Head kit?

[Sol]

So i've got a few aluma-heads that i've been practicing placing in choss rock on the ground. they ususally seem to stick for about 20 seconds or about two bounce tests before they rip depositing me in a pile on the ground. granted, I usually place them in very shallow placements in an effort to see the limits of this type of protection. i've been using a stubby lost arrow or the back of my hammer to place them. My question: what is in your head kit? chisels, wire brushes, chewing gum? any do you have any beta on placing them. i've clipped some really bomber ones up north on cannabis wall that were absolutely welded to the rock, i.e. bomber. i have not been able to replicate such placements and i think it is because I do not have the right tools. any thoughts? thanks.

[dberdinka]

First off I'm no expert but....I have a 3/8 inch chisel I filed dull that works fine. For just about any route in existence the heads are all fixed and you just might need to replace a dead head or two. In my experience those fixed placements are not shallow, barely-there indentations. They are well defined crevices to shallow or flared for pitons or nuts. The barely there stuff is where you find rivets and bathooks.

 

After you've beat the hell out of a head pull it out and look how little the back of the head has actually molded to the crack. Hardly at all!

 

Your best bet to get it too stick is to pick a good, secure placement and preshape the head with some wacks of your hammer before placing it.

 

Maybe that sounds stoopid but unless you're putting up new pitches it's probably the reality of the situation.

[willstrickland]

I have a blunted chisel, around 3/8", a small double brush the size of a toothbrush that has wire bristles on one side and nylon on the other, a medium punch blunted to where it's rounded instead of sharp pointed, and a sharp punch to clean deadheads.

 

The blunted punch is key. Without it, you are relying on the chisel blade which is too wide to be effective in really pasting (after you "x") and the corners are too sharp/narrow to use as something less wide than the entire blade (seems like the corner cuts the head more than pasting it in).

 

I cannot imagine being able to effectively place anything smaller than a #4 with the back of your hammer or a LA.

 

Here's what I do:

 

Clean out the placement as well as you can. Try to find a spot in the groove that constricts at the bottom (so the head can act sorta like a stopper)and has alot of texture. After I "x" it into place, and do the intial pin/paste of the sides with the chisel, I take the dull punch and really paste the edges and center, moving from the center outward in an alternating pattern. When I've tried to just use the chisel, and had one rip, it usually was because the back center of the head didn't get pasted flat enough to fully contact the rock.

 

I've placed #0s that I could not rip with two people bouncing on them, and placed perfect looking #3s that ripped right after I got on them. At first, I tried to approach heading like it was this delicate procedure. Then I realized to get the things pasted and really molded to the rock, you gotta whale on them in the center and be more careful at the top and bottom.

 

"Rock" them after you paste to see if they rotate at all. Then bounce test the s&*% out of them.

 

Before I ever placed one on lead, I had done at least 3 multi-hour practice sessions in the talus fields.

[Sol]

thanks guys, great info. Keep it coming if you got info to add.

[tomtom]

Great info. Any recommended cracks at Index to practice placements?

[bigwalling]

If the rock is really rotton, you can't place a real good head. Test lightly and get on it, hope it holds.

 

I carry a small punch, big punch, regular chisel. I also carry a dead head remove sometimes, but it's all bent now. You want to have some sort of tether on these, I use a wire wrist loop with some clear tubing around it. Long cords get tangled in everything.

 

When you place them, beat the head to get it kinda soft and while you're doing this get in preformed to the placement. Them just beat the hell out of it with whatever tool works best. Sometimes you have to really work one section of the head before you start really pasting the rest of it.

 

Most of the time you will just leave the heads in place. Cleaning them is kinda risky if they are well placed. It's all up to you. On F.A. I remove pretty much every one, but I could care less about the people who do the route next. They'll likely just place bolts all over it anyways. So sometimes you will find dead heads in crutial placements. You got a remove and replace. So on most "trade routes" leave stuff if it is way solid. On obscure stuff, it's nice if you remove them. I funk my heads out most of the time too (on new stuff), this can bust cables and leave deadheads. Be careful funking stuff out on well traveled routes.

 

Testing? Don't test small heads (#1s) too hard, they will break! #2's should be tested too hard, but they will take some good bounces, sorta depends on the placement. 3s and 4s should be tested hard. These can hold a lot of weight! A #0 head has a wire that breaks arout 200 something pounds. I don't know how you got 2 people bouncing on it? I would have to see to believe.

 

#0 are weak and I don't know many people who use them. The head size isn't much smaller than a #1 so you can just beat #1 to fit.

#1 Lots of times you can place a CU #2 instead, sometimes not. Double heads are nice

#2 Best size of head, carry both CU and Al in single and double.

#3 Used alot on easy heading, doubles are overkill unless you are scared

#4 Can be useful, used on easy stuff, doulbes are overkill

#5 Are rarely used and are massive

[dberdinka]

Great info. Any recommended cracks at Index to practice placements?

 

There is a top-ropable seam below the first pitch of Dana's Arch that is excellent for practicing hard aid.

 

If you want to practice actually placing heads you'll need to first put in some elbow grease cleaning out heads and deadheads.