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mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 4, 2008 - 10:48pm PT
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We found ourselves sharing Snake Dike with a couple guys from Mallorca recently, if these incredibly fun-loving guys are any indication, go climbing there! and you'll have a barrel of fun every minute of the trip. (And Miguel and Samuel, if you ever surf the Taco, e-mail to us, we have great photos to send!)
But the point of this post is a piece of gear they had on their skimpy rack, something I had not seen in 40 yrs of climbing. Thought people might find it interesting. It's a multiple size stopper, small wire in the middle and a bunch of nested bent sheet aluminum to make it fit the whole range of cracks, or slide them down the wire for smaller placements. Wacky.
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jamesellis
climber
Bremerton, Washington
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Looks like it would be handy to have, if it actually works.
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T Moses
Trad climber
Paso Robles
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That's a ONFM. That stands for One Nut Fits Most. ;)
I don't see why I wouldn't work. Kind of a cool concept.
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Chicken Skinner
Trad climber
Yosemite
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I would love one of those. Why wouldn't it work? As it gets worn you could shed the layers.
Ken
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Jerry Dodrill
climber
Sebastopol, CA
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Wow. I saw some home made gear like this years ago in the gear closet of Jim Hanson, former climbing instructor at Pacific Union College in Napa Valley. I thought "wierd." And it was.
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nick d
Trad climber
nm
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I'm sure it would work, but I bet it weighs as much as the 6 stoppers it might "replace", and you could still only place it once a pitch.
Cool looking though!
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland: what's not to love?
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Do you know if they produced it themselves? Or what?
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slobmonster
Trad climber
berkeley, ca
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I've seen one of those before, in a big box (of climbing junk) in No. Conway. I think they were produced commercially.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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They are manufactured in a factory that exclusively employs those russian dolls,..
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Salamanizer
Trad climber
Vacaville Ca,
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What's the MOAC looking nut you're compairing it too?
I'd have probably donated some gear for these guys rack.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Still just a single placement even with all the adjustability.
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Michael Hjorth
Trad climber
Copenhagen, Denmark
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This nut was quite often seen in French climbing shops in the eighties. Cannot remember the producer, though. Simond, possibly?
As W.C. Rocks was just marketed at that time, I saw no need to have a noncurved nut. I remember shaking my head and laughing - even without ever trying it. Compared to the English (and American!) producers the French lacked so much behind on rockgear.
Michael
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mongrel
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 5, 2008 - 01:13pm PT
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Glad folks found this amusing! I would guess it works: looked well used, and here these guys were, certainly alive. They said it was given to them by the guy who first took them climbing, I forget if they were implying it was something he made in his garage or what. We were trying to fly up the climb to keep well ahead of a cluster we had passed, so I didn't take time while belaying and taking pictures to examine it for a brand. I totally agree it's not too practical, a lot of weight/bulk for just one piece of pro on a pitch, but entertaining to see.
The "Moac looking nut" was some European manufacture straight-sided stopper, almost exactly like the old OLD Chouinard #5 stopper that was an absolute staple on our racks before and in the early days of good wired nuts, threaded on some minimal cord (we used to drill them out just enough to jam 7mm through). That's a damn good nut there, except for the thin rope it's on.
Yes, we'd have donated them a bunch of gear too, cheerfully. They were 5.12-13 limestone sportsters, and had pulled off some pretty adventurous Yosemite routes more on ability and spirit than gear (the good old way). Alas we weren't able to connect afterward. Lesson is: throw a small sling of old gear in your trunk when you hit the Valley, never know when the right worthy cause for it might come along.
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jamesellis
climber
Bremerton, Washington
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I wasn't implying that there was anything wrong with the concept or design, just that I wouldn't feel comfortable using it without know where, when, and by whom it was made.
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MisterE
Trad climber
My Inner Nut
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It looks like a screamer nut: If the first one doesn't hold, then it gets jammed by the next? Hopefully?
There's one you would want in a narrowing constriction on marginal rock...
Edit: Ah, Hell, my brain gets fuzzy trying to think of why this would be better. Normal nuts I guess would tend to blow out the rock?
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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The various "leaves" of the nut might absorb a fair amount of energy as they compressed, even if it did mean that the nut moved a bit in the crack. Kind of a built-in screamer effect.
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adatesman
Trad climber
philadelphia, pa
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Wow. I totally want one. Anyone have one they'll part with, or know where to get one?
Seriously. I'm a gear whore and totally into oddball gear. :-)
-a.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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I've seen those several times over the years, though not in the past decade. I'll send Stephane a link to the thread and he'll be able to say who made them.
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
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those who know will tell you:
Russia has the most beautiful women, anywhere :)
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Stephane sent back this and a couple of pics:
--------------------------------------------------
This exotic nut is a Coinceur Gigogne (Nest of Nut in French). It was marketed in France in 1979, by Laprade, a company that marketed a small line of climbing hardware. Laprade sponsored the outstanding French climber, René Desmaison.
The Coinceur Gigogne was invented by Jacques Paul Fournier and patented on August 3rd, 1979, (Patent FR 2410487). He was not rare at all in the late seventies. Another inventor worked on the nest of nut design, Alain Blanchemain. He made a prototype that was patented on November 3rd, 1978, but this device was never marketed. I have attached a photo of this prototype!
 Stephane
Jacques Paul Fournier design
Alain Blanchemain design
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