HELLO SOMETIMES I LIKE TO CLIMB HARD BUT I'M NOT VERY GOOD AT IT AND I HAVE HEXES BUT NEVER USE THEM CUZ I AM THE CAMHEAD AND BESIDES ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO LIKE HEXES ARE JUST PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE I'VE CLIMBED FIVE ELEVEN ON JUST PASSIVE AND FIVE EIGHT ON JUST ACTIVE SO WHAT AND ANGRY IS MOSTLY TALK BUT NOT AS MUCH AS DINGUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Et tu, Brutus?

Whateva! Have you ever even climbed a crack wider than 2"? Sucka.

Enjoy Ohio bitch.

That being said...
I think if you took a straw poll and compared the racks of people climbing say....5.10 and higher you will see that the vast majority of them do not climb with hexes (while doing these climbs).
I would also say that the percentage of these people climbing without hexes on harder routes is much larger than the percentage of people climbing without hexes from the overall climbing community (i.e. its not just because people mostly climb on cams).

As i've been reading this post, i've been wondering the same thing. can people actually place an active hex on an 11 or 12? if so, my jaw would drop and i would worship you.

plus i would rather lose a 12 dollar hex to a deep crack than a 70 dollar cam.

While hexes may be more commonly used by climbers at lower grades, this need not be because those climbers are stupid gumbies who don't know better. Perhaps easier routes have a greater number of placements suitable for hexes. Think blockier terrain, irregular cracks, etc. If those are the kind of routes you're ciimbing, then maybe a hex is the right tool for the job, and the real gumby is the guy who climbs those routes without hexes.

Sure, as you become a better climber and climb harder routes, you'll find hexes less useful. This is not because of an inherent inferiority of the hex, but rather its relative suitability on the routes you are climbing. But ditching the hexes for cams just because "hard climbers don't carry hexes" is classic gear wankery.

*Yes, there are exceptions. A couple have weighed in in this thread. But I said generally.

Hexes are more trustworthy then Tri cams (not TCUs) and maybe more then Aliens.

Hexes are more trustworthy then Tri cams (not TCUs) and maybe more then Aliens.

Wingardian Leveosa!

Ninjas don't carry hexes.
PT

Actually, there is a little known new design that is a combo hex and throwing star. If you strap the hex in along your leg under your ninja pants it is quiet and will not bang.

I think the point about hexes being more suited to easier terrain, and therefore that "better" climbers doing harder routes therefore tend to use cams instead, is a very good one. But another, related phenomenon is going on here. Cams are expensive, and so are to some extent restricted to more serious climbers, who are likely to climb higher grades. In other words, if you care enough to drop the money for cams, you probably care enough to train, climb, travel, etc and therefore are climbing above a strictly moderate level. Old traditionalist hex users may jump all over me for that, but see my next point:

I also think that a big rack of cams has come to represent a kind of "buy-in" point for trad climbers. Cams are expensive, so if you're just starting out, are young and/or broke, and unsure of your committment to the sport, hexes are attractive because of their price. How many threads have we all seen on this site from beginners wondering whether they can "get by" or "beef up the rack" with hexes? Buying a big rack of cams is a way of announcing to the community (and anyone walking by) that you're a "serious" climber, serious enough to drop several hundred dollars (thousands?!) on fancy gear. Even if YOU don't climb 5.whatever, owning the same gear as the people who DO implies that you are working your way towards that goal, that you've got ambition and dedication. The climbing community definitely respects committment and dedication to the climbing lifestyle, and most people get introduced to climbing in the social atmosphere of a gym or crag where respect matters. So the keen beginner who buys cams over hexes is, in some ways, just announcing his intention not to remain a beginner. Of course, people also hate fakers, hence the usual comments directed at shiny new racks of cams: "Go climbing!" "You're not using that stuff, send it to me..." and so on. Shiny racks give the lie to the whole thing. You bought the rack, but you're not backing up the image with action. So we respect the battered old rack of slung hexes because that person is obviously NOT faking, not buying into marketing, etc. So I guess the worst of all possible worlds would be a shiny new rack of hexes?

Ramble over.

The #11 hex is better than any active cam, I don't care what make, what model, period, no argument, for bludgeoning fools who step on your rope.
;Don