Recommendations on hexes

Hello all, I'm trying to get into trad climbing but I'm also a starving college student. As I understand, hexes are a lightweight and cost-effective alternative to getting cams. Any recommendations on which ones are the best to get? Or should I just say screw it and purchase cams? Thanks!

Buy cams

Buy cams, they are more versatile and quieter than the cowbells you reference in the op. 

Love hexes. Bomber. DMM Torque Nuts are good (extendable so you save draws), Wild Country Rockcentrics are my next favorite.  If you’re getting the DMM get all four sizes. For the Wild Country 5-9. Don’t let the hex haters persuade you. 

Purchase cams. They've never been cheaper and, unlike hexes, you can generally resell them for good value if you end up not liking trad.

If, after hearing that, you still decide you want to buy hexes the best ones are DMM Torque Nuts, IMO. But, seriously, save up a few hundred dollars and buy a full rack of used prior generation BD C4s for about $250-$300. 

I like the WC hexes much more than the DMM. For endways placements, the WC taper allows more bite into the rock and less leverage outward from the rope. The DMM taper is bass-ackwards. 

Cams unless you get a great deal on used hexes. 

M Appelquist wrote: 

Awesome! Thanks!

I too prefer the DMM Torque nuts over any other design.  Wired hexes are useless.

Buy cams, they are better

Despite the multitude of hex haters out there, hexes are lightweight, versatile, work in horizontals, and are great to save for anchors. For knobby flaring cracks hexes can be bomber in placements that wont take cams.

The dmm hexes are great and the largest BD hex is perfect for flaring fist cracks

M Appelquist wrote: Learn about placing nuts in opposition so you don’t zip out all your pro. Get “Mountaineering Freedom of the Hills”, lots to learn and costs less for brand new copy 9th edition than a set of old hexes or a new cam. 

This is only a concern for your first piece of pro on each pitch and is easily mitigated:  place a cam for your first piece or use one of the bolts if its a bolted anchor or use the highest and/or best cam in your anchor.  

Even though I rarely use hexes I'd say yes get them. Not the small ones (as small as a large nut) though. You can climb with a set of nuts and a set of hexes. You will probably want to dial back the difficulty and climb on stuff you won't fall on (passive pro is harder to place correctly and one set of nuts and hexes isn't a lot of pro so you may have some run out sections). And it's even more important to have a mentor who can critique how and where you place your pro. You could mock lead with this rack and start learning how to trad lead without worrying about falling on badly placed pro or runout sections. But you could get your feet wet. Then you could buy a set of cams and have the hexes as your doubles of those sizes. Then you'll buy a second set of cams and the hexes will gather dust 99% of the time, but you may pull them out for alpine climbing when you want to go light and the technical difficulty won't be near your limit.

Ryan Serio wrote: ... and are great to save for anchors. 

'Scuse me, what?

Say screw it and buy cams and a set of nuts. If you find yourself wanting doubles frequently, get some (slung) hexes. They're way more finnicky, but if you're climbing below your limit they'll work for keeping you safe. Once you get a second set of cams you'll likely rarely use them. There are placements where only a hex will fit, but 90% of the time you'd be better off with a cam. They are great for anchors though.

Alternatively, find someone with the skills and tools to lead and buy them weed and beer. You'll be safer and learn a ton from climbing with someone more experienced.

Stan Hampton wrote:

This is only a concern for your first piece of pro on each pitch and is easily mitigated:  place a cam for your first piece or use one of the bolts if its a bolted anchor or use the highest and/or best cam in your anchor.  

It can be an issue anytime the rope makes a big change in direction.

Wired hexes for sure.

Metolius curve hexes

But, generally, don’t think of them as a substitute for cams.  Think of them as huge nuts - for constrictions.

Yes indeed. I have huge nuts.  ;)

Jeromy Markee wrote:

'Scuse me, what?

Let me clarify. hexes are lighter than cams and harder to place on lead as anything other than large nuts so they are a good lightweight option to have on hand for extra anchor pieces, and when you are setting up and anchor they are far more versatile than cams and can be placed actively or passively, can be slung around a boulder or chockstone, and are great for cracks that are parallel to the face you are climbing that face the sky on top of routes or pitches where rigid stemmed cams are going to get tweaked or a nut might not place due to the pull direction or parallel sides of said crack.

Ryan Serio wrote:

Let me clarify. hexes are lighter than cams 

Not as much as people think, though, now that cam weights have been pared down. Wired Blue Torque Nut weighs 161grams. Same size BD ultralight blue cam is 167 grams. Regular c4 in that size is 181 grams.

I sometimes carry a green and a red torque nut as a 2nd set in the alpine because I enjoy them. And it's nice to have something that's easy to leave behind if you want to bail. But the weight argument isn't so compelling any more. 

^ Interesting because they look so much lighter. A BD #10 hex is 5.78 oz a #3 C4 is 7.1 oz. So the hex is about 80% the weight of the cam. I would have though it was much lower.

Hexes are a great first piece of gear to buy, since then you will also have the first piece of gear you will sell.

Buy cams.