Anyone who is involved with the sport has likely heard the terms passive and active protection, but may wonder what does that all mean and what is better. Well I will begin by saying that I have heard both sides of the coin many times, so ultimately it is a matter of preference, but there are some real benefits on both sides.
Passive Proection
Passive protection is characterized by a static piece of gear that has no moving parts to aid in the job of protecting from a fall. Stoppers, hexes, and Tricams are all classified as Passive protection. Stoppers are small pieces of metal with wire slung through them to accept a quick draw for clipping the rope. Stoppers work by placing the piece into a crack of rock. Stoppers protect by getting trapped in the crack, and stopping against the surface of the rock. an ideal Stopper placement will only pull back out the way it was put in, which should never be in the direction of a fall. Hexes are very similar in operation to stoppers except they have have a hexagonal shape allowing to odd shaped placements. and finally there are Tricams which are unique due to there ability to be placed passively like a nut but also able to be placed actively like a cam.when a Tricam is placed actively it rocks on an axle and cams against the rock to hold in a fall. with the exception of Tricams, passive protection seems to be best placed on vertical cracks for the most secure hold. Tricams allow a little more flexibility because they can be actively placed in vertical cracks as well as horizontal cracks and face pockets.
Active Protection
Active protection is classified by gear that will actively expand to fit a range of crack and pocket sizes. the most common type of active protection is the spring loaded cam. these devices are offered is a variety of sizes and work by employing several lobes the contact the rock. they are active because the springs in the device cause to loads to flare open as the lobes rock on the axel. when a cam is properly placed it can hold a great deal of force. as force is applied to the device it trys to flare open but the force of the rock pushing back prevents the cam from opening anymore which in turn holds the fall. despite the great holding power, these devices are easily removed from the rock by pulling on the trigger bar which retracts all of the lobes of the cam allowing for a struggle free removal.
Active Vs. Passive
Now your probably wondering whats better, what should I use more. well as I mentioned earlier this really is personal preference, but personally I prefer to place as much passive protection as possible. There are a few reasons I do this. first and foremost, becuase of the lack of moving part there is almost no fail potential. secondly they have to actually placed( you can plug and chug so to speak as you can with a cam) this helps in understanding what a solid placement is, and finally they are cheaper, so if you have to leave one behind for whatever reason you are not breaking the bank. when I climb longer routes I like to reserve my cams for anchor building and protecting when I am particularly pumped out and placing a nut is out of the question. there are circumstances though where you may not get a good placement of passive protection, for example, if you are climbing a particularly facey route, you may have nothing more than a few horizontal cracks and pockets where cams and Tricams will be king.
When it comes to placing protection, it all come down to getting out there and experimenting, finding out what feels solid and comfortable for you. In the short time I have been trad climbing, I can definitely say I have found situations where I have seen no active placements as well as no passive placement. Its all a matter of where your climbing and what your comfortable with.
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