The Whole Natural Art of Protection

simplyput wrote:Other than the tables indicating suggested runner lengths, I wouldn't consider any of the information to be obsolete. People are still using the same methods to protect trad climbs.

The method used to connect opposed nuts is obsolete and potentially dangerous: in a vertical crack, routing the sling from the lower nut through the upper biner increases the load on the upper piece unnecessarily. Couple that with the "pulley effect" of the rope at the top piece and you've got a huge increase in applied force.

But overall, I think Robinson's essay is a very important part of climbing history that everyone should read. Having learned to lead at that time, I can't stress enough what a significant influence it was back then.

tsherry wrote: It is in the Chouinard Equipment Catalog, so we would hope so :D

and so it's biased.

gription wrote:To me this is an advertisment disguised as an article.

Sure, seeing that Doug Robinson's (not Yvon Chouinard) piece ran in a catalog, as others have mentioned, but at the time, most climbers did not know many/most of these techniques, many still in use today. It was incredibly eye-opening at the time, when the typical rack in the Gunks was 4-6 of those newfangled nuts and a half dozen pitons.

gription wrote: and so it's biased.

No. The only other sources of instruction of that type at the time was Freedom of the Hills and Royal Robinson's Rockcraft and Advanced Rockcraft. Besides Chouinard Equipment, there were really only a few other manufacturers then, notably SMC and Forrest Mountaineering. Those 3 accounted for probably 90% of the climbing gear market in the US.

Marc801 wrote: No. The only other sources of instruction of that type at the time was Freedom of the Hills and Royal Robinson's Rockcraft and Advanced Rockcraft. Besides Chouinard Equipment, there were really only a few other manufacturers then, notably SMC and Forrest Mountaineering. Those 3 accounted for probably 90% of the climbing gear market in the US.

Unless they were giving Hexes away, for free, it's biased. bye.

Interesting article.

Is the following statement from the article still good advice? Any drawbacks to this?

"A few drops of epoxy glue, welding the wire to the nut, will allow pushing with the wire to facilitate removal."

Jim Turner wrote:Interesting article. Is the following statement from the article still good advice? Any drawbacks to this? "A few drops of epoxy glue, welding the wire to the nut, will allow pushing with the wire to facilitate removal."

I'm wondering if that sentence only applies to the old nuts that were an actual nut from the hardware store on a wire.

It looks like Chouinard anticipated being called a hypocrite. Here is the last paragraph

Good stuff

tsherry wrote: I'm wondering if that sentence only applies to the old nuts that were an actual nut from the hardware store on a wire.

As I remember, old wired hexes (#1-3),, we epoxied/glued on top of the nut to prevent it from pushing through. The nuts were drilled for cord..5-6mm The other laternate was bending the wire just before it contacted the nut

Stoppers were never expoxied because they were frequently slipped over hangerless bolts

tsherry wrote: I'm wondering if that sentence only applies to the old nuts that were an actual nut from the hardware store on a wire.

No...some folks epoxied their commercially available wired nuts (like Chouinard, Troll, Peck, etc) back then.

I did a set of mine, but, found them hard to tighten onto a stud/bolt that was missing a hanger, so, quit doing that with all of them.

Seemed to help with pushing a nut loose, though (rather than pushing and having a nut slide down the wire a bit).

Great old classic article...thanks, Doug!

Stoppers came in half sizes, and I epoxied mine. I kept a few for slipping onto bolts without hangers, but not the whole rack. Haven't bothered in 25 years.

Hexes were on Perlon, only the first few small ones on wire.

FOTH and RR's books were things as they were, the Chouinard catalog the future.

You could probably thank the "Iron Age" for all those free routes on El Cap. Pin scar locks are schweet!

Pnelson wrote: ... REI still sells mountain bikes nonetheless...?

I applaud them for this. Banning bikes is asinine. From what I see the main argument against bikes in the wilderness is they are technology based and thus ruin other more rustic users enjoyment. I guess I am not taking a stand on this hypocrite issue because one can always expect a company to advertise their current products. If that product is used out of doors they will often take an environmental impact angle with their ad/article. All very normal marketing behavior. REI selling bikes and promoting wilderness expansion are not mutually exclusive ideas.

karl kvashay wrote:You could probably thank the "Iron Age" for all those free routes on El Cap. Pin scar locks are schweet!

And very similarly you can thank mountain bikers for putting in and maintaining awesome wilderness trails that have now been hijacked by other user groups.

Jeremy in Inyokern wrote: And very similarly you can thank mountain bikers for putting in and maintaining awesome wilderness trails that have now been hijacked by other user groups.

Absolutely true. Many of my MTBer friends are the most active trailbuilders. Both hiking and biking trails. Generally, mountain bikers build the trails, hikers discover the trails, hikers get angry at mountain bikes on the trails. Current effort in my hometown is to build bike-only and hike-only trails simultaneously. But this is getting off topic.

Regarding the Chouinard catalogs of old, if you did not climb in the seventies, I doubt you can grasp the importance of these catalogs. Climbing information was very scarce, and since clean climbing was new, information on what was available and how to use it was even more so.

Tom Stryker wrote:Regarding the Chouinard catalogs of old, if you did not climb in the seventies, I doubt you can grasp the importance of these catalogs. Climbing information was very scarce, and since clean climbing was new, information on what was available and how to use it was even more so.

+1

Jeremy in Inyokern wrote: And very similarly you can thank mountain bikers for putting in and maintaining awesome wilderness trails that have now been hijacked by other user groups.

The same can be said about others. Most people think the Slick Rock Trail in Moab is for mtn. bikers. Most do not know it was created in the late 60s by motocross riders.

As for the article, it has historical perspective but it also holds a timeless message. FIgure out how to limit your impact regardless if at the crag or anywhere else.

Trails all around Denver and CO that were created by dirt bikes have been successfully closed to dirt bikes by the mtn bikers and hikers that now enjoy them. Meanwhile, many wilderness bills allow exceptions for mining, logging and grazing... but no mtn bikes or dirt bikes allowed. I suppose it helps to diversify ones hobbies so as to not be shut out of the mountains.