Resling Cams Web-o-lette SoloAid Sentinel Nuts Self-unclipping Silent Partner Nut Tool
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copyright 1999 ©
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Karl Lew
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Racking a nut tool
Did you ever notice that hook on the end of your nut tool?
That nice, big, fat hook that grabs everything in sight at
the most awkward moments? Like maybe right before your runout
crux deadpoint?
Whoa! Tame that there wild hook! Here's how...
Attaching the overhand knot to the hook takes a little
practice, but you'll find that the overhand knot
keeps stuff from catching on the hook.
WARNING: CLIMBING IS INHERENTLY DANGEROUS. THE OPINIONS AND DESIGNS
PRESENTED HERE ARE MY OWN AND DO NOT CONSTITUTE A RECOMMENDATION
OF OR ENDORSEMENT FOR ANY PARTICULAR OR GENERAL USE. IF YOU CHOOSE
TO USE ANY DEVICE OR PROCEDURE PRESENTED HERE, YOU DO SO AT YOUR
OWN RISK.
First make yourself a keeper cord for your nut tool. Use
6mm perlon accessory cord (think "emergency prusik")
to make a loop the same size as a standard runner
(about 24"). Tie an overhand knot (K) to form a wrist loop
(L).
To rack your nut tool, first slide the overhand knot over the hook...
As you do so, take a close look at your overhand knot--you'll see two strands
crossing (X) over two other strands.
Poke the hook through the knot so that
the hook passes right through that crossing of
two overlapping pairs of strands. Tighten the knot.
Oh yeah. I almost left out a step...
Before you attach the overhand knot to the hook, make sure to
wrap the keeper cord
around the nut tool several times to take up any extra
slack. That's it!
Feedback...
Clint Cummins: Looks fine. Here is a simpler way: use a nut tool
that doesn't have a hook. In the few time times that I
use a nut tool, it is to tap a nut upwards from below.
The hook on my regular nut tool has disappeared, from frequent
use of the tool to garden out cracks! (It was tiny to begin
with; a Leeper "Hooker" clone). I haven't missed the
lack of a hook on it.
Ben Craft: I've never had this problem with my nut tool. I don't rack my nut tool on
my rack. I loop it on a 3mm cord (size of a runner) that I never have to
take it off.
Also, the best booty retriever I've ever used, to get out those super deep
cams, was a nut tool made out of a the L-shaped bracket used for hanging
book shelfs on your wall. The only modification you need to do to it is
drill a hole the size of a friend trigger bar in the end of it.
If the cam is just deep enough where you can't get it out with your
fingers, use 2 nuts and hook each side of the trigger bar. I've got a few
cams out that way this season.
Karl Baba:
As long as we are tawking about nut tools, my pet peeve is when folks
string their nut tool on a tiny short liitle piece of cord. I believe
it is much nicer to have a cord long enough to stay clipped to the rack
and still reach the crack. THat way, there is no way to drop it. I
have probably found 5 nut tools at the base of climbs. The stronger
cord (at least 4 mil or bigger) can be used for a bit of funkness
tugging.
Sean Parker:
Instead of using perlon I like to use a small elastic cord. That way the
cord is short when racked but stretchs to arms length if needed. I just
use an oval with the cord tied to it and the nut tool and put the nut
tool on the biner. I can reach down and take the nut tool on and off as
needed. Works for me.
Geoff Clitheroe:
I used to use elastic till one day I was cleaning a tricky aid roof,
I put the nut tool in position in the crack and was reaching for my
hammer when the hook I was standing on popped. As I swung out the
elastic stretched until the nut tool went past my left eye like a
missile.
Now it's back on cord. I toyed with the idea of those retractor things
people keep keyrings on but it could suffer from the same eye popping
potential.
Michele:
Rather than elastic cord, I have a keyring attachment that looks like a
small piece of telephone cord. It has a lot of extension, comes in neon
colors so it is easy to find on the rack, and does not have so much snap
that it could take an eye out. Seems to work pretty well.
Alan Lindsay: I used to use a long cord as a keeper, girth hitched to my gear loops. I
always hated fighting with the tangle of cord, tho.
I've recently become persuaded the ideal deal is a short loop of cord, just
larger than my hand. When I take it off the gear loop (using a mini-biner,
thank you very much) I shake it onto my hand and it hangs on like a bracelet.
Can't drop it. I pull it off with my teeth, other hand or wriggle my hand out
after I clip it back (admittedly the most awkward part, but I think I'll get
used to it.)
My friends are skeptical, but I'm playing with it to check it out.