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Rafajaman
Jul 2, 2008, 5:46 PM
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A friend of mine has some old ovals and hexes from the 70's/80's that his uncle had given to him after he quit climbing in '89. My friend said he probably will never use them (gym climber) and that he would sell them to me for cheap. Do you think I can trust old 'biners and hexes?? I'll obviously replace the nylon.
Thanks, Rafa.
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redpoint73
Jul 2, 2008, 6:13 PM
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Microfractures.
Definitely look out for microfractures.
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tolman_paul
Jul 2, 2008, 6:19 PM
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I've been using my hexes and biners from the 80's, and my older still body ;)
If they appear to be in good shape they should be fine. It's mostly soft goods, ie ropes and slings that should be replaced.
That said I find that lighter modern wiregates are so much nicer to pack, and my hexes are mostly suplanted with camalots and lowe tri-cams.
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billcoe_
Jul 2, 2008, 7:47 PM
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The hexes should be fine after you replace any 25 year old webbing on them, but check the brand of biner first. The brand spanking new Eiger Ovals in the 70's tested to about 1800 lbs. As they never tested those with "gate open", I'll leave that to your imagination.
I still use old gear, especially for toproping as thats always redundant. My lead biners are almost always the best ones out there. My personal peccadillo. The gate open on the current lead biners is higher than my original Eiger Ovals closed, which were all sold used many many years ago.
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hacksaw
Jul 2, 2008, 7:47 PM
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Shoot, just buy'm as collector items.....
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Arrogant_Bastard
Jul 2, 2008, 8:44 PM
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Rafajaman wrote: A friend of mine has some old ovals and hexes from the 70's/80's that his uncle had given to him after he quit climbing in '89. My friend said he probably will never use them (gym climber) and that he would sell them to me for cheap. Do you think I can trust old 'biners and hexes?? I'll obviously replace the nylon. Thanks, Rafa.
Just make sure they're truly cheap. I think I got my set of wire-slung WC hexes, brand new, for $40. I can't imagine paying much of anything for 25 y/o hexes unless it was a collector thing.
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doz
Jul 3, 2008, 6:40 PM
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It should go without saying but definitely loose the sewn/webbing products. The pro SHOULD be good to go. As for me personally I do not use biners that I acquire or buy with used gear (except as a back up bail biner after bounce testing the snot out of it). Biners are your most basic life link no reason to die for 5$ IMO
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angry
Jul 3, 2008, 7:15 PM
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I just can't see using hexes ever again. New or old, I just don't see it. I might buy them for paperweights or to make a bong out of but hexes suck.
The old biners probably won't break, they just clip so poorly that you'll wish they would break.
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Arrogant_Bastard
Jul 3, 2008, 8:02 PM
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angry wrote: I just can't see using hexes ever again. New or old, I just don't see it. I might buy them for paperweights or to make a bong out of but hexes suck.
I think I placed three of mine before putting them in a box with stuff never used.
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Rafajaman
Jul 3, 2008, 8:14 PM
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I hear hexes are safer than cams when placed in sketchy flakes because cams create more of an outward force that will break flakes easier.... makes sense, no? And, yes, I know I shouldn't trust ANY pro in sketchy flakes but if it's the only thing I got for 100 ft. then I'll take it, even if its just a mental boost for me to keep going.
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Arrogant_Bastard
Jul 3, 2008, 8:22 PM
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Rafajaman wrote: I hear hexes are safer than cams when placed in sketchy flakes because cams create more of an outward force that will break flakes easier.... makes sense, no? And, yes, I know I shouldn't trust ANY pro in sketchy flakes but if it's the only thing I got for 100 ft. then I'll take it, even if its just a mental boost for me to keep going.
I keep a set of hexes on my harness at all times for whenever I'm runout 100 feet over my last piece and all I have is a sketchy flake.
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angry
Jul 3, 2008, 8:38 PM
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I used to buy into that school of thought. Some gear = better than no gear or at least it might slow me down.
You won't see me fucking around like that anymore. If I can't get good gear I will neither waste the piece or the energy to place it. I'll either make the decision to climb up or climb down.
It comes down to trusting yourself. People forget that all too often and place false hope in pro.
I'm not saying that crap pro always fails, I'm just saying that given the choice between a huge runout with lots of energy or the same runout with less energy, I'll take the first choice.
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doz
Jul 3, 2008, 11:47 PM
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I will have to agree with angry on both the “screw the sketch placement, climb up or climb down-mindset” as well as the hex issue. I have 2 sets of hexes one my wife had before we got married and one I had and between them there has not been a single placement in a LOT of years in fact I have not even taken them out of the ‘miscellaneous unused climbing crap’ box in years?!
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healyje
Jul 4, 2008, 12:06 AM
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I would say there are two kinds of sketch gear - a) you can't figure anything out or are sketching so bad yourself you just slapped something in and have know idea how good or bad it is, but suspect the latter; and b) marginal gear you are deliberately placing and which has some value either in a fall or in the systems as a whole.
I use marginal pro all the time, I try not to ever use 'sketchy' pro.
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Rafajaman
Jul 4, 2008, 2:04 AM
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'Marginal' pro. Thats what I meant. thanks for enhancing my vocabulary.
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leapinlizard
Jul 4, 2008, 3:22 AM
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If the hexes are 80's era they may have the larger diameter holes for cord. You can either sling them with the larger cord, or if you want to save a little weight then you can use surgical tubing to run through the holes then use the smaller diameter cord. I have some really cool, classic gear that I have picked up from old climbers. As everyone has said, software is bad, but generally hardware is pretty safe, that being said I don't really climb on any of that stuff, but it looks cool hanging on the wall, especially the stackable T-hexes. As for using old gear with known history I have double stemmed camalots(circa 1988) that I still use the heck out of.
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