While many seek the the thrill of rock climbing, there are many safety aspects to take into account, as well as protection gear to consider. For the new climber, you may look at Wedgies and say, "What is the purpose of these? and How could these help me climb securely and safely?

Wedgies or Passive protection gear, are part of a wide range of 'protection gear,' referring to cams, nuts, hexes, and the like that are both active (pieces with moving parts), and passive (no moving parts). Both types play vital roles in any climb, and it is important that avid climbers have a combination of both types of protection gear on their racks.

What is Passive Pro?

Passive protection does not have moving parts, and the pieces are designed to be wedged into constrictions in rocks. Examples of these include nuts, hexes, and Tricams, and for most traditional rock climbing venues, a good selection of passive protection will be the most useful part of your gear. Rock climbers have used other things such as pebbles and small stones to wedge into rocks, but to avoid scrambling and the hassle of needing too many, the Omega Pacific full wedgie set is definitely something to consider. There are also many types of passive pro, such as nuts, which goes by other alternative names including chocks, stoppers, and tapers, all of which are terms for basic passive pro reffering to a variety of different metal Wediges.

Wedgies, also known as nuts, chocks, stoppers, and tapers, are designed with metal wedges (available in several different sizes), that are attached to a wire cable with a loop on the end. The wedge gets slipped into a crack, while the other end gets linked to an anchor. The wedge itself is engineered to jam into place solidly, when a load is placed on the wire. Some wedgies come equipped with cutout areas for a better fit on uneven surfaces.

They also come in different sizes ranging from 1 through 13, and the exact dimensions for each size will vary slightly depending on the nut maker and the nut shape; some brands even make a size 0.

Check out this video on "Selecting Climbing Protection":

(https://youtu.be/BojsbPPhBjQ)