The following techniques are for those ‘RP O’ situations where anything is better then nothing. I’ve used all three techniques several times and they do work – just don’t expect them to work all the time.
THE ONE SIDED PULL
You will often find yourself in a situation where you have a parallel crack but have no cam to fill it, especially if the crack is wide. One technique that can work is to use the hex sideways in such a way that the force is only applied on one side, and so create a far more effective twisting action then normally achieved. Once set give the nut some very strong jerks to lock it in place, and extend it. The strength of such a placement is dependant on how much metal is in contact with the rock, and what the effect of metal distortion will have in these areas (i.e. if the nut is just in contact and you lob onto the cammed nut, it may blow if the metal distorts enough for the cramming angle to be lost).
THE HEX TRI CAM
This technique is potentially very low strength, but may be the only protection you can achieve in some circumstances (treat it like you would a micro wire). If you find a parallel crack that isn’t protectable with the above method then try this. Take a dyneema slung nut, press the tape flat against front of the nut and place it so the sling extends out of the far side of the nut. Doing this creates a cam very much a tri cam, as any force will cause the nut to twist and lock tighter into the placement. Like the above method it’s important to lock the nut tight and extend it. The very real danger in this technique is that any large force will force the nut to cut the tape, and so this technique should only be used when you can’t find anything else.
THE FAT CRACK DOUBLE UP
Another technique in the ‘RP’ category is stacking large hexs when you find a crack which is two wide to take anything else. To do this take your largest nut and find a nut that fits snugly into it. Push this in a far as you can and hopefully this stack will span the crack. Once placed pull down hard on just one of the hexs (not both), making them twist and lock together. The alloy bodies of large hexs aren’t designed for this kind of loading, so again don’t expect much strength. A variation on this is to stack the hex with a standard nut, and works well when you have a hex that’s just a bit too small.
