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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 6, 2018 - 07:29am PT
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In the dawn of November 1998, I spent a couple of days with the Editor of the mythical British magazine Mountain, Ken Wilson, who kindly gave me access to his incredible collection of climbing books. It was over there that I found the review of an amazing protection quoted as “weird wedges” in an old Crags No.17 (April 1979), but apart from two drawings and a short article, there was no mention of the person behind the nut.
In 2013, while visiting a Patent database website I came across a British Patent, filed out in 1979, in which I immediately recognized the drawings of this mysterious nut; therefore I had finally traced the name of the inventor of the Sheathed Chock, John Walters. I sent him a letter and crossed my fingers hoping that he had not moved on since. A few days later, I received an unexpected envelop full of exciting documents. Not only John Walters has invented the Sheathed Chock, but he has also worked on numerous other designs and filed out nothing less than six Patents of various climbing gear.
In fact, John came across my name over ten years before I contacted him, via the outstanding rock climber, Tom Proctor, who has since sadly passed away. At that time, he gave Tom sample nuts to send to the Nuts Museum, which unfortunately did not ever happen due to Tom’s illness.
John Walters is an engineering technologist by profession with a love for the great Outdoors, and this led him into a technical interest in climbing protection development. During his full-time career the interest was little more than an absorbing side-line, but since retirement in 2003 the development of a range of nuts has become his main hobby and, among these nuts, the fascinating Shell, on which he started to work some thirty year ago!
In October 2014, on the occasion of a short visit to Ajaccio while enjoying a cruise in the Mediterranean, John Walters came to see the Nuts Museum. I met a discreet man, speaking quietly, almost in a low voice, with an intense light in his eyes when showing me the magnificent prototypes of the Shell that he had brought with him. Although John’s love of the nature makes him something of a romantic, his approach to nut design is much more based on the technical than the poetic. The Shell was conceived during a period of major wedge-nut development, and his object was to contribute to this advance; I must admit that I have been very discreet about the true “secret” of the most amazing feature of this Shell in my photograph…
From an anonymous schema found in an old climbing magazine in 1998 to the meeting of its very creative designer, here in Corsica, was absolutely wonderful!
Nothing on the “nut planet” looks like the Shell. The fact that it is so close to the original natural chockstone is probably one the main reasons that I like this “artificial pebble” so much. With such an amazing nut, it seems that the Nuts’ Story comes full circle…
If you want to know more about John walters’ latest developments of nuts, the Shellnut and the Hotnut, feel free to visit his most interesting website:
http://downbeatclimbgear.com
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Interesting...thanks!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Sensational finds maestro! You must have been thrilled indeed.
You included a Shell in your holiday mailer several years ago but didn't let on as to where it came from and oddly I didn't ask about it assuming that it was more sculptural than practical.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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I have a design that I think would work all the way down to the tiniest ones. I need to contact the Camp folks about it. No springs attached.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Very cool...
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Definitely some thought went into those but the last one is over engineered. What does that
trigger gain you, 5cm of reach? And more things to get snagged.
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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 8, 2018 - 01:25am PT
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"bump"...
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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^^^^ Mungo like. Mungo like simple.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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The shell nut seems like it could be perfect for places like Lucky Streaks- a crack where you might find a constriction but get an annoying crystal in the way. Just wrap the void part around the crystal and voila.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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What are the reports from the field? I have seen a number of interesting ideas that didn't pan out in actual use.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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A Shell in time might just save thine...
If you had several sizes on your rack then protection would truly be a Shell Game...Find the P!
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