UKC

An introduction video to the humble Ball Nut, invented in the 70s by.........no one actually can agree on that!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsos6lWoftw

In reply to brunchman:

Interesting watch, thanks for posting.

Not sure how much these folks have used the ballnut, or if they just bought one and talked about it. Quite a few statements I would quibble with.....
Not as strong as a number 3 Camalot so it's marginal - that would make a lot of things marginal
Need a screamer on it like a micro cam or micro nut - would be using a lot of screamers at that rate
Just for niche things like aid or trad - not sure trad is niche is it?
Face of ball is brass - looks like copper to me.

However to contribute something as someone who has used them for aid and free climbing they are very light very thin (to 3mm) and importantly very narrow. I don't use them a lot, but they go into many spots where nothing else will. I have used all down to the smallest on aid and taken big falls onto the 3. Yep not a quick placement, but not much is at that size, yep need to ensure they are set in well, yep they can be hard to get out, yep they often don't look pretty after holding a fall.
Certainly if there are thin cracks, i.e more likely in sandstone and limestone a potentially useful piece of kit for harder routes and very useful for hard clean aid - what else goes into a 3mm parallel sided crack?

In reply to philhilo:

I think if you want it to hold falls either the ball should go in to a dimple or the crack should narrow towards the direction of the fall.

In reply to philhilo:





He doesn't say aid or trad are niche, he says it's a niche piece of gear, so would only really suit aid or trad climbing.
Agree that if he thinks anything smaller than a size 3 camalot (pretty sure he says friend) is marginal, then there's a lot of marginal gear out there, BUT I think he was probably just trying to make a point.
I think the point about a screamer is that it's marginal, so using a screamer increases the chance of it staying in. It came across as a hint, not a requirement.
I'm pretty sure they are brass. It's well used within climbing gear already, and copper would just be too soft.

I do however agree with you that they can be an invaluable piece of gear which goes where nothing else does. I also think that the Trango ones are better value (i.e. they are identical except the branding, and they are about a tenner cheaper!)

In reply to philhilo:


Cam hooks

In reply to philhilo:
and very useful for hard clean aid - what else goes into a 3mm parallel sided crack?

A knifeblade piton. Which is why ballnuts are actually quite important - all those routes put up in the 80's with fixed blade protection should now be climbed with ballnuts instead of replacing the pegs.

In reply to brunchman:

I use ball nuts for trad. I got two in when I was climbing "Wreckers Slab" on Sunday, and very glad of em I was too!

In reply to willworkforfoodjnr: Yep some mighty slim short cam hooks go into 3mm cracks (I found some but have not seen any for sale), but in sandstone they blow the edges, so back to ball nuts which you can get in deep if needs be. Also you can leave the ball nut as pro, the cam hook ain't gonna stay when you step off it. So I guess it depends on progress against pro....and its nice to have some pro occasionally!

In reply to Ysgo:

As opposed to regular cams, which are so well used in sport climbing and bouldering

Personally I'll take any bit of gear that I can possibly wiggle in.

In reply to MischaHY:

As opposed to taking them Winter climbing, or Alpine climbing where you would take regular cams.