beaks

I should probably know this, but how strong is the wire? As a loop of webbing would be stronger, I assume, what is the wire for? Do most people just cut it off?
Thanks

BD's Peckers show 3kN on the swage.

I have minimal experience with nailing, but have placed a few beaks here and there.

The cables are usually 5/32” galvanized cable. That has a minimum breaking strength of 2800lbs. 

For beaks, I keep the wires on. As far as what’s stronger, the cable or webbing that is the wrong question. One is static while the other is dynamic and specifically made for climbing. You should be asking how well did I place the beak. If you have a shitty placed beak, take a fall it won’t matter the material you have attached to the beak because the beak will pop due to the faulty placement. 
If you place the beak well, attach a quick draw to the wire and keep climbing and then take a fall. The quick draw attached to the beak’s wire will absorb some energy in a fall and then that puts less stain on the static wire attached to the beak. You will be fine with the wire. 
Hope that helped. 

I cut the wire swages off mine and got them re-slung by the folks at Mountain Tools. They can also sew a sling in the top hole, which is good for racking and in some cases for horizontal placements: https://www.flickr.com/photos/andykirkpatrick/19215548615/in/photostream/. 

Then there's this: https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/117337632/moses-tomahawk-pitons-with-faulty-cables.

Points well taken, Jeremy. I agree that the webbing is more expensive and less durable. I was turned off by the swaging issue on the 2019 Moses beaks, of which I have a few, so went the webbing route. We'll see how it goes. 

Alec is mostly incorrect. 

Alec Sluser wrote:

The cables are usually 5/32” galvanized cable. That has a minimum breaking strength of 2800lbs.

Moses Tomahawk Beaks have stronger swaged 1/8 inch, 7 x 19 galvanized cable capable of holding 2000lbs, Black Diamond beaks have thinner cable good for 3kn (~675lbs)

Alec Sluser wrote:

For beaks, as far as what’s stronger, the cable or webbing that is the wrong question. One is static while the other is dynamic and specifically made for climbing ... attach a quick draw to the wire and keep climbing and then take a fall. The quick draw attached to the beak’s wire will absorb some energy in a fall and then that puts less strain on the static wire attached to the beak. You will be fine with the wire. 

This will depend upon using a webbing sling versus a quickdraw (which Alec conflated in his post) 

If using a quickdraw, a nylon dogbone is different from a dyneema/spectra dogbone. Even if nylon though, the absorption that a 2-3" piece of nylon can absorb is insignificant when compared to a length of dyneema. Clipping a draw to the thin wire of a Black Diamond pecker with the hope that it will absorb enough energy in a fall to prevent a wire from otherwise breaking will not bear out.

Alpine runners of nylon have been shown to have more significance in terms of force absorption the longer they are, when compared to dyneema. For Black Diamond Peckers, use the clip in loop to move up on the piece and attach webbing through the bottom hole on the Pecker to clip as pro. (One consideration is to evaluate the placement before hammering the Pecker in. If it's going into a corner, you will want to attach the webbing before placement as once the beak is set in its placement, you will not be able to thread the webbing through the hole) It's not a game of trying to make the crappy thin swaged wire hold, it's a game of how to get the actual piton to hold, the wire o Black Diamond Peckers should be considered only for aid progression and invisible when considering how to clip the rope to the Pecker as pro.

Obviously, Tomahawks (as long as their swaging holds, see recall alert from earlier this season,  eeek)  do not suffer from the thin swage issue that Black Diamond inexplicably hindered their version of a beak with. 

Andy Wiesner wrote: 
I cut the wire swages off mine and got them re-slung by the folks at Mountain Tools. They can also sew a sling in the top hole, which is good for racking and in some cases for horizontal placements: https://www.flickr.com/photos/andykirkpatrick/19215548615/in/photostream/. 

Then there's this: https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/117337632/moses-tomahawk-pitons-with-faulty-cables.
...I was turned off by the swaging issue on the 2019 Moses beaks, of which I have a few, so went the webbing route. We'll see how it goes.

As Jeremy said, sewn webbing on the top hole is not a good idea. Beyond the longevity of such a connection point on top of the beak, its thickness will make it both difficult to place in a tight corner as well as torque the head out of a corner placement if it's beak tips instead of sunk to the eye. P-cord is the best for slinging the top of the beaks because of its ability to flatten and/or break when the placement demands it. (it's important to carry extra p-cord with you to resling the top loop as they get destroyed as you're going up the wall.)

Sewn webbing on the bottom isn't much of an issue (except for the pointlessness o paying for this when reswaging is easier, faster, and cheaper (Many hardware/fastener stores will swage it for you with the stock on hand if you ask nicely and show a little leg - or at least that works for me because I have very sexy skinny toothpick legs)

Moses does top quality work and recalled the questionable beaks immediately upon finding out (whether or not a local retailer sends them back or not is out of Moses' hands so be sure to question before buying and second hand tomahawks are a no-go for now unless you can confirm when the beaks were purchased by the seller) so I wouldn't worry about the swages on tomahawks moving forward. And one can always bounce test them at home before going out into the field. 

Kevin, I too commend Moses' responsiveness to the swaging issue (and Mountain Tools' vigilance). Thanks for the p-cord suggestion. I suppose in the rare instance (e.g. horizontal placement) where you want the top hole to bear weight you just thread a sling through it or clip it?

Andy Wiesner wrote: Kevin, I too commend Moses' responsiveness to the swaging issue (and Mountain Tools' vigilance). Thanks for the p-cord suggestion. I suppose in the rare instance (e.g. horizontal placement) where you want the top hole to bear weight you just thread a sling through it or clip it?

I use an overhand loop of webbing threaded through the hole (similar to slinging a hook) 

I personally prefer webbing slings over cable. the top hole sling is only something I occasionally install to appease a particular partner who is into that.  
I usually tie my horizontals off as depicted in this example photo unless im able to drive the blade of the beak all the way to the hilt.
I feel like I get a life cycle of about 4 nail up routes on the webbing, cant remember for cables as its been since ~2008 since I had them on any of my beaks.
cost to install, having the equipment to do either job, the webbing is cheaper for me.
time, I could cut the cable, swage, and go : no-go check  it in about 1 min. the webbing I sew it in about 5 min, if i was using a bar tack rather than longitudinal stitch I bet the time would be = to the cable.
weight savings, webbing wins.

either option gets the job done.