Hex (climbing)

Hexes are a type of nut, a hollow eccentric hexagonal prism with tapered ends, usually threaded with webbing, a swaged cable, or a cord.

When placed passively they work like chock stones in flared cracks, like other climbing nuts, just larger and with a different shape.

Active protection is achieved by orienting the webbing so that a pull causes a camming action against the rock similar to Tricams, allowing for placement in parallel cracks.

They are often preferred by alpine mountaineers over spring-loaded camming devices because of their lack of moving parts and overall lower weight for the same size crack.

The original hexes were invented by Yvon Chouinard and Tom Frost, and called Hexentrics.