Gear Review: Basic Ass Aluminum Micro Nuts - Underwhelming
Brand: Black Diamond
Model: Stopper (1-3)
Class: Standard, Micro
If you’re a new to the trad world, you won’t have to worry at all about the ‘micro’ range, but as you venture into harder aid climbing the cracks get thinner and more difficult to protect. The problem has several good solutions, but the The Black Diamond Stopper (size 1-3), isn’t one of them.
Black Diamond Stopper 1, 2, 3; (I dropped my number 2).
Specs
The Black Diamond Stopper (1-3) is made of a hardened aluminum alloy and threaded to its cable. Strength ratings are (1,2) 2kn, (3) 5kn. It is parallel along the broad axis. It is parallel along its short axis. The vertical axis has a straight taper. The faces are flat. The weight is inconsequential.
Both placement orientations are parallel.
The curved taper of the number 4, (left) next to the strait taper of numer 3 (middle) and number 1 (right).
Performance
The aluminum is not sticky like the brass, bronze, or iron alloys used in most other micro nuts. The threaded cables can be used as an improvised rivet hangers, something you can’t do with soldered nuts, but rivet hangers work better. The standard orientation is a little broad to get into small tricky placements, and renders it it mediocre getting into small tricky placements and also making the horizontal orientation, unstable and impractical to use. not as useful as a nut with at least one flaring orientation. Size 1 and 2 have an uninspiring ‘aid only’ rating and size 3 is considered just strong enough for free climbing, but ugh—come on!
Avoid all of these ‘basic ass’ micro nuts
Black Diamond Stopper - 1, 2 (2kn), 3 (5kn)
DMM Micro Wallnut - 00, 0 (2kn), .5 (4kn), .75 (6kn)
Wild Country Micro Rock - 0, .25 (1kn) .5, .75 (4kn)
Omega Wedgie - 1, 2 (2kn), 3 (5kn)
The market is saturated with thin seam rock stars like the Moses Tomahawk (a beak style piton), the DMM Brass Nut, and Black Diamond’s own, the Micro Stopper. Next to these, the Black Diamond Stopper in sizes 1-3 falls overwhelmingly underwhelming. There are simply way better tools for the job. You could use it as a rivet hanger, but rivet hangers just work better.
