Firsthand experiences with ballnutz?

Wondering what people’s experiences with ballnutz have been? Looking for something that can be used in real thin parallel cracks and fissures that are too small for cams and don’t hold nuts… pitons fit the bill obviously but I don’t love the habit of leaving pitons all over the place. Ballnutz advertise functioning in those same circumstances but just wondering what everyone’s experiences have been. Anyone taken a fall on one?

Thanks!

Love them. They work well for trad climbing around here (bullet basalt, gear protected face climbing). Haven’t taken a fall, have aided on them. Would recommend. 

A gift from the gods! 

Rarely used but sometimes the only thing that'll work.  Worth owning. 

Kevin Millerwrote:

Wondering what people’s experiences with ballnutz have been? Looking for something that can be used in real thin parallel cracks and fissures that are too small for cams and don’t hold nuts… pitons fit the bill obviously but I don’t love the habit of leaving pitons all over the place. Ballnutz advertise functioning in those same circumstances but just wondering what everyone’s experiences have been. Anyone taken a fall on one?

Thanks!

I have whipped on #2 and up and placed #1s as psychological pro, can be hard to get out once weighted. I consider them a niche piece and regularly carry them unless faced with a particularly thin seam

Godspeed.

Prefaced with ‘yes’, I definitely know how to place a slider.  I’ve had what I thought was a perfect placement fail in a fall, and I’ve had one I thought would rip hold a good whip.  Both of those in bullet basalt.

Awesome pieces where nothing else will fit, but sometimes a chore to clean after a fall.  Cam hooks are probably better in most cases, but good for clean aid too, especially wonky thin pin scars.  Another positive is they hardly take any space on the rack.  I’ll throw them on the beaner with my smaller wires if I think I’ll need them.  Definitely recommended.

Have whipped on the red one and it held. It also stayed there. 

Never whipped on one, but have used and placed them.  They’re an essential part of my “bag of tricks biner” for rounding out an alpine rack.  A Ballnut or two, along with a knifeblade, a few small offset RP’s, a pink Tricam, and maybe a small slung hex .  

Whenever a std cam or nut just won’t take, or you’re out of the right size, one of those will always work.  It’s like a “security blankie” biner. 

Fell on one of the three smaller ones.  Lots of rope out. Lots of rope drag. It held.

Good video on pull testing them to failure: youtube.com/watch?v=qkyIEv7…

My experience with them has been positive.  I find them easy to carry, since they don't have cam lobes that go off at a 90 degree angle, light, and to me they are "brass for parallel placements".  I don't find them hard to place, and even had one rotate almost 180 degrees without failing (aid climbing, I had forgotten to unclip my daisy).  My partner spun it back down and weighted it because he'd never seen one before.  It held.  Also, possibly the exception that proves the rule.  I'm guessing that the most common cause of failure for a ballnut is dirt inside the placement - rain will deposit crud inside thin cracks, that wind cannot clean out.  Try retracting the ball all the way, and scrubbing around a little with the anvil before you seat the ballnut.   I have taken short falls onto them,mostly skittering falls while friction climbing, and used them for aid.  Yes, they can be tricky to clean, since the lower edge of the anvil (?) is so thin.  

I couldn't remember for sure, so I just compared my smallest (black, .33- .54 CCH) Alien to my largest (purple, #5 CAMP) ballnut They cover almost exactly the same range.  And the thick end of the range of a #1 ballnut is ~ = to the thickest knifeblade piton.  Thus, a rock saving device.  If you keep following this rabbit hole, you'll find a lot of people saying they like the old Lowe/Byrne nuts in preference to the CAMP or Trango ballnuts.  Something about the metal alloy sticking better in a fall.  The Trangos have a cross-hatch pattern on the back of the anvil that may prevent walking a bit better than the Lowe/Byrne or CAMP versions.  

Smallest ones are great for thin C1 aid climbing in parallel sided cracks. They are also used as specialty pieces in hard, pre-rehearsed trad climbing. The bigger sizes seem useless as micro cams cover this range and work better.

I like the second smallest “red” the best. Smaller than the smallest cams but still fairly easy to place well. The smallest blue one can go in some crazy small cracks but don’t seem to find placements for it as often. 

Get 2 of the reds. I have a blue and never place it, but almost always have room for 2 reds if I have room for 1. Doubling them up seems smart, since they are so small. Larger than red overlaps with cams, so forget them.

I have never fallen on one.

As far as frequency of use? I placed one today if that counts for something. They are light, and reduce runouts in Eldo, at least. Whether you will like them depends on where you climb.

Also, do you think regular climbers use pitons? They are basically for established aid routes only, or remote alpine first ascents. Highly destructive. People will be really mad if you try to place one almost anywhere.

wisamwrote:

I like the second smallest “red” the best. Smaller than the smallest cams but still fairly easy to place well. The smallest blue one can go in some crazy small cracks but don’t seem to find placements for it as often. 

I concur, the red is the one that’s smaller than smallest cams and is robust enough to take a whip, bigger crack is better with a cam and the smaller blue one is scary small.

You need something to hammer them out with if you weight them, but I've seen one hold where it was too funky and textured for micro cams.  I've also placed a microcam where a ballnut wouldn't go.