To hell with all of you naysayers. I have two sets of Zeros and a bunch of Aliens, but I find myself grabbing my ballnutz a lot. They are really good for shallow or narrow placements.

Ballnutz are great. You just have to know how to use them.

1. Modify your nutz: JospehH (healyJE here?) suggested some modifications to Ballnutz to make them more usable. The key modification is to file off the sharp edges on the top of the ball and on the bottom of the ramp. This will in no way reduce the strength of the piece.

Removing the sharp edges will make the ballnuts much easier to clean. It will also help ensure a good placement instead of a ripper.

2. Place you nutz: As with all gear, you need ot look at the placement. This isn't always easy, but it is important. Once placed, give it a quiick tug to set the nut. Proceed with climbing.

3. Cleaning your nutz: If you weighted the piece, the trigger will probably not work. Clip a short draw to the end and pull hard to rotate the nut. The rotation will pop it loose allowing you to pull the trigger.

4. Other mods to your Nutz: adding a sling would make handling your nutz easier. I find them to be a bit fumbly while I'm climbing. The sling gives me an easy handle so I don't drop them.