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Placing ‘trad’ protection on a climb – Tip #40

By 26th July 2019October 9th, 2024Resources, Rock Climbing, Scrambling, Summer, Tips

Placing ‘trad’ protection on a climb

(You can learn more about placing ‘trad’ protection on a climb on our rock climbing courses in Yorkshire, the Peak District, the Lake District and Snowdonia.)

DMM Wallnuts or Wild Country Rocks (often collectively referred to as ‘wires’) are examples of traditional passive protection. Perhaps surprisingly, you can place each piece of gear in four different ways. However, two of them are rarely likely to seem different, so you can think of it as three ways.

First, try and place the piece with the curves in contact with the rock, facing left or right depending on what looks most promising. If you don’t like the result, perhaps because of some undulation in the rock that was not immediately apparent, then remove it and try it facing the other way (left or right). Finally, you can try and place it with the straight edges in contact with the rock.

Generally speaking, the more metal to rock contact there is, then the more secure the placement will be.

The larger pieces of protection, often referred to as ‘hexes‘ because of their shape, work in a similar way.

You can read further tips on how to rack your wires for easy access and on how to make an initial judgement as to which wire might best fit a crack.

If you’d like to know more about placing ‘trad’ protection on a climb then get in touch and ask about our rock climbing courses around the UK