OH MAN, IF YOU HAVEN’T BEEN USING DMM OFFSET ALLOYS FOR MIXED ALPINE CLIMBING YOU’VE BEEN WASTING YOUR TIME. THAT SOUNDS LIKE A RASH THING TO SAY, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THE SIZE, RANGE AND SHAPES OF WIRED NUTS THAT YOU WILL BE PUNCHING INTO ICY CRACKS WITH YOUR TOOLS THE DMM ALLOY OFFSETS ARE THE HIGH ALTITUDE KING.
ON HARDER ALPINE GROUND, WITH FROZEN HANDS, KILOS OF GEAR AND AN EXHAUSTED, OXYGEN STARVED BRAIN WHAT YOU WANT IS SIMPLICITY, RELIABILITY AND SECURITY AND THE OFFSETS NAIL THAT (PUN INTENDED).
WHAT YOU DON’T WANT IS A HUGE ARRAY TO PICK THROUGH, HOLLOWED OUT DESIGNS YOU CAN’T HAMMER AT, COMPLICATED SHAPES THAT NEED TOO MUCH FOCUS TO PLACE AND ULTRALIGHT DESIGNS THAT ARE NOT STIFF ENOUGH TO HANDLE LONG REACHES OR ROBUST ENOUGH TO NOT KINK. YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO SLIDE THE NUT DOWN THE WIRES FOR ALL SORTS OF BLACK MAGIC USES AND YOU NEED A SELECTION OF PLACEMENT OPTIONS FOR THE CHANGES IN ROCK TYPES FOUND ALONG ROUTES THAT ARE KILOMETRES IN LENGTH. REALLY, THE OFFSET ALLOYS ARE ABOUT THE ONLY CONTENDER.
DMMS OFFSET ALLOYS COME IN A RANGE OF 5 – THAT’S IT. BUT THOSE 5 COVER A 12mm TO 30mm RANGE WITH ALMOST INFINITE POSSIBILITIES DUE TO THE SIMPLE BUT SOPHISTICATED SHAPES OF THE FACES AND GEOMETRICS OF THE BLOCK THAT MAKE THE MOST OF MICRO-FEATURES LIKE CRYSTAL FORMATION AND LAYERS, THINGS THAT ARE PARTICULARLY ADVANTAGEOUS IN HIMALAYAN GRANITE THAT’S FRESHLY SHATTERED.
THE BEST THING ABOUT THE OFFSETS IS THEY STACK PERHAPS THE BEST OF ANY WIRE. IF THS SORT OF THING UPSETS YOU, LOOK AWAY NOW, BECAUSE IT’S AS IF THE ALLOY OFFSETS WERE DESIGNED BY ALEISTER CROWELY IN THE MINES OF WALES HIMSELF TO BE USED SPECIFICALLY FOR THE DARKER ALPINE ARTS. THE CHANNELS IN THE FACES SLOT TOGETHER LIKE LEGO AND THE STRAIGHT YET AGRESSIVELY TAPERED GEOMETRICS LOCK TOGETHER IN WAYS IMPOSSIBLE FOR NUTS WITH CURVED GEOMETRY, AND THE SLIDE-THROUGH WIRE MENTIONED BEFORE MEANS NUTS CAN BE PLACED UPSIDE DOWN EVEN FOR TRUE ALPINE ACROBATICS.
A MAJOR FACTOR WITH ALL ALPINE WIRES IS THAT THEY ARE GOING TO BE PLACED AND EXTRACTED PROBABLY WITH THE HELP OF YOUR PICKS. NOT ONLY DO THEY NEED TO SURVIVE THE BEATING, BUT THEY NEED TO PRESENT A PROFILE THAT’S EASILY HAMMERED AND NOT FULL OF HOLES. OF THE ALLOY OFFSET RANGE THE 2 LARGER SIZES DO HAVE CUT AWAYS BUT THEY MINIMAL (PERHAPS POINTLESS AT ALL) AND HAVE LITTLE PROBLEM WITH HAMMERING. LIKEWISE A WIRE BEATEN INTO CRACK WILL BE REMOVED WITH A PICK, A TIME WHEN BEING ABLE TO PUCH THE WIRE BACK THROUGH SO IT CAN BE HOOKED CAN BE NICE.
ANOTHER ADVANTAGE IS THE WHOLE SET IS RATED TO 12kn, EVEN THE LITTLE YELLOW ONE. THIS MEANS THAT STRINGING UP A SERIES OF YELLOW OFFSETS ALONG A THIN FINGER CRACK DOESN’T MEAN DOING THE MATH OF WHETHER YOU WITH YOUR EXTRA 15kg OF GEAR WILL POP THE SWAGES IN YOU FALL.
BEYOND THE RANGE OF THE ALLOY OFFSETS THINGS WILL NEED TO BE SUPPLEMENTED WITH OTHER NUTS AND DMM HAPPILY DOES THAT WITH THEIR ENTIRE RANGE MATCHING IN COLOURS SO THESE WILL FIT IN NICELY. BUT, TO BE HONEST, IN 20 YEARS OF HIMALAYAN CLIMBING WE’VE ALMOST NEVER REQUIRED ANYTHING SMALLER (THAT BEING THE RANGE WHERE BEAKS AND BLADES TAKE OVER) AND ABOVE THAT YOU’RE GETTING INTO CAMS. IT’S NO COINCIDENCE THE OFFSETS COVER EXACTLY THE RANGE THAT 75% OF MIXED ALPINE DEMANDS.
