The lowdown: Anodised Climbing Gear

A trad rack of assorted anodised and non-anodised nuts, cams, slings, carabiners and more!

Is there a difference between anodised and non-anodised climbing gear?  If you’ve been into a climbing shop recently or been trad climbing you will probably have seen loads of nuts hanging around – some just silver and others in bright shiny colours.  The coloured ones may look very nice, but why would you spend extra money on anodised climbing nuts or anodised friends/ camming devices?

It might seem like non-anodised product offer the same functionality as an item that is anodised, but after some research we have discovered otherwise:

1. Anodising gives better resistance to corrosion

Believe it or not the process of anodising makes your nuts more resistant to corrosion.  It’s an interesting process that you should find out about, because it might just change your buying habits if you’re an outdoor trad or sport climber.

2. Reduces conductivity of the parts

By reducing conductivity, anodising helps with longevity as it reduces overall corrosive activity within parts.  This is particularly relevant for cams, which have lots of moving parts.

3. Increasing the lifespan of your products

Less corrosion and less conductivity means a longer lifespan for your climbing gear.  This will save you money in the longer term, as you need replace your gear less frequently.

4. Differentiation 

Placing gear is a lot about spatial awareness.  Have you noticed how some people just seem to place the right nut size first time?  It’s not always to do with experience either…. Some people can very easily equate the size of a slot with an equivalent nut size and they don’t need a colour for reference. For others having coloured nuts can help them to identify the nut size required.

5. Coloured nuts look nicer

Some people prefer to have coloured nuts, hexes and cams for climbing because they are more visually appealing.  That’s an absolutely valid reason too.

DMM, the UKs leading climbing gear manufacturer, show us their anodising process and explain our first three points in this informative and fascinating film. DMM have written a whole article about anodising their products, which you can take a look at to get more informed about this question.

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