UKC

I was thinking about getting a new set of wires but the Edinburgh shops don't stock many of them.
I already have loads of old WC Rocks and 1 or 2 Wallnuts. so what are these others like?

1. Climbing Technology 1-11 for £65

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Climbing-Technology-Carved-Complete-climbing/dp/B00...

2. LACD 1025 1-10 £37 (great price)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LACD-1025-Chockstone-Set-Mixed/dp/B007YY94C0/ref=pd...

3. Salewa Luna 1-11 £65

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salewa-Luna-1-11-Climbing-Nut/dp/B0033PRV3I/ref=pd_...

Oddly Wallnuts are available for £80 or £46 for the anodised set. WTF?

I'm sure BD are good but at £95 I would want to see them first.

Any advice?

In reply to Ian Jones:

Some RPs (imps) or offsets maybe?

Or those Wild Country half a nut sort of things, they're pretty useful.

In reply to Ian Jones:
Just looked at your profile. Why are you asking us?!

EDIT. Sorry, I see your question was a bit more specific really. Wouldn't want to break the UKC tradition not reading the OP properly would I!

In reply to Ian Jones:
Sheffield is no longer a pig sty...it was definitely pretty grim in the 80's and 90's.

How high up is price in your list of important things?

In reply to Ian Jones:
We have the climbing tech nuts. Find them a really useless shape that never fits in cracks as well as our walnuts, they have no curve to them which seems to mean that the crack needs to be just the right shape for them to fit. The wires are also irritatingly flexible and the mircos feel much less reassuring than other brands as the wires are tiny.

In reply to Ian Jones: i have, and use , some of the Salewas in very small sizes but don't like the larger sizes much.

Wasnt there a review of wires last year? The wire on the LACD nuts looks a bit flimsy, but that might well be the picture

In reply to Ian Jones:
Wallnuts strike me as being different enough from Rocks to be worth buying when compared to the sets of curved nuts you've linked to, if that makes any sense.

In reply to Ian Jones:

They're all solid gear made by reputable European companies that won't break. I see them in shops where I live (Germany) pretty regularly and the quality of finish isn't up to DMM standards. How much that matters to you, or remains visible after they've been in and out of a few cracks, would be the question.

If you're on a tight budget I'm sure there'd be nothing actually wrong with the LACD's, but personally I'd just look around for the cheapest deal on Wallnuts.


On Joe Browns the set described as "Anodized" is only sizes 7-11, the full set is 1-11 £69. Or £65 at Needlesports. At that price, they're a no-brainer versus Salewa or CT, and both cheaper and better than Black Diamond.

In reply to Ian Jones:

Get this set:
http://www.dicksclimbing.com/products/dmm-protection-set?utm_medium=cpc&...

And if you don't like something, just sell some stuff? I bought the set for 120, sold Torques (because I had them already) for 40ish pounds and got both Wallnuts and Offsets for 80 pounds. Worth it!

In reply to sheelba:


Even worse than Wallnuts? They must be really shit!

Ian, just get Rocks. Or get something else and sell me your old Rocks, especially if they are old enough to have the proper colour scheme.

In reply to Robert Durran:
Perhap you just don't think in a Wallnutty way...?

Wallnuts can go in flares where other nuts can't seat properly.

In reply to Ian Jones:

If you want something exotic... http://www.mountainproject.com/v/gear4rocks-plastic-nuts-review/107026062

I have only seen Salewa nuts, but never used them. I am just too happy with Wallnuts.

I tried Alu and Top nuts by Kouba. Offsets were okay, but Alu nuts were quite fiddly to use.

In reply to PPP:


Do not buy anything from this brand! Its cheap poor quality and will probably kill you.

In reply to andy.smythe:

Damn, I forgot to add that I wasn't serious! It looks like they don't run the business any more.

In reply to andy.smythe:

In general: don't buy anything you might fall on if it doesn't have UIAA certification.

As much as I'd love to turn the tables, I spend far more time watching videos and reading stories that were sponsored by the likes of DMM and Wild Country than I do actually placing kit. These alternative brands may make perfectly serviceable gear but I have no clue who they are. What are they putting back into the community?

In reply to PPP:

I figured you wern't but thought I had best put the warning out there.


I've got a set of Zero G nuts which I think are the same as the Climbing Technology ones and I love them but most people don't seem to. I think my love for them stems from them being the first set I bought and I've gotten used to them whereas most people are used to the shape of Rocks or Walnuts.

In reply to Ian Jones:
The BD nuts are not very good, they are too wide and angular and without the notch the wallnuts have means they often don't seat nearly as well.

Personally I use wallnuts / rocks with a few superlights, I'm quite happy with that. Although my friend bought some offsets and I think they are great but can't really justify switching as they aren't that much better than what I have already. I'm not so keen on the larger sizes of the brass ofsets though, I can't help thinking they would have been better off extending down the aly ones a few more sizes smaller. (and up a couple of more sizes too for that matter!)

In reply to Ian Jones:

DMM Offsets

In reply to CurlyStevo:

I'm not so keen on the larger sizes of the brass ofsets though, I can't help thinking they would have been better off extending down the aly ones a few more sizes smaller. (and up a couple of more sizes too for that matter!)

I could be wrong, but I think part of the reason they make the smaller sizes (ie Wallnut #1/2) of offset in brass is due to strength, isn't it? Or is it?

In reply to tehmarks:
yes but I think they could have gone down a couple more sizes in aluminium without much loss in strength, a number 1 walnut is much smaller than the smaller aly offset and rated to 7kn. I just find the brass ones don't seem to sit as nicely partly down to the more angular shape also they are very expensive!

I think DMM just kept to roughly the same sizes and composition as HB did (before they went bust)

In reply to andy.smythe:

You got evidence to back that up?

In reply to JJL:
The first two are true, it's not consistent quality, and some of their ice screws I saw a review of performed really badly bordering on unsafe.

In reply to JJL:


When I first started climbing and didn't know any better (plus was really skint) I foolishly bought some of their products. 4 out of 5 were visibly faulty (splayed and damaged wires) and were clearly dangerous. They got returned under the "money back guarantee" but I never got any money back. before anyone says anything I'll be the first to admit I was stupid to buy them.

In reply to JJL:

Here's the ice screw review.

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/gear4rocks-ice-screws/108005691

In reply to Timmd:

We're talking about wires.

In reply to JJL:
If it's all made by the same company, the quality control or lack of it is relevant whatever the gear is.

In reply to andy.smythe:

That does sound bad. How long ago? I'm thinking of the timing vs the Mountainproject review

In reply to Timmd:

Perhaps, but not for sure. A design fault might QC fine.

Anyway, I don't own any of this stuff. I'm still climbing on my dad's kit from 1950

In reply to JJL:

You want a company to dot every i and cross every t, if some things aren't good enough it can make you wonder about the rest.

In reply to JJL:

Would have been about 4 or 5 years ago. I would have thought that if the stuff was being sent out for a review they would have checked to make sure it was ok.