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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Placed my first buttonhead on Future Shlock at Williamson Rock in 1984. I later moved on to bigger stuff thus my spiral into the degenerate world of sport climbing. I eventually found my way out and am grateful trad climber now.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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Pictures at an Exhibition (5.10-), Split Rocks Area, Joshua Tree, 1977..........
That route is stellar, I love it mostly for the setting, but climbing a quartz dike up a Monzonite face is just funky and cool.....love that route.
It's a must do every year for my possee.
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
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speaking of buttonheads the button head rivet ladders on the upper pitch's of half-dome's (Tis-sa-ack route) are in dire need of replacement.
Robbins was shorthanded so he 1/2 drilled the rivet ladder! (need of replacement). This one i will put my Money on! for real!
Classic route!
haven't placed any buttonheads in my life because I'm too young!
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Wack
climber
Dazevue
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RIP the 5/16" Buttonhead, you are sorely missed for Boschless, no wrench wilderness area F.A's.
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Hard Rock
Trad climber
Montana
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Put in a few Buttonheads. Was doing a route with another Wisconsinite. I wanted to call the route "Buttonheads for Cheeseheads" but we used his name.
Go Packers.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 8, 2008 - 03:31pm PT
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Wack called it. A wrench doesn't weigh much, but it is extra weight for backcountry ascents. These days I'm using lots of lightweight gear to make up for weakness. So they do have a place it would seem. Not obsolete, but definitely not a revolution in "sport climbing"
I've still got maybe 7 of them left. I still hear that the new bits tend not to work well for buttonheads. Anyone got some insights on this they want to retell?
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Roger,
The bolts Rokjox describes were *left* of Reefer Madness, which is the area of Friday the 13th in the 1987 and 1994 guidebooks.
The topo for the first 2 pitches of Friday the 13th is shown differently in the 1987 and 1994 guides.
Plus, Roger, didn't you find a separate start to Friday the 13th, right of what is shown in the topo? Maybe near where we climbed from the top of Hershey Highway?
We should make a topo showing all the bolts in that vicinity, and Rokjox can identify the ones he placed.
Here is a photo overlay I made that summer, but a better photo can be grabbed from the Xrez site
P.S. Rokjox, if you send me the date and names, I'll add it to the first ascent info I keep track of for Yosemite.
http://www.stanford.edu/~clint/yos/YOSFA.HTM
Here's the current first ascent info for the routes on that slab:
1547. Barney Rubble FA: Barney Ng, Keith Kishiyama, Dave Ryan, 11/1989
1548. The Violent Bear It Away FA: John Tuttle, Vince DePasque, 1986
1549. Double Trouble FA: unknown
1550. Arches Direct FA: Royal Robbins, Joe Fitschen, 6/1960
1551. The Rambler FA: Steve Gerberding, Scott Burke, Chris Hash, Gene Hash, 6/1986
1552. Shakey Flakes FA: Chris Falkenstein, Ken Bishop, Edd Kuropat, Tom Carter, Mark McPheron, 1972
1553. Friday the 13th FA: Dimitri Barton, Scott Burke, 9/1985
1554. Slander Session FA: unknown
1555. Flakes Away FA: Chris Cantwell, 9/1978
1556. Samurai Crack FA: Bill Price, Chris Cantwell, 9/1978
1557. Hershey Highway FA: Lance Lynch, Malcolm Jolly, 1978
1558. Mid-Life Crisis FA: Bruce Morris, Dave Yerian, et al, late 1980s
1559. Arches Terrace FA: Rich Calderwood, Merle Alley, 12/1957
FFA: Merle Alley, Rich Calderwood, John Ohrenschall, George Sessions, 1958
1560. Anorexia Crack FA: James Selvidge, Bernie Rivadeneyra
1561. Reefer Madness FA: Pat Timson, Don Harder, 1976
1562. un AT FA: Lance Lynch, ?, 1987?
1563. Greasy but Groovy FA: John Long, Rick Accomazzo, Richard Harrison, 5/1974
1564. Surf Nazi FA: unknown
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Strider
Trad climber
one of god's mountain temples....
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You can still buy buttonheads:
http://www.fixeusa.com/button_head_bolts.htm
Have a handful of the 8mm ones and they work like a charm. They are a mite tricky to place though. Here is my first buttonhead placement:
I screwed this one up. If you look where I hammered the head of the bolt you can see I hit it on the top instead of exactly straight in. This caused the bolt to bend downward and create a pretty shitty placement. Still rapped off of it though.
-n
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 8, 2008 - 04:29pm PT
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hahaha, are those my hangers?
LOL!!
Strider, if it helps, on the old button heads it didn't matter if you wacked em on top or sideways too much. So I'm wondering if the bit you used was too small for the diameter of those buttons.
I think we talked about this, but don't remember the specifics.
M
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Strider
Trad climber
one of god's mountain temples....
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LOL, I am pretty sure that is one of your hangers.
I was kinda thinking the bit was a little small but the buttonhead and the drill bit were bought together from Fixe and the salesman said this was the bit to use. So I am not sure what my problem is. To date I have placed 6 of these suckers and only 2 of them went is correctly, the rest would go about 3/4 of the way and start to deform. And before someone asks, yes the hole was deep enough.
C'est la vie.
-n
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Greg Barnes
climber
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Strider, toss those POS Fixe copies of the old 5/16" buttonheads. The Fixe ones are total garbage no matter how you place them. An old 5/16" buttonhead usually (despite Ed's experience) takes a ton of work to pull - generally not even worth trying unless the hanger is bunk or the placement clearly bad (fractured rock, bolt loose, etc). One of those copies will just break off with nearly no effort. A 1/4" buttonhead is stronger. No one should be selling those Fixe copies anymore, and if anybody has them, just throw them out. The ASCA bought a big pile (many years ago), and we tossed them.
The original 5/16" buttonheads on the other hand - the few people who have any left guard those like they're solid gold...
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CF
climber
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Here some old crap I have laying around. I got a box of old assorted buttonheads. Here is a Forrest Hammer, Chouinard holster, Leeper hook, Dolt keyhole hanger with some way old sling on it, my drill holder from the 70's and assorted bolts. Some of the old hangers are from old climbs that have been replaced.
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Captain...or Skully
Social climber
Where are YOU from?
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The functional, yet historical kit. Nice.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 8, 2008 - 07:39pm PT
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I bid 1000 quotloons on the newcomer!
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Minerals
Social climber
The Deli
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What Greg said…
The Fixe buttonheads are way soft. That’s why they bend so easily when placed. We made the mistake of placing a bunch on Cataclysmic Megasheer, on the S Face of Half Dome – those bolts should be replaced sooner rather than later…
The 5th pitch variation of Zodiac (bolt ladder) consists mostly of these bogus Fixe buttonheads. I replaced the first three or four in the ladder with 1/4" buttonheads… because a quarter-incher is way more bomber. The rest should be replaced as well.
These worthless bolts need to be eradicated (oh, and I thought that I was saving that word for humans…) from any piece of rock that will ever be climbed on.
Strider, I think it’s safe to blame Fixe for the appearance of your first bolt, not your handiwork. The original Rawl buttonheads don’t bend that easily.
As far as drill bits for the original 5/16” buttonheads go, you’ll be cursing if you use a straight 5/16” bit. Use 21/64” bits for the not-so-solid stuff and 11/32” for the super-solid stuff. Oh, and you’ll need a REAL drill holder… not one of those SDS-only jobs (which are close to worthless IMHO).
Who makes those Metolius-look-alike hangers? Retail cost?
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Strider
Trad climber
one of god's mountain temples....
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Well thanks for the update on the Fixe buttonheads. I had no idea they were so universally hated. Weird that Fixe would continue to sell them when they seem like a sub-par anchor.
Anybody know if the Powers buttonheads are any different? Maybe they make a good alternative.
-n
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Salamanizer
Trad climber
Vacaville Ca,
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I use the Powers buttonheads all the time. I have a bunch of the old Rawl buttonheads (from the late 70's) and dispite the head being a little different profile, they are the same...BOMBER. I like the Confast buttonheads a little more though. Stronger, harder, cheaper.
You can score a box of 100 for $18 bucks here,
http://www.confast.com/products/split-drive-anchor.aspx
That's 28 cents each shipped and at your door.
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