts were also commercially available on a limited basis. On this photo only the size 5 (the biggest) is missing.

Monkey Paws: John Middendorf, who set up A5, decided to part with a couple of his prototype Monkey Paws and contribute them to the Nuts Museum. The Monkey Paws were never made in production; John Middendorf made perhaps 30 prototypes and then a batch of 10 finished versions. It is a three-part sliding nut design using a ball and two grooved wedges that John Middendorf invented in 1987, and the concept predates that of the Ball-Nut or Lowe-Ball by 6 months! The Ball-Nut inventor, Steve Byrne, saw John's design, made and later patented his two-part version. The mangled and destroyed units in the picture were the results of strength testing using a hydraulic puller in the field. The fact that the cable broke as a result rather than the nuts pulling out shows the strength of the design.

Ewbank Crackers: Very rare: in fact they have become cult chocks in Australia. John Ewbank made them in 1968. He manufactured a range sized from "A" to "K" to fit cracks from 3/8" to 3.5". Unlike the Peck knurled English Crackers, they are cut and drilled from hexagonal bar. John Ewbank is a legendary climber who invented the Australian climbing grade system.

A new edition to the Nuts Museum is an Acorn (the smallest size)! This Acorn is in good condition and complete, with its long "hawser" laid rope and the machine nut. In the early sixties British climbers used to carry their nuts around their neck. This Acorn belonged to Hank Harrison, of the Summit Club, with whom John Brailsford did the East Face of the Grépon in the early 1960s.

Straight from the Drawing Board!
What something often begins as a hazy idea somewhere on the rock face, (or even in the bath…), may at times reach the drawing board and, for the most fortunate ones finally land in the hands of very happy crag rats. I would like to think that you would enjoy seeing all the prototypes that highlight the Nuts Museum (in 2006), from the early MOAC to the latest camming device developments; through the procedure of time and space, some of them linger on the drawing board to disclose their secrets at some later date…

If gathering all these treasures required a great deal of energy, patience and a strong sense of persuasion, this collection would not have been possible without the trust, faith and the shared passion of many generous donators.

While watching many of these sophisticated tools it looks like the time of the pocketful of stones is so far away and yet…

ALTITUDE EQUIPMENT ( Australia ) : 2 prototype Poly-Hex's # 10 # 11
BLACK DIAMOND ( USA ) : 2 prototype Camalots (1993), 1 prototype Camalot C3 (2005) # 1
BLUE LIGHT (THE) (France) : 1 prototype for drilled holes
BOHN David (USA) : 1 prototype Big Sis (1997)
CANADIAN ALPINE MANUFACTURING ( Canada ) : 1 prototype CABLE CAM
CCH ( USA ) : 1 prototype Alien SL (1994) # 2
CLIMB TECH ( USA ) : 1 prototype Removable Bolt , 2 prototype Tech Nuts (1999)
CMI (USA) : 2 prototype Wallnuts , 1 prototype Beamchok
COYOTE MOUNTAIN WORKS ( USA ) : 1 Samson # 4 (1986) made of composite
DMM (Wales) : 1 prototype 4CU (2000)
EXTREME MOUNTAINGEAR ( Canada ) : 1 prototype 4 cam unit with a flexible U stem, 1 prototype 4 cam unit with a flexible stem
HARRIS Bob ( Germany ) : 1 prototype width adjustable chock (1976)
HB CLIMBING EQUIPMENT ( Wales ) : 2 prototype Micromates # 0 # 1 ½, 1 prototype Cobra
JARDINE Ray ( USA ) : 1 prototype Friend # 4 with magnesium cams
LOWE ALPINE SYSTEMS / Greg LOWE (USA) : 1 prototype Tri Cam (1973), 2 prototype Cam Nuts (1973), 1 prototype Tri Cam on wire (1983), 1 prototype Fan Cam # 3
METOLIUS (USA) : 1 prototype 3-Cam (1986) # 4, 1 prototype Curve Hex-2000 (1999) # 10 on Spectra, 1 prototype Ultralight Curve Nut (2006) # 4
MIDDENDORF John / A5 (USA) : 1 prototype Monkey Paw (1987)
MOAC / John BRAILSFORD ( England ) : 1 prototype MOAC (one of the six original pyramids)
NOSLEY (France) : 1 nut made of black epoxy (1972)
OZDIAN Bedrich ( Czech Republic ) : 1 prototype Bosfer , 1 prototype Duo (1996)
OMEGA PACIFIC (USA) : 1 prototype Link Cam (2004) # 1
PECK CLIMBING EQUIPMENT ( England ) : 1 big prototype Ny-Chock , 1 prototype hollow Chock
SALEWA (Germany) : 1 prototype “ Vertebra Nut ”, 1 prototype “Friend” # 4 with plastic blue cams, 1 prototype Key (1987) # 7
SMITH Harry ( England ) : 1 prototype aluminium hex nut (1961/1962)
SPLITTER GEAR ( USA ) : 1 prototype 2Cam # 2, 1 prototype 6Cam # 3
TRANGO / REED, MOUNTAIN HARDWARE / LUEBBEN (USA) : 1 prototype BigBro (December 1984) # 2, 2 prototype BigBros (2003) # .5 # 5, 1 prototype MaxCam (2003), 1 prototype MaxCam (2004) # 3
VIAMONT ( Czech Republic ) : 1 prototype “Hex” (2004) # 2
WILD COUNTRY ( England ) : 1 prototype Friend # 2, 2 prototype Cosmic Cams (1983) # 1(?) # 5
WIRED BLISS ( USA ) : 1 prototype Two-Cam Sam , 1 prototype 3/4 TCU (1983/1984)
YATES GEAR ( USA ) : 1 home-made large came device with rigid stem # 6 (prototype Big Dude )

The Nuts Museum is very comprehensive, but it is still short of a few item. For a full list please go back to the
Nuts Museum.

Also click for:
Nuts' Story: 2001 a Nut Odyssey
Clockwork Friends and
Early Equipment Catalogues.

Photo: Stéphane Pennequin preparing to photograph his millenium arangement of nuts and cams as seen on the main
Nuts' Museum page.

Stéphane PENNEQUIN
Photo Hall, 18 Cours Napoléon
F-20000 Ajaccio FRANCE
Phone : (00 33) 4 95 21 43 31
E-Mail : pennequin.nutstory@wanadoo.fr

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