Damn these little buggers are expensive. I found myself facing a 50 footer on a slab this weekend. I was not too enamoured with the whole idea. If I had some smaller stoppers I think life would have been easier. I am not interested in anything that cannot handle more than 5kn. I have stoppers down to a BD #4.

Rp's are what you are looking for.

I've had good "luck" with the BD Micros. I'm not sure about the ratings, though. Check their website. I've definitely taken a couple of short falls onto tiny ones. They held, even though I had little faith in them. Sometimes the small stuff surprises you.

As far as RP's are concerned are there any brands in particular I should lean towards?

I like the Metolius Astronuts. I have fallen repeatedly on the largest two, although they are not that small. If you can get the HB offsets, those are pretty sweet too.

HB Offset Brass Nuts are great thin-crack pro. Their trapezoidal shape is a plus over the rectangular shape of other small nuts (RPs, BD Micro Stoppers), in my opinion. Sizes 2 through 6 are rated 6kN to 10kN.

Also consider adding a Yates Screamer to your rack to increase the security of marginal gear placements.

DMM Peanuts are good also.

BD micros (copper steel) are good- the other one is the HB micros (brass) they are wider and get more seated against the rock ,adn so can be less prone to blow-outs. But hte ratio of thickness of the cable to the nut is higer, and they are wide, so they can be tougher to place.

HB offsets are good where HB offsets are good. What I can never believe is how bad they ususally are while people are calling them good. Since they flare, if you pu then in a flat taiper, or a flare that does not match, they have very little contact- that razor's edge of contact will melt right off in a hard pull. ANd what's more, a flared nut in a flared placement- well, it;s better than a straight nut in a flared placement... but I place 10 flat nuts for every offset, and I climb a LOT of really thin stuff.

In the end, YMMV.

So as far as regular stoppers go I have BD stoppers down to #3 and some HB offsets. I want to beef up what I have from #6 down seeing that I don't have any double sizes from #5 down. What would best compliment my BD's?

Has anyone ever heard of "crack'em ups" or something like that? I've heard that they are for small cracks. Still, I've never seen one. Does anyone have photos, or experience with them? Are they any good? Why are they not made anymore?

When you look at the #2 Crack-n-Up, you'll see why they never marketed the #1

Another vote here for the Astro Nuts. I don't place them often, but when I do, they're just the ticket -- fit weird cracks like a glove.

JL

I've been doing some "Death Leads" on Astro Nuts. They tend to fit in crazy places and look good but at 2.5Kn (For #1-#5) they might not hold on a whipper. Has anyone ever fallen on these? They've been psychological pro for me I guess. My plan is that if I need to bail I can down climb a bit and grab the draw. Ha!

Man!

I saw the title to this thread and thought it would be about petite, lazy hookers!

Anyway -

#1 vote - the original RP's
#2 vote - HB offsets - but as mentioned before, they don't work everywhere - but when they do they are the best.
#3 vote - BD steel.

Also, don't discount the ones rated below 5kn. When you are facing that 50 footer, anything is better than nothing. Besides, a slab fall often does not generate much force.

Now, on to the important stuff - when is the next MP beer night at the Yardhouse?

Crack'n'ups were designed to be an aid tool, and have morphed into the BD pecker, check out this link: http://www.backcountry.com/store/BLD0753/c5/s27/Black-Diamon>>>>>
Using these as pro is probably pretty low percentage!

I use the 3-5 BD steel nuts pretty regularly and like them, I carry some small brass nuts with a cross taper (HB Anchors?) as well on thin routes to have more options.

I highly recommend the Yates Screamers that Ron mentioned for micronuts, manky pins, marginal placements, etc. I have "activated" the stitching a few times on mine.

RP's and HB's (brass, offsets) I've lead down to #1's and have seen 15' falls taken on #3 RP's several times (Jim Waugh on GBU free attempts and Chris Pomeroy on Rapture of the Steep- and others I cannot remember so clear).

BD/Chouinards I have never had success with the DMM peanuts never fit for me.

...look over my Steppin' in the Slide zone beta- I placed two #2 HB's and two equally small RP's on the second part of that lead. On the Reef I lead out 20' on a #1 HB and was very happy it was there. If anyone jumps on "Ways" they will die w/o small brass nuts and stainless steel balls.

I carried crack n ups for 3-4 years (in back to back mode) and never placed them.

Roland is a god- bought my first set from Silly Dick in the Camp 4 parking lot, my first HB's came from JRAT...

16th works for me.

Who else is in?

P.S. Mark - I'm on it! No promises though.

Got a set of small Trango brass (someone gave them to me) and the trango Nutz (also free gift). Different shape. I don't climb an awful lot and have never used anything else, so I can't really compare but they go into SD granite nicely, sometimes.