Hexes: Active or Passive?

So what are they? Active or passive pro? I lean towards passive, but could see a narrow path to defining it as active

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They have a unmistakable camming action when placed properly.

I wonder what percentage of uses fall under the passive pro category though.

John Clark wrote:

So what are they? Active or passive pro? I lean towards passive, but could see a narrow path to defining it as active

No moving parts so passive.  They can still be cammed - same as tri-cams.  

So for active proponents, what makes it active? What is active about it? Cams have springs, i.e. stored energy, so I can see why they fall under active. Hexes and tricam though, no stored energy, so geometrically advantaged maybe, but active….?

Active used to mean it does not require a constriction to hold a fall. The force of the fall is translated to outward force which creates enough friction to hold in a parallel-sided crack. Nuts (tapers) can’t do that but tricams and hexes, placed in their active configuration, can. Although obviously there’s a reason SLCDs caught on. (spring-loaded camming devices)

The really weird one to me is Big Bros which are supposedly active enough to hold in a parallel crack because of the way the rope causes them to twist under load. 

Did a bunch of reading because I can't avoid a good semantic debate like the autistic nerd that I am. The most common definition of active protection seems to be the it has moving parts, in which cases hexes don't count. There does seem to be a less commonly used definition though where it just means that the protection itself cams. 

So pick your favorite definition I guess. For what it's worth I have commonly heard of hexes and tricams having active and passive modes of use. 

Seems maybe they all are active. If any of them did nothing, well, then they wouldn't do anything and then they would be useless.

A hexentric in "camming" mode both cams and wedges, although in a pure parallel crack it will only be camming, and will not be as stable in the placement. A tri cam in camming mode becomes less stable when there is a wedge component to the placement. This is  all related to the "bite" aspect of the placement, that is the grip the rock has on the chock.

Stoppers, rocks, etc  actively wedge? They are interacting with the rock, right?

Is there a physicist here to chime in?

Don’t you have to “set” a hex in parallel cracks? So no more active than a set nut. Active to me still seems to require stored energy

John Clark wrote:

Don’t you have to “set” a hex in parallel cracks? So no more active than a set nut. Active to me still seems to require stored energy

I like James' analysis that horizontal forces = active and downward force = passive. The piece is actively doing something to create those horizontal forces, hence active protection. Seems like the most logical of the possible arbitrary distinctions to me. 

So I am kind of just being a devil's advocate here. 

I do believe the original delineation in climber's minds was the spring pressure in "SLCD's", as they were once upon a time referred to, and is what became the basis for calling them "active" cams. Which actually was short for active camming devices, which was shorter than Spring Loaded Camming Devices. Which delineated them from hexes initially, and later from tricams. Thing is, all of these devices, as well as stoppers, rocks, etc., and pitons and bolts, exert outward force against the opposite sides of the crack, or hole. The most purely passive device is the hook. But not cam hooks. 

Really, the simplest and most grammatically correct terms to use are simply "nuts", and "cams". And hexes ARE nuts. "Nut" is a synonym for "chock", which is short for an "artificial chockstone". And the original artificial chockstones were hexagonal machine nuts with a cord tied through them.

To top it all off, the springs in Sping Loaded Camming Devices only keep the SLCD from falling out of the crack until an external load is applied. So is an SLCD still an active cam when it is actually doing it's job?

They are inactive.  They just stay in the closet doing nuthin.

Hex passive. No moving parts. Tri cams active because they have an axle and the head moves on that axel unless you place them in passive mode. 

Let's be honest, it doesn't matter if they're active or passive.  What matters is that no one likes them because, once you rack up, you sound like a Christmas Tree walking around.  I'd rather carry heavier cams than listen to that.  Every time you pull a rack of hexes out of your pack, and start racking up, your partner is slowly dying on the inside.  

Worst people at the crag, in no particular order... "don't worry, he's friendly" dog owners, crying / screaming kids, that guy with the Bluetooth speaker, dudes who set up three hammocks, people who don't know how to belay properly with a gri-gri, and dudes who show up with a full rack of hexes. 

Also, no moving parts... passive ;-)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K44dJedz7kg&pp=ygUsbGl0ZSBiZWVyIGZyb20gbWlsbGVyIGNvbW1lcmNpYWxzIGl0IGlzIGJvdGg%3D

Hexes are passive when using them as a traditional nut. Hexes are active when used as a camming device.

Cammed devices get their holding power by applying the downward force generated in a fall (or a sharp tug) into outward pressure at the cam's point of contact. No downward force, no holding power - that's what makes it active.

Spring loaded camming devices use a logarithmic spiral to maintain a constant angle of the cam surface against the rock, regardless of how far the cam is retracted. The springs and cam lobes on axles are not what makes a camming device active.

Active = SLCD 

Passive-active = tri cam / hex / big bro 

passive = nuts 

David Eisenstadt wrote:

Active = SLCD 

Passive-active = tri cam / hex / big bro 

passive = nuts 

Why are hexes not nuts? 

Did you read my post?

Hexes ARE the original "nuts", as in bolts and nuts. It is exactly where the climber's term "nuts" comes from. 

Why are hexes not nuts? 

Anybody willing to explain or rationalize why hexes are not nuts (in the 21st century)?

Cherokee Nunes wrote:

Hexes are passive when using them as a traditional nut. Hexes are active when used as a camming device.

Cammed devices get their holding power by applying the downward force generated in a fall (or a sharp tug) into outward pressure at the cam's point of contact. No downward force, no holding power - that's what makes it active.

Spring loaded camming devices use a logarithmic spiral to maintain a constant angle of the cam surface against the rock, regardless of how far the cam is retracted. The springs and cam lobes on axles are not what makes a camming device active.

A good rendition of how American climbers view these terms. "No downward force, no holding power" being the delineation between active and not. I am not sure that would hold from a physics perspective. I am not sure that matters. 

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

Hex passive. No moving parts. Tri cams active because they have an axle and the head moves on that axel unless you place them in passive mode. 

Where is the moving part on a tricam? How are they functionally different than hexes other than just geometry?

Personally, I call hexes nuts. But it's useful to be able to distinguish between active and passive placements when talking about why I rarely use them anymore.

BTW you can turn the hex "bong" noise into a "clunk" by stuffing a bit of lightweight foam inside the big ones. This does not solve the other problems with them.

Nothing beats an overhead slam dunk of a hex into a constriction, though a camming placement of a hex in a horizontal is more exciting not sure if it satisfying or terrifying