Help me with my nuts? I seem to have an abundance...

Especially as I'm not (yet!) really placing gear. Sheesh. Gifts, and a purchase of used, early on, means an eclectic collection of sorta almost kinda three sets, lol!

Question is, how should these be grouped, or racked? I'll keep the brassies together, but make two "sets", one large, one small? It seems, at a glance, I have about three sets in the normal sized, with spares, lol!

And yes, Frank, I'll be hunting for a top rope solo that eats nuts breakfast lunch and dinner, I promise! What little I've done, I do seem to see nut placements pretty readily. 

And yes, I have cams.

Any advantage to the single straight sided nut?

Thanks, guys! I finally have ample time to get out now. I've not been on my local stuff much, but, lots of trips this season with more planned!!

Best, Helen

Rack the brass as two or one, rack 8 of the mediums together. Keep 4 of the bigger ones and swap out the rest for a few more smaller to fill in between the those and the medium so yah got about 8 total.

I rack mine 4 to a biner by size, largest in back.  It has worked for me (I do rack on a sling) any more than 4 seems to create extra opportunities for one to jump off the biner while you are trying to extract the one next to it. One handed it is easy to push the ones you don't want out of the way (usually up past the gate) and pull out the one you want, this can all be done without removing the biner from the sling avoiding any opportunity to drop them all.

Man, you got a lot of big nuts!  Seems like one yellow and one orange Metolius would cancel all of those out.

That's waaaaay too many to carry.  Easily ditch close to half of those, unless you aren't bringing a normal selection of cams.  Rack on 2 biners.  I rack on two ovals (small and large) and then I have a third oval with my wires/brassies, which I only bring if I'm on a route that needs them.  I never used or needed the small stuff until I was getting on stuff in the 10's, FYI.  

Keep your nuts up front, and if you have a good stance, get in the habit of placing them preferentially over cams.  Good practice.  

Another tip, ovals can rotate so that they aren't in the best position to remove a nut, and it can be difficult to tell whether the gate is oriented the right way when you're placing a nut from a nervous stance.  I like to add a couple wraps of black electric tape around the top of the biner, so that I can easily and immediately tell where the gate is and how the biner is oriented.  It holds up for quite a while, but obviously has to be replaced after some time.

Take all those tiny nuts and just set them aside. That means up to about #4 BD size. Keep a set of BD #4 to #11 (or equivalent. I'm a big fan of DMM nuts). File the rest away in your cabinet for later.

Too many choices makes for paralysis analysis. You've got enough of that already.

Cut the cables off and use the nuts as drawer knobs on a desk or dresser. Or in the kitchen if you feel like remodeling.

You’ll probably only need doubles and really small stuff for aid or routes where the guidebook says otherwise. Personally, I like using nuts In spots where the crack has a very dramatic taper, getting much narrower down low. The taper of the crack will make a cam really unstable, but the construction it creates makes a nut more stable. Or for places too narrow for a cam

Señor Arroz wrote: Take all those tiny nuts and just set them aside. That means up to about #4 BD size. Keep a set of BD #4 to #11 (or equivalent. I'm a big fan of DMM nuts). File the rest away in your cabinet for later.

Too many choices makes for paralysis analysis. You've got enough of that already.

Kind of off topic, but last I saw it seems BD effectively copied DMM nuts (about a year ago?).

physnchips wrote:

Kind of off topic, but last I saw it seems BD effectively copied DMM nuts (about a year ago?).

I own a set of each. The BD ones are definitely "inspired by" the DMMs but they're not exact. The two sets actually play well together if you need a lot of offset nuts for a particular route.

I rack mine on 3 ‘biner , one large, one medium (including doubles of BD blue) and one  small that includes DMM brass offsets.  I’ve found too many nuts on one ‘biner increases likelihood of dropping one.

Thanks, all!
 
I have some ovals, not notchless, oh well. They'll do for now, I expect.

For those advocating cams, you missed that I have cams. Also an eclectic assortment, lol! Gifted and new. Plus other gear I won't mention lest I get flamed for owning it.

Those tiny nuts, including the brass? Actually got placed for real. In between bolts where ground fall was a possibility. The out of town partner and I each went up and down on them, until we got the next bit sorted out. So, I've top roped off of them! Admittedly with bolt backup, but still...those little guys impressed me. 

In between spicy bolting is likely how I will be placing gear most often, especially if it gets down to being "stuck" on something and wanting a bit of a cheat. An awful lot of what I have to climb, is old school, really more toward mixed, than nice "safe" sport, as I understand it's "supposed" to be. If I do decide to try gear leads, it will most likely be at City of Rocks. Even here in Boise, though, there are a couple I may lead on gear, eventually.

Best, Helen

OLH, here is mt recimmendation FWIW.
I first started leading single pitch on 2 sets of nuts, a full set of hexes and a full set of cams. The goal was to force myself to really learn the art of nut placements early on.  Ever since I have been a big advocate of using nuts on lead whenever possible and practical.  
Many years later I still love placing chocks but I have learned I dont need to sets now that I supplemented my rack with more cams which generally faster to place and easier to clean one-handed (esoecially when simuling or climbing fast on long routes).
Although I still occasionally try to climb a pitch solely on passive gear I have found many years ago I no longer need 2 sets of nuts.  So now I carry a full set from 4-13 (I only place the 4 or 5 in granite or similar hard rock) and I found that doubles in 7 and 8 (red and yellow BD I think) seem to be the ones I use most often.  
 

For you I would suggest cutting back to a set of doubles from 6-11 with one 12 and one 13 and see how that works for you.  Then just keep track of what you use and dont use often and pare back more.  One set on one carabiner and the other on a separate carabiner.  And the brass nuts could come in handy on a third.  Just remember to be leary of small nuts and never trust very small nuts in sandstone or similar rock.  They are not likely to hold a fall.
Also, I have bootied around 130 nuts over the years and have found many different brands.  The ones I have found to work best are first the old Chouinard cruve nuts that curve on both the wide and narrow sides, but I am told by some old school climbers that they tended to get stuck on the narrow side.  Modern nuts I prefer BD and the DMM walnuts with preference for BD.  I have found zero advantage to flat sided nuts.  

A lot will have to do with where you climb, the types of climbs, and types of rock. For instance, I use a double set of full BD nutz. I live near granite with small cracks, so small wires are a godsend. Since it can be small, I may want to plug 2 or 3 of those suckers in.  Also, you'll occasionally need bail gear on trad routes depending on remoteness and leaver nutz are great for that.

Thanks, all!

Local rock is columnar black basalt, described sometimes as greased glass, in warm temps, lol! My local trips are to City of Rocks, 3 hours from here. I'll likely stick with sport and top rope there, for awhile, just to get mileage in on such great rock.

Heaps of stuff to practice on locally. Top rope soloing ahead, for sure! I'll take the cams too, but I'll be trying to plug as much gear as I can, of all sizes and types. I don't "see" cams, yet, and still have to find out what size my fingers/hands match. I do see passive placements, and, what little I've done, hit it correctly or only one off, so far. And, if a patient partner surfaces who wants to help, I'll do that too.

Honestly, I still have no idea what grade I climb. I think I can generally claim 5.7, 8ish (but still shut down on 5.6 perhaps), now that I've climbed enough elsewhere to judge. Everywhere else has been easier, because the rock is friendlier. But, I also have not much for crack climbing, so far. Just a bit of a jamb, here or there. That, could make a big difference. So could climbs with closer bolting and cleaner falls. Sigh. Why do we love this crap so much???

Using the suggestions, here is what I sorted it into. There is almost the same amount, 15ish, all on an oval I can throw in if I think I'll want it.

Thanks so much! Helen

Old lady H wrote:

Especially as I'm not (yet!) really placing gear. Sheesh. Gifts, and a purchase of used, early on, means an eclectic collection of sorta almost kinda three sets, lol!

Question is, how should these be grouped, or racked? I'll keep the brassies together, but make two "sets", one large, one small? It seems, at a glance, I have about three sets in the normal sized, with spares, lol!

And yes, Frank, I'll be hunting for a top rope solo that eats nuts breakfast lunch and dinner, I promise! What little I've done, I do seem to see nut placements pretty readily.

And yes, I have cams.

Any advantage to the single straight sided nut?

Thanks, guys! I finally have ample time to get out now. I've not been on my local stuff much, but, lots of trips this season with more planned!!

Best, Helen

My standard rack is a double set of cams from micro to green camalot size and then one each of the red, yellow and blue.  But those three bigger sizes get doubled too when I head out west where there is more crack climbing. (Of course, certain crack climbs require more cams and bigger sizes, but I don't carry those as a matter of course.)  In the nut department I have basically a full set (although not all from the same manufacturer).  The five largest sizes on one carabiner and six smaller sizes on a second carabiner.  I usually carry a third carabiner with an assortment of brassies---they weigh nothing and you don't need them until you do.  I sometimes add three tricams to the mix, black, pink, and red, either on a hunch or because someone told me they are really essential (which is only occasionally the case).  Finally, again if I know or suspect something ahead of time, I'll also carry three ballnuts.

rgold wrote:

My standard rack is a double set of cams from micro to green camalot size and then one each of the red, yellow and blue.  But those three bigger sizes get doubled too when I head out west where there is more crack climbing. (Of course, certain crack climbs require more cams and bigger sizes, but I don't carry those as a matter of course.)  In the nut department I have basically a full set (although not all from the same manufacturer).  The five largest sizes on one carabiner and six smaller sizes on a second carabiner.  I usually carry a third carabiner with an assortment of brassies---they weigh nothing and you don't need them until you do.  I sometimes add three tricams to the mix, black, pink, and red, either on a hunch or because someone told me they are really essential (which is only occasionally the case).  Finally, again if I know or suspect something ahead of time, I'll also carry three ballnuts.

When does the hunch accommodate offset nuts? ;) 

I do something very similar. Except I run several offsets on the brassie biner. Though I didn’t see any offsets from Helen. 

I have a set of offsets on my regular rack, subbing for their corresponding non-offset size.  Unlike almost everyone else, I'm not all that impressed, and might go back to the regular varieties.  I don't climb in an area with the kind of piton scars you get in granite and sandstone, so I may be biased by locale.  The trouble with offsets is their complicated shape can make it tricky to evaluate how much overall contact you're getting, and I also think they're a bad choice for beginners for that reason.

Helen, after you’ve got your nuts straightened out, there are a couple of routes at the City that are good for “all passive” practice. One is on the back side of Window Rock. I don’t recall the name but it’s the left of the two cracks where there is a single protection bolt for the first move.  The other is Dykes on Harley’s on Breadloaves. For that route thread the small window for the second or third piece of pro.  Take hexes if you have them there are a couple of good placements for them.  On both routes take a few cams to # 2 for top anchor.

rgold wrote: I have a set of offsets on my regular rack, subbing for their corresponding non-offset size.  Unlike almost everyone else, I'm not all that impressed, and might go back to the regular varieties.  I don't climb in an area with the kind of piton scars you get in granite and sandstone, so I may be biased by locale.  The trouble with offsets is their complicated shape can make it tricky to evaluate how much overall contact you're getting, and I also think they're a bad choice for beginners for that reason.

I have a similar opinion to the disposition of offsets. More often than I not, I find it more useful in my local crags to bring offsets, the smaller 2/3rds of regular nuts with a set of tricams. 

Quite a bit of weight for passive gear.