Hexes...why all the hate?

Marc801 wrote: Which means a modern grade of 13b!

Yes indeed but done with boldness, and without cams. Looking through guidebooks of more established (North American)areas I am often surprised at the number of climbs rated 12 something done in the 70's, most likely using stoppers and hexes.

@beensandbagged: you are absolutely right. Anything done in the 70s was passive gear only...Friends were introduced in early 80s I think. Lots of big brass balls hanging along with those hexes and stoppers. Ask Dennis Horning and Frank Sanders.

Al Onestone wrote:@beensandbagged: you are absolutely right. Anything done in the 70s was passive gear only...Friends were introduced in early 80s I think. Lots of big brass balls hanging along with those hexes and stoppers. Ask Dennis Horning and Frank Sanders.

Yeah.....the name "been sandbagged" could easily have come from hopping on a tower 5.8/9. :) Funny how guys with a rack full of cams will complain about easy lines being "runout". Like the bowling alley approach for Durrance....runout? Hardly.....

This comment was not directed at the user " been sandbagged".....just reread it and it definitely sounded that way. Sorry!

beensandbagged wrote: Yes indeed but done with boldness, and without cams. Looking through guidebooks of more established (North American)areas I am often surprised at the number of climbs rated 12 something done in the 70's, most likely using stoppers and hexes.

Most likely using fixed pins.

Al Onestone wrote:...Friends were introduced in early 80s I think.

1977ish - I bought my first set (#1-#3 - around $25 each, iirc) from Ray just prior to my second trip to the Valley. His original prototypes were developed circa 1973.

paci.com.au/Ray-Jardine_his…

rocknice2 wrote: Most likely using fixed pins.

Albert Ellingwood. 1924. Climbs his 5.8 chimney on the Bishop. Then Downclimbs it. Then goes around to the crack and sends it using only his left nut....just that badass.

Don't forget about inwardly flaring cracks. The type where, if your cam walks deeper, it falls out. They seem to be rare though, and limited to certain areas.

Hexes also come in handy on trad routes in Smith's tuff, like White Satin:

mountainproject.com/v/white…

Lots of weird pockety constrictions. That said, I rarely bring my hexes these days.....cams are more versatile and much faster to place and remove.

Patrick Mulligan wrote:That said, outside of one purple torque nut, I have none on my rack.

I did not know there is a purple Torque Nut. Smaller than the green?

Just wanted to support two points that folks mentioned before, and put in a plug for climbing in South Africa... I was fortunate to work for two years in Cape Town, and was able to climb in and around the Western Cape (Table Mtn, etc.). I found that 1) hexes were particularly well suited to the sandstone (moderates), which had many horizontal cracks and nice constrictions. And 2) for the local climbers, hexes provided an affordable approach to building a rack; many of my friends (working as teachers or the like) earned about $1000-1400 / month. BD cams, for example, cost $100 there. So for many climbers in Cape Town, hexes were a great way to handle moderates and anchor building. Not to say I didn't place cams... I did all the time; but it was nice to lighten the load with hexes and have options. So if you're ever going to SA (and I think you'll love it), take some hexes... they're even easy on the luggage weight restrictions. :-)

eli poss wrote: im glad i have my hexes considering i got a set of 4-10 for like $5 but any time i would take a hex rather than a cam (alpine or otherwise long ass hike) i'd be better off taking a tricam. in fact, the only time ive taken a hex since i got my set of cams is on a long hike and i decided to take a hex instead of a #3 C4. that being said, if i had a tri-cam in that size i would've taken it instead. i do love hearing their clank, though, and i always give props whenever i hear the sweet sound of somebody using hexes. a lot of climbs in chattanooga also eat hexes so the area probably makes a difference as well.

Range of #3 c4 (from Black Diamond's webpage): 50.7-87.9 mm
Range of #4 Tricam (from CAMP's webpage): 45-64 mm
Range of #5 Tricam (from CAMP's webpage): 57-89 mm
Weight of #3 C4 (from Black Diamond's webpage): 201g
Weight of #4 Tricam (from CAMP's webpage): 138g
Weight of #5 Tricam (from CAMP's webpage): 120g
Combined weight of the two tricams you need to cover the range of one #3 C4: 258g

Hexes in the mid sizes make a lot of sense for saving weight. But since the hollow tricams don't start until you get to the #5, they end up weighing more per inch of range than cams.

Do what's best for you. Maybe he was just jealous cause he doesn't know how to use them? Is it becoming a lost art? LOL!

TomCaldwell wrote:No hexes because tricams are better because they are more versatile. The new EVO's allow for one-handed placements as well. I would definitely use the larger hexes over the large tricams. Locally there is almost no use for large hexes or tricams.

Locally, no one uses hexes. I have never been in a situation where I wished for a hex. My DMM Torque Nuts are never used. Pink to purple or blue tricam is good as a set of alpine doubles on our limestone and quartzite.

Was climbing the causal stuff up at School Rock on Donner yesterday; lots of odd, flaring cracks. I thought to myself, "...man, some hexes would be great..." I learned on cams, nuts and tricams, but have placed the odd hex or two. If hexes are properly set, they don't walk. You can't beat 'em in situations where that's important!

....also, I don't climb 5.12 anything

Its not true that hexes *won't* walk, just that a well set hex has no mechanism for walking other than being pulled out of its placement entirely. You still need to be careful that rope movement won't compromise the placement. And hexes are still harder to place. I'm competent with hexes, I just don't use them because I very rarely encounter a placement where they'll go and a cam won't.

On at least four seperate occasions in Jtree hexes have saved my ass as I shook like a leaf pumped and frightened trying to make a cam work in some F'd up flaring pocket or crack. Giving up on the mechanical monster I reached for my hexes and bam, fit like a glove. Immediately after I finished one of said climbs I watched a French climber get to the same spot with only a rack of cams....he never moved past it the 10 minutes we were still there (ground fall potential if he had).

I love my hexes and I started using them 5 years ago when I was 25 so generational or not hexes are great.

Send to send, they have proven to be killer. Jtree especially with all the flared crack, how could you not rack 'em up? MORE COWBELL!

Gnarly, coarse grained, variously irregular cracks with inside protruding knobs, crystals and conglomerate pebbles in granite or conglomerate rock - Hexes are bomber! This is the art of placing protection.

I have a couple sets collecting dust. They work great, but I don't take them out often enough.

1 set Chouinard hexentric w/cord. 1 set BD.

....'cause haters gonna hate.

Can't believe no one else got the answer. Been almost a year.