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dr_feelgood
Dec 15, 2007, 4:34 AM
Post #101 of 157
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Whoo!
Hexes!
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dingus
Dec 15, 2007, 6:31 AM
Post #102 of 157
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andrewbanandrew wrote: i suppose you could just use hexes if you like using hexes and shut the fuck up if you don't like using them but that would be too easy
Please refer to the topic of this thread. Thank you for your input.
Cheers
DMT
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dingus
Dec 15, 2007, 6:34 AM
Post #103 of 157
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clink clink clink
Warriors!!!!
Come out to plaaaaaaay.
cling clink clink
WARRIORS!!!!
COME OUT TO PLAAAAAYYYYYYY!
clink clink clink
WARRIORS!!!!
COME OUT TO PLAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!
Yours with Passion
DMT
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el_layclimber
Dec 15, 2007, 6:55 AM
Post #104 of 157
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To each their own I says, but...
If hexes were really so obsolete, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
There is no "titons, do you use 'em?"; "camlocks, any thoughts?" or "saddle wedges, have you seen these?" thread. Some gear really has been committed to the dustbin, and perhaps for good reason. From this I deduce that more than clever marketing is at play. The hex must have some use.
Now, what I really need is a drink holder on my keyboard.
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hopkinsed
Dec 15, 2007, 6:37 PM
Post #105 of 157
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el_layclimber wrote: To each their own I says, but... If hexes were really so obsolete, we wouldn't be having this discussion. There is no "titons, do you use 'em?"; "camlocks, any thoughts?" or "saddle wedges, have you seen these?" thread. Some gear really has been committed to the dustbin, and perhaps for good reason. From this I deduce that more than clever marketing is at play. The hex must have some use. Now, what I really need is a drink holder on my keyboard.
Well I bought a set of used hexes on EBAY and re-roped them and they work great. As far as your drink at the keyboard goes (clearly a more important issue anyways) I recommend one of those nifty little USB powered peltier coolers.
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donald949
Dec 16, 2007, 5:16 PM
Post #106 of 157
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angry wrote: donald949 wrote: 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 I'd say something but then I'd feel like the guy who brought a cannon to a knife fight. [image]http://www.rockclimbing.com/images/photos/assets/9/321069-largest_ninja.jpg[/image]
I'll be sure not to step on your rope.
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notch
Dec 16, 2007, 7:52 PM
Post #107 of 157
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evanwish wrote: i llike them because if i'm in a semi-good stance and there's a good placement for the hex i'll use the hex first to save the cams for later at the crux when i need to place-clip-and-go quickly. i hate that feeling of placing one when all pumped out and thinking i really should have placed the hex first and saved the cam. pretty much as a rule for me on most of my routes is that the bottom is mainly passive and the top is usually all cams.
ditto that.
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brutusofwyde
Dec 17, 2007, 10:50 PM
Post #108 of 157
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What you said:
notch wrote: evanwish wrote: i llike them because if i'm in a semi-good stance and there's a good placement for the hex i'll use the hex first to save the cams for later at the crux when i need to place-clip-and-go quickly. i hate that feeling of placing one when all pumped out and thinking i really should have placed the hex first and saved the cam. pretty much as a rule for me on most of my routes is that the bottom is mainly passive and the top is usually all cams. ditto that.
Hmmmm.
What I hear:
"Cams work better, but since I don't carry enough cams, I'll dump the junky hexes into the crack when I can get just about anything to work, and save the cams, which are far better pieces, for when I really need something that works well."
But maybe my hearing aid needs adjustment.
Brutus of Wyde
Old Climbers' Home
Oakland, CA
(This post was edited by brutusofwyde on Dec 17, 2007, 10:54 PM)
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dingus
Dec 21, 2007, 5:03 PM
Post #110 of 157
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sittingduck wrote: larryd wrote: A recent thread asks who uses hexes. Unasked is the question, why? Well, no mechanical problems in the winter like you might have with slcd's. That and the huge weight shaving with the syntetic hexes, almost half the weight of the aluminimums. [image]http://www.home.no/sittingduck/plastichex.jpg[/image]
No scratches either.
Hmmm.
DMT
(This post was edited by dingus on Dec 21, 2007, 5:04 PM)
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sittingduck
Dec 21, 2007, 8:12 PM
Post #111 of 157
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dingus wrote: sittingduck wrote: larryd wrote: A recent thread asks who uses hexes. Unasked is the question, why? Well, no mechanical problems in the winter like you might have with slcd's. That and the huge weight shaving with the syntetic hexes, almost half the weight of the aluminimums. [image]http://www.home.no/sittingduck/plastichex.jpg[/image] No scratches either. Hmmm. DMT
I'm way to busy posting here at RC.com to get any climbing done, check my post count, one hundred! I need to get a life ...
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jeremy11
Dec 21, 2007, 11:53 PM
Post #112 of 157
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paintrain wrote: .......As a cookie cutter. He didn't finish his sentence. PT
hex cookies and biscuits would be sweet! I'll totally have to make a set sometime. are hexes dishwasher safe?  
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donald949
Dec 22, 2007, 12:58 AM
Post #113 of 157
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Hexes are dishwasher safe. The cord???
On a serious note.
Regarding the other posts about some cams breaking, that might be a consideration when placing a piece. One cam failure resulted in a passing of a climber this past fall. It appears in a least one of these failures that the placement put large forces on the cam during the fall that caused the cam failure.
We should be well advised to carefully consider both passive pro and cams when examining our pro options during a climb. Not just firing in a cam. The limitations of each weighted. The problems with leveraging and flared cracks considered when placing a cam. Passive of course have their own limits.
Climb Safe, and have a Merry Christmas. My sympathies to those close the climber who passed. With any luck I'll get out to the crag for some climbing.
Don
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dingus
Dec 22, 2007, 2:30 AM
Post #114 of 157
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sittingduck wrote: dingus wrote: sittingduck wrote: larryd wrote: A recent thread asks who uses hexes. Unasked is the question, why? Well, no mechanical problems in the winter like you might have with slcd's. That and the huge weight shaving with the syntetic hexes, almost half the weight of the aluminimums. [image]http://www.home.no/sittingduck/plastichex.jpg[/image] No scratches either. Hmmm. DMT I'm way to busy posting here at RC.com to get any climbing done, check my post count, one hundred! I need to get a life ...
I'll take that as a 'no.'
DMT
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wallwombat
Dec 22, 2007, 4:59 AM
Post #115 of 157
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trundlebum wrote: God I feel old: erick wrote: 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. Eric ? did you think that there were no 5.11's or .12's before the proliferation of cams ? I use the word proliferation wisely. Sure cams cam out about the time of 5.12 becoming almost common place but dudwe there were 100's and 100's of 5.11's in the country before Jardines first 'friends' appeared. True it is not realistic to protect a consistantly flared or parrallel sided crack exclusivley with hex's just as dragging along a bunch cams along on an irregular crack. But either way, just for fun: If you were to do the 'full on' 70's/80's free climbing history course... You would have scores and scores of heros to worship.
I thought Jardine developed Friends to work on the free ascent of Pheonix, the first 5.13 in the Valley. The were heaps of 5.12s before cams were around. There were even 5.12s here in Australia before cams came out.
I like hexes. I always carry at least 3 or 4. They are light, bomber and will often sit in irregular sided cracks where cams wont. Trad climbs on limestone are an example of this. Think Yamnuska in Canada or Bungonia Gorge here in Australia. Both have weird irregular cracks that will often not take cams well but will take hexes that are bomber.
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philbox
Moderator
Dec 22, 2007, 12:12 PM
Post #116 of 157
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I really should have taken doubles of all my hexes up to Indian Head on Fraser Island recently. Those cracks in that volcanic rock were so eroded by the ocean that cams really were a second best option. The hexes rooled. The cracks were all gnarly and noduley with bits breaking off them, entirely inapropriate for placing cams in at times. Hexes on the other hand came in extremely useful for the most part.
Don't get me wrong I still used some cams in fact my Aliens got quite a workout and the Link Cams were also put to good use. There were also Camalot placements but what I really reached for as a preferred placement was hexes. They just seemed to be the most apropriate pieces for that ancient volcanic precipice named by Captain Cook as he sailed up the east coast of Oz.
If anyone is interested, Fraser Island is the largest sand Island in the world, it is 90 miles long. The ocean beach is a gazetted highway with all of the normal road rules applying except that one has to give way to planes that regularly use the beach to take off and land on so they can fly tourists on joy flights.
Indian Head is the largest of a group of 3 volcanic outcrops that anchor the sand in place. In places the sand is estimated to be a thousand metres deep. There are enormous stands of tropical rainforest sitting on pure white sand and crystal clear streams flowing through those same forests that have sufficiant clarity to deceive one into thinking that one can stand in it ankle deep only to plunge in up to ones chest.
My climb was up the front of Indian Head with huge South Pacific Ocean/Coral Sea rollers crashing into the semi submerged boulder field just below. As I climbed I occasionally avert my gaze from the job at hand to gaze down into the subtropical aqua waves and I see Manta Rays frollicking and large schools of sharks cruising by. Enrmous schools of fish demonstrate discipline as the all appear to turn as one warily keeping an eye on the sharks.
I find a curious memento 25 metres or so up the cliff left behind by some intrepid fisherman hoping to stay high and dry at the top of the cliff, a small lead sinker wedged in one of the cracks. I have a dig but decide to move upwards. Yup, I'm luvvin the atmosphere and solitude of the early morning start, make that before dawn start to get the best light for the camera. Rope soloing in such a remote location is exhilerating to say the least.
My hexes came in very useful this day. My camera buddy snapped off some half decent pics too from beyond the semi circle of cliff forming a u between him and I.
I'll post up some pics after Chrissy.
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dingus
Dec 22, 2007, 12:34 PM
Post #117 of 157
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Great post Phil. I did not know about Frasier Island, very cool.
DMT
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philbox
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Dec 23, 2007, 12:45 AM
Post #118 of 157
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dingus wrote: Great post Phil. I did not know about Frasier Island, very cool. DMT
Fraser Island not "Frasier Island". Yeah Fraser Island is awesome and definitely a place worth visiting before one dies. So much to see that I haven't mentioned. The large eucalypts called Satinays are so high in natural turpentine and silicates that they are virtually indestructible when used as marine piles. They were in fact used to line the Suez Canal during construction. These magnificent trees as mentioned before grow on pure white sand.
There are many perched lagoons or lakes on Fraser, in fact many more than anywhere else in the world. Perched lakes are a result of detritus and humus accumulating in the depressions in the sand resulting in a bowl impervious to water filtering down through the sand. So lakes form above the normal water table in the sand environment. One of those lakes is being swallowed up from an encroaching sand blow. Very funky to see a beutiful blue lake surrounded by lush sub tropical vegetation getting eaten up by a golden yellow sand mass.
The large sand blows are equally fascinating, we camped on top of one enormous sand blow last year. The waves of sand swallow everthing in its relentless path and then when the sand blow passes it reveals huge forests from ages past as skeletal remnants. We also found heaps of aboriginal stone tools left over from when they inhabited the island.
Fishing is great too.
The real highlight for me during this latest trip was to realise my ambition of climbing Indian Head. I gotta get me back for more of that. I especially want to explore some more of those fluted columns I found.
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timd
Dec 27, 2007, 11:19 AM
Post #119 of 157
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They are safer than CCH Aliens  , or am I wrong?
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sky7high
Jan 3, 2008, 12:00 AM
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They excel on irregular or inward-flaring cracks, as has already been mentioned.
Bailing off them? Only if I can't do the trad texas rope trick.
Besides, placing a hex doesn't have to be time-consuming, if one is proficient with them. Of course, it's more difficult to become proficient at placing hexes than at placing cams.
If I were given a choice, to whip on a bomber hex placement or a bomber cam placement, I'd go for the hex.
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tradmanclimbs
Jan 3, 2008, 1:43 PM
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There is no doubt that there are a few specialized areas where hexes work better than cams. In fact In the northeastern US i can think of exactly one climb with a mandatory hex placement... If I stole all your hexes and replaced them with a fat rack of cams i suspect that you would do just fine and be able to climb just about anything on your reguler scedual. If i stole all your cams and replaced them with hexes i suspect that most climbers would be crapping their pants in short order
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cracklover
Jan 3, 2008, 5:13 PM
Post #123 of 157
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tradmanclimbs wrote: If i stole all your cams and replaced them with hexes i suspect that most climbers would be crapping their pants in short order
And that proves... what? That cams can be a solution, albeit the wrong one, to almost any protection option? Big deal. You could take away all my tricams, and I could still climb at the Gunks. You could take away all my stoppers, and replace them with dozens of stupid heavy small cams. And I could still do pretty much all the same climbs. But it's an *inferior* rack for *my* style of climbing.
And Brutus no, your hearing aid's working fine! To clarify that other poster's point - I almost never take doubles in mid to large cams, unless the climb absolutely requires it. However, with my half set of (large) hexes, I can supplement that range on pitches requiring more mid-large gear, but still save a lot of weight. The cam is more versatile, though, which is why the hex will go in a good placement first.
GO
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tradmanclimbs
Jan 3, 2008, 10:24 PM
Post #124 of 157
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Cracklover. garunteed you will not get up as hard climbs if you replaced all your large active pieces with hexes. You live in the east so you can certainly get a lot more accomplished with a passive rack but try the same game out west and its spanks you fast and frequently. BTDT Should have seem me in Zion 1986 trying to get up Cherry Crack with an eastern rack of small wires and tricams. Fact is plaine and simple you will climb better, faster and safer with the mid to large pieces on you rack being cams.
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cracklover
Jan 4, 2008, 6:38 PM
Post #125 of 157
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tradman, I'm not advocating the elimination of cams from the rack. *You* are the one advocating eliminating gear. I say bring the right tool for the job. And for me, that means bring hexes to supplement cams where more than a single set is needed, and the rock accepts hexes. It's more lightweight, and often allows me to take advantage of better placements that come about from having the hexes on me, in cracks that happen to take better hexes than cams.
It's not an east coast = hexes vs west coast = cams thing, either. It's the right tool for the job. It's not solely about difficulty, either (although harder cracks often don't take as many hexes, as I've said many times before).
For example, I led every pitch of Epinephrine's chimneys with a single set of cams up to a #4 camalot, plus a half set of large hexes, and the protection was perfect. I've led other multi-pitch 9s in Red Rocks, and Yosemite with the same rack, and it works magnificently *for me*.
Wasn't that the point of the thread? *Why* use hexes? Because they work very well in most of the areas I've climbed in, add versatility to my rack, and save weight on my rack while allowing me to carry more pieces than I might otherwise.
GO
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