A New Nut Tool

Well, I finally realized that it was time to break down and get a new nut tool.  For those that don't know, a nut tool is small pick/crowbar like device used to extract rock climbing protection from the rock by prying, hammering, levering, grabbing the cam trigger bar, etc.  It is a standard piece of equipment for any trad climber, especially someone who is following or "seconding".  However, the leader should also be carrying one in case you try to place a piece of pro and it doesn't seat right but won't come out easily.

The first "nut tool" I ever used was some kind of thing fashioned from some heavy gauge wire that my friend Dan had made.  He needed someone to follow him at Seneca and I had never been there.  I vaguely remember the conversation but he knew that I was competent enough to belay him and not get us killed.  I somehow used this thing to great effect when following him up West Pole, Triple S and Ecstasy on my first visit to Seneca in 1997.

Shortly after that trip in 1997 I was hooked on trad climbing.  So I picked up my own Grivel nut tool from Mountain Trails in Winchester, VA.  Yup, it's been about 16 years.  That Grivel has been through countless adventures, hammered on zillions of pieces and reached the trigger bar on numerous cams to somehow help get them out.  It has cleaned out tons of gunk from small cracks, worked as a crowbar to lever off loose rocks large and small on new routes, hacked off small limbs on trees (it was all I had!) and opened its fair share of beers after long days of climbing.   Its most recent awesome achievement was late last year when I used it to finally work out a pretty darn near new #3 BD cam after at least 30 min of work.  The piece was left by some other party and is probably the best piece of booty-gear I have managed to get out.  I take pride in being able to get out stuck gear and the Grivel tool has been my companion throughout.  But it has finally come to a point where it is just worn out and the hook on the end has finally worn down to a nub.  This is probably due to my using it as a "garden weasel" a bit too much lately. I thought about trying to sharpen it but I just don't think there's enough material there to make it work.  Sigh.  It's definitely a bummer, but such is life sometimes.  Here's a few pics of the ol' Grivel, complete with the Mountain Trails key-chain biner that is still alive and kickin' 16 years later (the penny is there for scale).

You can see that the tip is just a nub now :-(

Keeper cord and biner to clip it to the harness...you're an idiot if you don't have one!

So I needed a new nut tool.  It was Sunday this past weekend and after it finally stopped pouring down rain, my friend Katie and I left the Cave area at Seneca Rocks and headed back to the Gendarme (the climbing shop) in town.  I looked over a number of nut tool options: Black Diamond, Metolius and Mad Rock.  There was one Metolius design in particular that I liked.  The back end of it was enlarged so that you could more easily (and comfortably) slam your hand against it.  Up until now I've typically put a hex nut over the end of mine and slammed my hand on the hex when I really needed to hammer.  This thing would give me a couple more options.

As I was looking at the tool, in walked my good friend and Gendarme climbing guide Seth.  We started talking and it turned out that he wanted this same tool too...and there was only one left.  So then Seth suggested I take a look at his Metolius nut tool which he was willing to sell for $10 (instead of about $20 for the new tool).  Behind the counter is Seth's girlfriend Simone.  Turns out she was really hoping to get Seth's old Metolius nut tool when he picked up a new one.  I thought to myself, "Uhhhmmm...am I really possibly getting in a fight over a nut tool? No...Seth and Simone can deal with it later."  A few minutes, $10 and a sad Simone later I'm the proud owner of this guy:

It hasn't been beat up too badly and it comes to me with a cool story already attached.  Having the built-in biner will be a difference but I'll figure it out.  I transferred my keeper cord to it and will hopefully try it out soon.  It's definitely going to get used and abused next month in Scotland!  Anyway, I just thought this was a cool little story that I'd share with y'all.  Onward to more adventures with the new nut tool!