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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 1, 2006 - 12:40am PT
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In an email exchange on another topic, Roger asked me what an R.P. was... it's one of those things I knew, but didn't know why I knew since I actually never had that particular equipment on my rack. What I had thought I knew was that R.P.s were small nuts.
Not sure if this wasn't covered in a past SuperTopo topic... seems it was but I couldn't find it easily. (I needed to get my post word count up too).
It turns out not to be so hard to find it searching the world wide web, and it has a world wide answer...
"RPs from Pacific Crossing These tiny brass nuts are the standard micro-nuts for many climbers. Proven over many years to be very effective in tiny cracks, the soft brass gives a good bite and the straight taper trapezoidal shape allows RPs to be placed in two different orientations. The smallest sizes are intended for aid climbing only.
SIZE RANGE INCHES WEIGHT GRAMS MFG. RATED STRENGTH KN:
 .09-.13 3 2.2
1 .13-.19 6 3.6
2 .19-.25 9 5.3
3 .25-.31 11 5.3
4 .31-.37 17 8
5 .37-.44 23 8
(from http://www.rockclimbing.com/gear/product.php?p=372);"
What does "R.P." stand for?
RP stands for Roland Pauligk who, together with his wife, hand makes the little brass beasties.
from http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=190998
Check out Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC)... which is the only place I've seen them for sale.
they had this to say:
RP Nut
Size Range Strength Weight
#0† 3-4mm 2kN 3g
#1 4-5mm 3kN 5g
#2 4-6mm 5kN 5g
#3 5-7mm 5kN 10g
#4 7-9mm 8kN 15g
#5 8-11mm 8kN 15g
†Size #0 for aid placement only!
Weight: 15.0 g , 4
RPs come to you from down under, where they were first developed by Roland Pauligk to protect the thin, shallow cracks of Mt. Arapiles. Their more symmetrical design and softer metal offer more contact and secure seating in small placements. Soldering allows for thicker wires to be used on smaller heads. The smaller sizes are rated well below the forces that may be developed in even soft falls, and the smallest size is only for direct aid.
Stainless steel wire silver soldered into brass.
Brass heads bite into the rock.
Colour-coded plastic wire sheaths and loop covers make for easy identification (and prevent catching in biner gates).
Tested under static hydraulic load.
In a history of nuts Nuts Story we find:
'" ... like a tight-rope walker, the climber is moving feverishly five meters above his very last protection, an RP number 3... ". He who reads such lines immediately feels his palms becoming sweaty. The man behind these two initials is Roland Pauligk. Living in Mordialloc, a small town in the South suburbs of Melbourne, he emigrated from East Germany in 1960, one year before the construction of the Berlin wall. Since the mid seventies, in a small workshop in the back of his garden, the boiler maker Roland Pauligk makes with an extreme meticulousness the ultimate tools for hair line cracks. Troll and Chouinard already produced small nuts but a silver soldering process allowed the RP's to be far narrower and even thinner, whilst maintaining maximum wire strength. He mainly sold his micro brass wedges in camp sites during his climbing trips around the world (Yosemite, Cloggy, Chamonix, Dolomites). The breakthrough came when Rick White, who was a top climber, did " Gumtree " at Mt Buffalo hammerless in 1975. The smallest RP was a size 1. After the ascent he said to Roland you need a smaller one size 0, as the 1s were only half in a couple of critical placements. There were virtually no peg scars on " Gumtree "; it had only two previous ascents both in December 1972, the first and Rick's repeat a week or so later. The critical placements were between crystals. There was no write-up by him, probably just climbing news reports by others. Rick said RP's were part of every Australian climbers rack in the early to mid seventies and beyond, which significantly boosted the orders. He showed them to Yvon Chouinard in 1977, which led to his range of micro-nuts! Roland Pauligk is the representative of an Australian quiet way of living and he has never wanted his business to grow too much, so the manufacturing of his superb toys goes on when... the weather is not quite settled.'
I won't quote from it, but there is a more discussion in the Guide to Marginal Protection page of the planetFear site...
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WBraun
climber
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R.P. = the reporting party
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Roger Breedlove
Trad climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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It might mean 'Really Pathetic' question. Just guessing.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 1, 2006 - 10:48am PT
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I don't think the answer is generally known, actually... and the answer is wonderful: yet another gear elf toiling away in their backyard to create a masterpiece of protection by hand... definitely a Whole Earth Catalog moment from the 70's.
Even if I had answered what I knew, I am happy to have found the more complete answer, a richer story.
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Who is Roger?
Nooooooooooooooooooo, not him.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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I recently head that Roland Pauligk had taken ill and might not be making the famous nuts any longer.
Anybody know if there is truth to this story??
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G_Gnome
Social climber
Tendonitis City
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RP stands for Really Poor Pro. Don't take a lead fall on one of those in granite. The brass is too soft and will sheer and the piece will fail. If anyone needs to see a sample I have one that failed me on the Pirate at Suicide. I only use Steel Nuts now. Brass nuts are only to be heard clanking when you walk, not used for free climbing pro.
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graham
Social climber
Ventura, California
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I had bought a couple sets of these directly from Rolland at his garage\shed work shop in Melbourne. He had a cool system for making these things. The smallest ones are recommended for Aid only but are better than nothing in a pinch for free climbing.
Really nice person who is also a bee keeper, you get free jars of honey with every purchase.
Hope he is well?
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mooch
Big Wall climber
The Immaculate Conception
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Bottom line....
RP's = aid or psychological pro!
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Ben Rumsen
Social climber
No Name City ( and it sure ain't pretty )
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RP's were the best thing for clean aid before the small HB offset brass nuts came along. I bought some RP's from MEC not too long ago for aid. Can't have too many tools in the clean aid tool box!!
" RP stands for Really Poor Pro. Don't take a lead fall on one of those in granite. The brass is too soft and will sheer and the piece will fail. If anyone needs to see a sample I have one that failed me on the Pirate at Suicide. I only use Steel Nuts now. Brass nuts are only to be heard clanking when you walk, not used for free climbing pro. " -
Should have put a Screamer on it!!
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G_Gnome
Social climber
Tendonitis City
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Yeah, a screamer, there is another piece of climbing gear that probably doesn't do what it's supposed to do. Have you seen the tests with those things?
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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"Have you seen the tests with those things? "
References, please.
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Fingerlocks
Trad climber
where the climbin's good
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Thanks for looking that up, Ed. I didn't know that either. It is easy to forget that none of this started with research departments and mass production. A lot of cool history.
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Roger Breedlove
Trad climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Tests?
You mean, like falling on them?
Are you nuts or something?
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WoodySt
Trad climber
Riverside
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I've taken leader falls on them. I always carry them on my rack, and they've saved my butt more than once.
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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RP's are great...they saved my arse many times. cheers, jb
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Realist
Big Wall climber
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RP's are made in Australia. They were originally made for one specific climb in the Grampians, I really cant remember the name if the climb for the life of me. They are great peices of pro and are very valuable for some sketchy aid in Australia. I will look in the Grampians guide in the next few days and post the name of the climb they were originally made for. There are some climbs in Australia that you cant do without some RP placements.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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One of my favorite lines concerning RP's and Eldorado Canyon,
From Colin Lantz:
"Man I used to f#ck it up with RP's!"
(fer yous youngsters, that's street for "I kicked butt with those nuts")
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Aug 11, 2006 - 01:01pm PT
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I always liked RP's because the softness helped them to "stick".
I also have the Chouinard steel variety, which perhaps inspire more confidence strength wise, yet you forgo some of the malleable benefit.
The HB offsets work like nothing else when needed (flares), but conversely present a defecit when the crack is not flared.
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Euroford
Trad climber
Chicago, IL
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Aug 11, 2006 - 01:35pm PT
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IMO, if your going to head into serious thin nut territory your rack should contain a mix of RP's, HB Offsets and the Steel BD micro's. they each kind of cover a certain special bit of territory. Much love for all three.
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
Otto, NC
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Aug 11, 2006 - 03:24pm PT
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werd
they sure won't weigh you down much
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Rankin
Social climber
Greensboro, North Carolina
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May 22, 2014 - 11:37am PT
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A thread back from the dead.
RP's are strong for their size. Now the I.M.P.s by DMM are almost identical, although RP's rate their version of the no. 1 more conservatively at 3kN. A no. 1 IMP is rated for 4kN, which is strong enough to take a lead fall in most situations. I wouldn't take repeated falls on one without switching ends of the rope. Regardless, a no. 2 is plenty strong enough at 5 kN and is standard micro protection.
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Trouble
Mountain climber
Fresno, CA
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I was always understood it to stand for "Regal Princess".
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Good Lord!
That thing looks f*#king hard !!!
Dude takes quite the plunge.
Going to have to source the whole video now ...
(Seb Grieve on Parthian Shot)
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skywalker1
Trad climber
co
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Thanks for the history Ed. I carry them all the time as a psychological thing. I've rested on them. Fun stuff at certain areas for sure. Helps through those question marks in your flight plan.
S...
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thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
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that malleability liable to shear out them little brass offsets can ease the mind in soft rock placements where steel might just track straight on through, reaming a little trackline set into the sand
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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[Click to View YouTube Video]
RPs are great, but it's not good when the flake they are in breaks off,
and it was the only pro between you and a bad ground fall
(same climb, Parthian Shot, as in the above video).
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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I found a complete set of R.P's in the trunk of a rental car once. I've always liked using them.
I might add that I tested the strength of standard silver solder and it averaged around 35,000 pounds/square inch. You might ask how pertinent this fact is?
Well, as an example if 1/8" wire were used in a brass nut, and the joint was 1/2 inch long, this would give a total surface area of silver solder around the wire of .187 square inches. Silver solder joints generally have a minimum tensile strength of 35-40K PSI. The wire would pull out of the brass nut at approximately 6545 pounds of force. Since there are 2 joints, it would take over 12,000 pounds of force, or pull to shear the joint. The wire would probably break before the joint would shear.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Excellent interview with Will Stanhope!
Stanhope stories:
http://www.willstanhope.com/stories-1/
................................................
I placed lots of RPs and was never particularly concerned.
Though, in my time the whole point was NOT to lob off onto gear.
 Full set of RPs in the trunk of a rental car: what are the odds that a climber would come across that? (A far less definitive sort of calculation)
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clifff
Mountain climber
golden, rollin hills of California
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Will Stanhope Goes Solo On The Crack Climbs Of Joshua Tree
[Click to View YouTube Video]
RP's are great if you're only facing a short fall. I've been thinking that bungee cord could somehow be worked into the equation for weak placements. A bungee sling to the placement. Or tie in as normal and then tie in a section of bungee parallel to your lead rope, so that the bungee takes the fall for the first 2 - 20+ feet then the normal lead rope engages. This would greatly reduce the forces on the weak pro. Might be really good for hard aid. Maybe just use a bungee as your rope if the route is steep enough and the pro weak.
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Blue Mountains Orangutan
Sport climber
Sydney, Australia
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May 26, 2018 - 07:39am PT
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Just to answer the original post surely RP stands for Roland Pauligk?
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i-b-goB
Social climber
Wise Acres
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May 26, 2018 - 08:19am PT
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Cracks are sporty! Roy, Will likes climbing in a hat too!
On point RP's would fit where other nuts wouldn't!
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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May 26, 2018 - 08:42am PT
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whtz an RP?
Better Than Nothing
In this case Alone that malleability liable to shear out them little brass offsets can ease the mind in soft rock placements where steel might just track straight on through, reaming a little trackline set into the sand RP stands for Righteous Prose.
Garble-base, good on ya!
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Chief
climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
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May 26, 2018 - 06:13pm PT
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RP's?
Roland Pauligk, RIP!
The late great Eric Weinstein told Scott Flavelle and I he thought they made some of the pitches on Mescalito a full grade easier when he did the 4th ascent (with Java).
Java loaned Scott and I two sets for our ascent after Mark and Max and we thought them indispensable.
I've used them ever since for aid and free, fallen on size 3 (green) and 4 (blue) plenty of times and still carry a set on my rack.
They were vital on Josh stemming classics such as Cretan Bull Dancer, 29 Palms, Warrior Eagle etc.
I used four sets on the first pitch of Movin' to Montana and they're essential for the compact stone in the Chehalis.
Just sayin'
PB
ps. Will is the definitive mild mannered superhero with all the muscular definition of a teenaged Canadian mill rat nourished by a strict diet of High Test and poutine.
What a stud!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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May 26, 2018 - 07:39pm PT
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Cretan Bull Dancer on RPs!
Exactly: had to have them on board and in the stone.
Thanks for bringing back the memories, Perry.
PS: tell us more about Java.
Please.
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Chief
climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
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May 26, 2018 - 09:54pm PT
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Roy,
Java aka Java Man was Greg Child's nickname and he was the down to earth, approachable opposite to his Aussie partner in the mid to late seventies.
I had the privilege of partnering up with Greg on his frequent visits to Squamish during the years he was married to Sally and living in Seattle and we enjoyed a rewarding friendship on and off the rock.
A highlight for both of us was the first ascent of Mt. Slesse's East aspect via it's "East Pillar".
(The late John Stoddard and his partner took the same start but "escaped" left up easier terrain.)
Greg is a great writer and he chronicled our memorable night on a sloping excuse for a ledge that felt more like the hood of a Volkswagen in his treatise, "The Diadactics of Bivouacism".
I haven't seen Greg in nigh twenty years.
He and Sally went their separate ways and I think Greg lives in Castleton Valley and has raised a daughter from a subsequent relationship.
He's a great guy and a living legend in my books.
An honor to have shared a rope with him and call him my friend.
PB
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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May 27, 2018 - 08:05am PT
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Yeah, thanks for reminding me of the connection: I knew of Java long before I had ever heard of Greg Child!
Definitely one of the best climbing writers going. His stuff truly is literature.
Last time I spoke with Doug Macdonald, he and Greg were still out there in Castleton Valley.
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domngo
climber
Canada
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May 29, 2018 - 01:19pm PT
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I had the pleasure of romping around Cochise with Doug Mcdangle,Greg and a few others this past autumn. They're both still out in Castle Valley.
Greg & Shannon are some of the most hospitable & gracious humans I've met and are doing what I think is a stand-up job raising Ari - a bonafide badass teenage rock monkey and quite the violinist.
Heres a great Outside article by D.Robert's - https://www.outsideonline.com/2237466/new-old-gang
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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May 29, 2018 - 01:26pm PT
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We named a climbing area in JT after them. The 1BRP Wall. 2 of the routes had 1 bolt and then RP's to protect the rest of the climb.
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