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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 1, 2006 - 12:40am PT
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In an email exchange on another topic, Roger asked me what an R.P. was... it's one of those things I knew, but didn't know why I knew since I actually never had that particular equipment on my rack. What I had thought I knew was that R.P.s were small nuts.
Not sure if this wasn't covered in a past SuperTopo topic... seems it was but I couldn't find it easily. (I needed to get my post word count up too).
It turns out not to be so hard to find it searching the world wide web, and it has a world wide answer...
"RPs from Pacific Crossing These tiny brass nuts are the standard micro-nuts for many climbers. Proven over many years to be very effective in tiny cracks, the soft brass gives a good bite and the straight taper trapezoidal shape allows RPs to be placed in two different orientations. The smallest sizes are intended for aid climbing only.
SIZE RANGE INCHES WEIGHT GRAMS MFG. RATED STRENGTH KN:
 .09-.13 3 2.2
1 .13-.19 6 3.6
2 .19-.25 9 5.3
3 .25-.31 11 5.3
4 .31-.37 17 8
5 .37-.44 23 8
(from http://www.rockclimbing.com/gear/product.php?p=372);"
What does "R.P." stand for?
RP stands for Roland Pauligk who, together with his wife, hand makes the little brass beasties.
from http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=190998
Check out Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC)... which is the only place I've seen them for sale.
they had this to say:
RP Nut
Size Range Strength Weight
#0† 3-4mm 2kN 3g
#1 4-5mm 3kN 5g
#2 4-6mm 5kN 5g
#3 5-7mm 5kN 10g
#4 7-9mm 8kN 15g
#5 8-11mm 8kN 15g
†Size #0 for aid placement only!
Weight: 15.0 g , 4
RPs come to you from down under, where they were first developed by Roland Pauligk to protect the thin, shallow cracks of Mt. Arapiles. Their more symmetrical design and softer metal offer more contact and secure seating in small placements. Soldering allows for thicker wires to be used on smaller heads. The smaller sizes are rated well below the forces that may be developed in even soft falls, and the smallest size is only for direct aid.
Stainless steel wire silver soldered into brass.
Brass heads bite into the rock.
Colour-coded plastic wire sheaths and loop covers make for easy identification (and prevent catching in biner gates).
Tested under static hydraulic load.
In a history of nuts Nuts Story we find:
'" ... like a tight-rope walker, the climber is moving feverishly five meters above his very last protection, an RP number 3... ". He who reads such lines immediately feels his palms becoming sweaty. The man behind these two initials is Roland Pauligk. Living in Mordialloc, a small town in the South suburbs of Melbourne, he emigrated from East Germany in 1960, one year before the construction of the Berlin wall. Since the mid seventies, in a small workshop in the back of his garden, the boiler maker Roland Pauligk makes with an extreme meticulousness the ultimate tools for hair line cracks. Troll and Chouinard already produced small nuts but a silver soldering process allowed the RP's to be far narrower and even thinner, whilst maintaining maximum wire strength. He mainly sold his micro brass wedges in camp sites during his climbing trips around the world (Yosemite, Cloggy, Chamonix, Dolomites). The breakthrough came when Rick White, who was a top climber, did " Gumtree " at Mt Buffalo hammerless in 1975. The smallest RP was a size 1. After the ascent he said to Roland you need a smaller one size 0, as the 1s were only half in a couple of critical placements. There were virtually no peg scars on " Gumtree "; it had only two previous ascents both in December 1972, the first and Rick's repeat a week or so later. The critical placements were between crystals. There was no write-up by him, probably just climbing news reports by others. Rick said RP's were part of every Australian climbers rack in the early to mid seventies and beyond, which significantly boosted the orders. He showed them to Yvon Chouinard in 1977, which led to his range of micro-nuts! Roland Pauligk is the representative of an Australian quiet way of living and he has never wanted his business to grow too much, so the manufacturing of his superb toys goes on when... the weather is not quite settled.'
I won't quote from it, but there is a more discussion in the Guide to Marginal Protection page of the planetFear site...
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WBraun
climber
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R.P. = the reporting party
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Roger Breedlove
Trad climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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It might mean 'Really Pathetic' question. Just guessing.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 1, 2006 - 10:48am PT
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I don't think the answer is generally known, actually... and the answer is wonderful: yet another gear elf toiling away in their backyard to create a masterpiece of protection by hand... definitely a Whole Earth Catalog moment from the 70's.
Even if I had answered what I knew, I am happy to have found the more complete answer, a richer story.
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Who is Roger?
Nooooooooooooooooooo, not him.
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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I recently head that Roland Pauligk had taken ill and might not be making the famous nuts any longer.
Anybody know if there is truth to this story??
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G_Gnome
Social climber
Tendonitis City
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RP stands for Really Poor Pro. Don't take a lead fall on one of those in granite. The brass is too soft and will sheer and the piece will fail. If anyone needs to see a sample I have one that failed me on the Pirate at Suicide. I only use Steel Nuts now. Brass nuts are only to be heard clanking when you walk, not used for free climbing pro.
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graham
Social climber
Ventura, California
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I had bought a couple sets of these directly from Rolland at his garage\shed work shop in Melbourne. He had a cool system for making these things. The smallest ones are recommended for Aid only but are better than nothing in a pinch for free climbing.
Really nice person who is also a bee keeper, you get free jars of honey with every purchase.
Hope he is well?
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mooch
Big Wall climber
The Immaculate Conception
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Bottom line....
RP's = aid or psychological pro!
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Ben Rumsen
Social climber
No Name City ( and it sure ain't pretty )
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RP's were the best thing for clean aid before the small HB offset brass nuts came along. I bought some RP's from MEC not too long ago for aid. Can't have too many tools in the clean aid tool box!!
" RP stands for Really Poor Pro. Don't take a lead fall on one of those in granite. The brass is too soft and will sheer and the piece will fail. If anyone needs to see a sample I have one that failed me on the Pirate at Suicide. I only use Steel Nuts now. Brass nuts are only to be heard clanking when you walk, not used for free climbing pro. " -
Should have put a Screamer on it!!
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G_Gnome
Social climber
Tendonitis City
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Yeah, a screamer, there is another piece of climbing gear that probably doesn't do what it's supposed to do. Have you seen the tests with those things?
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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"Have you seen the tests with those things? "
References, please.
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Fingerlocks
Trad climber
where the climbin's good
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Thanks for looking that up, Ed. I didn't know that either. It is easy to forget that none of this started with research departments and mass production. A lot of cool history.
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Roger Breedlove
Trad climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Tests?
You mean, like falling on them?
Are you nuts or something?
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WoodySt
Trad climber
Riverside
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I've taken leader falls on them. I always carry them on my rack, and they've saved my butt more than once.
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bachar
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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RP's are great...they saved my arse many times. cheers, jb
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Realist
Big Wall climber
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RP's are made in Australia. They were originally made for one specific climb in the Grampians, I really cant remember the name if the climb for the life of me. They are great peices of pro and are very valuable for some sketchy aid in Australia. I will look in the Grampians guide in the next few days and post the name of the climb they were originally made for. There are some climbs in Australia that you cant do without some RP placements.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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One of my favorite lines concerning RP's and Eldorado Canyon,
From Colin Lantz:
"Man I used to f#ck it up with RP's!"
(fer yous youngsters, that's street for "I kicked butt with those nuts")
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Aug 11, 2006 - 01:01pm PT
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I always liked RP's because the softness helped them to "stick".
I also have the Chouinard steel variety, which perhaps inspire more confidence strength wise, yet you forgo some of the malleable benefit.
The HB offsets work like nothing else when needed (flares), but conversely present a defecit when the crack is not flared.
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