CLIMBING - EQUIPMENT - Protection Gear



Protection Gear comes in various shapes and sizes with the main aim of protecting the climber from a fall and to secure the climbing rope. Placed securely in cracks, they are used as anchors or running belays.

Nut's or Chocks fall into two [2] areas generally the Wedge and Hexcentric and can be found on standard rope or tape, on special high-tensile nylon cord [spectra] or on wire [the joints often stronger than the wire itself]. Most are tapered in such a way that they will lodge in a variety of crack shapes and sizes, and vary from micro-nuts for tiny cracks to huge aluminum wedges like the hexcentric.

The traditional wedge shaped nut the MOAC with straight sides is still used. Today the most common ones in use are the ones that have curved faces on them, one convex and another concave and are more versatile. The Walnut allows for three [3] stable points of contact giving holding power, also giving the option of left and right facing placements. The tapering scoops make it possible to have secure placements even when the nut is only half in.

The Hexcentrics are like hexagonal in shape but with five [5] sides of unequal size have a camming action, which pulls tighter as the load increases and allows them to be used in parallel-sided cracks.

Friends[active camming devices] are very versatile and the placement of protection is made easy by the design and the ability to provide protection in previously impossible positions. Today they are lot smaller, stronger and lighter due the improvements in technology. They come in varied sizes from 10mm to 200mm.

You will find them in three [3] or four [4] cam devices with the three [3] being for thinner or narrower placements, these are less stable than the four cam.

Care must be taken when placing Friends into cracks so that all the cams are in contact with the rock as loose cams increase the chance of the cams to walk into cracks which can reduce the holding power or make them difficult to extract for the following climber. Cleaning of the Friends should be done in warm water and mild soap periodically.

A Nut Key is required as it aids in the removal of protection devices from stubborn cracks and also prevents the knuckles from being skinned.

You are advice to seek advice from the specialist shops and also learn the correct way of placing the protection gear as each piece of protection gear is different.

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