Thoughts on hexes?

I don't think I have placed a hex in 20 years.

I kind of think of people who insist on having hexes on their rack as hipsters who bring a typewriter to the coffee shop.

You can certainly get by without them, and if your goals in climbing involve pushing your limits, you will probably get rid of them. But maybe you won't though, and then you can be an authoritative voice on the yearly "should I buy hexes" thread for years to come!

Sorry about the microaggression..

Is that a flannel shirt, beanie, suspenders and a cool mustache in your profile pic Seth? I rest my case.

Because cams in the late 80s and early 90s were pricey and I was a po'ass, I started out with a mix of tricams, nuts, camlocks, abalakovs and hexes. By 1995, at which point I acquired a passable assortment of various cams, all of that junk, save for the nuts, stayed in my gear box.

Last year I dug out the tricams and hexes for a dolomite trip, mainly because I did not want to fly with a full rack & sport gear & camping gear & monkey knots for Czech sandstone and.... I ended up mostly clipping threads and rusty pins, but I did place a hex or two, more than the tricams. So they are not useless, but I would hardly recommend a hex centered rack.

If I brought hexes for a day climbing, my friends would make fun of me and I would feel sad. Don't feel sad, use cams.

#11 BD hex is a damn great #4 C4 replacement in granite if you want to go lighter.

I love those cowbells, but wouldn't use smaller ones.

I love hexes. suggest you learn to use them on 5.easy. Lead using passive gear exclusively from time to time. Soon you'll be able to place them as quickly as active gear. Hexes really shine in areas with really long approaches. The weight saved can be tremendous.

Suggest you look for a set slung on cord instead of wire. Cord packs down better than wire.

I'm so old that when I started leading, pins were the only choice for protection. I can remember reading the famous Chouinard article arguing for passive pro and thinking what a wild idea that was.

Given that, I have placed a LOT of hexes over the years. And I can tell you, learning to place hexes, today, is just not worth the time and effort. As someone else said, you won't ever use them on hard climbs, and by the time you get good at placing them, you won't need them on the easy climbs.

Of course, there are always specific places where a hex will work, but that is true of every type of pro. So what? The question is: Is it worth spending the money and time on hexes versus the newer and, let's be honest, better types of pro? No. Technology moves forward.

As another example, I am now teaching my children how to ice climb. And, I am not teaching them how to ice climb with 30 year-old ice tools or 30 year-old ice screws. I am teaching them using modern ice tools and screws, since the new equipment is simply better.

Michael Lehner wrote:Technology moves forward. As another example, I am now teaching my children how to ice climb. And, I am not teaching them how to ice climb with 30 year-old ice tools or 30 year-old ice screws. I am teaching them using modern ice tools and screws, since the new equipment is simply better.

I guess. But everyone still uses nuts. Well mostly everyone. Its not obsolete just because its been around for a while.

I also dont really understand all the comments about 'learning to place hexes'. With the exception of placing it in a parallel crack they are probably the most dummy proof placement out there.

jason.cre wrote: I also dont really understand all the comments about 'learning to place hexes'. With the exception of placing it in a parallel crack they are probably the most dummy proof placement out there.

I've seen more than a few new climbers working with hexes who don't know how to cam them. So yea, there is a learning curve.

Gunkiemike wrote: I've seen more than a few new climbers working with hexes who don't know how to cam them. So yea, there is a learning curve.

Damn the instructions that come with buying one, or the numerous references found in writing, pictures, forums, and other - just as you should be paying attention to for any piece of equipment you will trust your life to.

It is not the piece of pro's fault.

Sometimes the situation calls for what you have available, or what works best for the placement. Having multiple options for a single piece can be handy.

jason.cre wrote: I guess. But everyone still uses nuts. Well mostly everyone. Its not obsolete just because its been around for a while. I also dont really understand all the comments about 'learning to place hexes'. With the exception of placing it in a parallel crack they are probably the most dummy proof placement out there.

I completely agree with you that everyone still uses nuts, but the nuts used are almost always stoppers, not hexes. My comments were specific to hexes, the topic under discussion.

BigFeet wrote: Damn the instructions that come with buying one, or the numerous references found in writing, pictures, forums, and other - just as you should be paying attention to for any piece of equipment you will trust your life to. It is not the piece of pro's fault.

Agreed. Although that being said, there is not a huge amounts of information online about how to place these. Probably because a lot of people don't use them anymore. Even the user manuals which I read are bare minimum to no information. Most of the people I climb with don't use them. So I had to instruct myself through hours and hours of ground placement practice, weighting and bounce testing and whatever information I could find online. Totally worth it though. I gained a very good eye for placements of hexes and can place them fairly quick and know all the settings they can sit in. Even if this doesn't serve me as I become a better and stronger trad climber I had a wonderful time learning how to use them. But that's just me.

BD #9 hex saved my life. It was place in a horizontal crack where nuts would not work. It is now retired and replaced by a cam with. I do still carry the smaller old wired hexes 1-3. Most of the times I place them like nuts but sometimes they work better than nuts.

Cams are more versatile and you will get more use out of them than hexes. Faster to place too. Personally I would carry tri cams over hexes

I have a complete set of Chouinard Hexes, given to me by my father. I only carry the #9, and then only as a hammer to use on the nut tool.

If I had any plans to go climb alpine routes with ice in the cracks, I'd resling them, and plan on pounding them in. But I don't, so they sit in the gear bin.

I've never owned hexes, but I want to pick up some of the DMM Torque Nuts for alpine routes. Anybody looking to sell?

I have the 4-set of torque nuts, I generally treat them as limited cams. They're even colored to match the corresponding Camalot sizes.

I find they can often replace a cam at a belay anchor, so I get decent mileage with them even if it's a cam-centric climb.

I figure in this way I save some weight on long approaches and also give myself a little extra flexibility for the occasional horizontal and/or icy cracks. Basically, they're for alpine climbs- but I use them front-country too to stay proficient.

I wouldn't carry a big ol set of twelve hexes, or anything like that.

Nick Sweeney wrote:I've never owned hexes, but I want to pick up some of the DMM Torque Nuts for alpine routes. Anybody looking to sell?

Good luck, I waited for nearly a year trying to find a deal on dmm torque nuts & dmm offset nuts, but nobody ever seems to sell either, and they don't go on sale much.

Patrick Shyvers wrote:I have the 4-set of torque nuts, I generally treat them as limited cams. They're even colored to match the corresponding Camalot sizes. I find they can often replace a cam at a belay anchor, so I get decent mileage with them even if it's a cam-centric climb. I figure in this way I save some weight on long approaches and also give myself a little extra flexibility for the occasional horizontal and/or icy cracks. Basically, they're for alpine climbs- but I use them front-country too to stay proficient. I wouldn't carry a big ol set of twelve hexes, or anything like that. Good luck, I waited for nearly a year trying to find a deal on dmm torque nuts & dmm offset nuts, but nobody ever seems to sell either, and they don't go on sale much.

I think somewhere earlier in this thread someone offered a set of never-used Torque Nuts for $40.

Gearexpress has both the Torque Nuts and the offsets for 25% off. DMM pro is often on sale there. That's where I got complete sets of Torque Nuts, Wall Nuts, offsets, and Dragon Cams, all 25% off.

Back in the day, I learned on hexes and stoppers. As I returned to the sport last year I set about reslinging my old hexes and even bought the set of four larger DMM Torque Nuts thinking they were a nice improvement on the old design (smaller, wired, hexes always seemed to me not quite as useful). You know what, though? As my cam collection grew those cowbells just kept sinking deeper and deeper into the dark, yawning abyss of my gear bin. I can't bear to part with them yet thinking they might get used somewhere, somehow, someday...hmmm...maybe I'll go back up on Bastille Crack with just hexes and stoppers for grins. There IS something very satisfying about camming a nice solid hex into that perfect spot. Still, I love these new modern cams and my hex days might actually be over, whether I have fully realized it or not. Sniff...sniff.

Randomly Vicious wrote:Gearexpress has both the Torque Nuts and the offsets for 25% off. DMM pro is often on sale there. That's where I got complete sets of Torque Nuts, Wall Nuts, offsets, and Dragon Cams, all 25% off.

I'll take "Things I wish I'd known" for $400

climbing friend,

let your large hexes hang low, for showing you are true mountain man of power.