Seriously? Do you need a torque wrench for bolts?

It's a little silly to think that you're always going to be climbing on bolts that have been installed with a torque wrench. I dont know anyone who uses one.

Like camhead says, if you're really interested in what routes have been bolted by Dan, just look in Mikey's new guide to the NRG. Dan isn't hiding. The information is out there.

That said, Dan, I've climbed some of your routes. You can never think to much about bolt placement (location, technique, etc). Maybe it's time to show some humility? I'm the first to admit that I've made a few mistakes. But I took advice of a mentor and learned from those mistakes.

It is possible to over tighten a bolt. You don't need a torque wrench, but you shouldn't be cranking on them as hard as you can. It depends on the bolt, but I usually stop cranking just before it starts to get really hard. It also depends on what kind of wrench you have.

Confidence in your work is good. Over confidence gets you (or others) hurt.

Some people put routes up for others to enjoy with all of their free time and money, some people like to sit in their garage/shop and test climbing gear with all of their time and money, hell, some people just like to buy gear and sit around and clean and lube it more than they climb. I dont EVER get on a sport route and assume every bolt is perfect or safe or even put up by an "expert". Climbing is dangerous all around, I'd say stay in the gym if you want safe but even that can be scary and dangerous.

20 kN wrote: I apologize if this breaks rule number one, but bolting is a complicated and advanced task that should only be done by experts. Many people have died unnecessarily as a result of bolt placement failure.

Breathe...

Somebody needs to make something like these for climbing bolts.
amazon.com/Ritchey-Tool-Tor…

Something cheap and compact. I have a clicker and a spanner torque wrench. From researching torque wrenches on the interwebz, clickers need to be calibrated regularly , and don't like to be banged around. Spanner are pretty foolproof, and easy to calibrate, but can be a pain to use/read when your in an awkward position -- neither of these qualities is great for climbing....

i guess one of my main concerns is that dan states (on page 1) that he is a structural engineer, yet a few posts before states that he doesn't believe there is a correlation between torque and tension in the bolt. really???? also, he states that he tightens the bolts down as hard as he can and doesn't see a preblem with it. he doesn't seem to understand the difference between cranking down a wedge bolt (ie nut) and a 5 piece bolt (ie the head of the bolt). etc, etc, etc. the worst part is that he doesn't seem to care. add on top of that the fact that a person got seriously injured on one of his routes due to his lack of diligence, and he casually dismisses it because the route "wasn't finished".

sorry man, but i gotta call you out. put the drill down and walk away.

Just some of my personal experience and rules of thumb to add to this conversation...

I place 3/8" stainless wedge bolts, mostly in basalt. Before I started my bolting endeavors, I used a torque wrench to calibrate what 25 ft/lbs feels like on a 6" wrench. Recent concerns about the accuracy/proper calibration of torque wrenches lead me to test my tightening "feel" method, the old fashioned way. I secured a 3/8" bolt in a bench vise and attached my wrench (incorporated into my hammer) onto the nut. I suspended 25 lbs (paint in a bucket) from a string tied off 12" from the head of the wrench. I tightened the nut until it would no longer rotate with the weight suspended (with the wrench horizontal). This should be the definition of 25 ft/lbs.
My previous rule of thumb for tightening to this torque, was to pull down with three fingers, from 6", as hard as I could with my arm isolated (no opposition or body weight). I attempted this on the nut that I had just torqued with the weight, and could not get it to turn any further. Working backwards with a torque wrench from this point, revealed that my "feel" method was able to generate about 23 ft/lbs. In placing bolts at the crag, I have found that this equates to just past 3 turns of the nut past finger tight with a new drill bit, and down to 2 turns with a worn bit (the bolt is quite difficult to hammer in at this point).

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This is an area where you should be serious, if not ridiculous about it. If you have a proper feel for what 12-or-25 ft/lbs feels like (based on experience) with a standard socket wrench, you're probably good. But if it's your first time bolting something, a $50 (or hell, maybe $20) beam-style torque wrench will only make tightening easier and give you confidence that you did it right. If you want to be fancy, for $100 you can get a torque-limiting coupler for your wrench that slips at +-5% of desired set torque. There is a reason this shite matters when you're talking about untouched/unmaintained fasteners expected to survive several thousand loading cycles and thermal cycling, which people trust without thinking at all about them at a glance. Personally, I don't see carrying a torque wrench any more inconvenient than a 1/2" drive socket wrench, when also rappelling in with a Bosch hammer drill. Do it right, and guarantee it lasts.