Have had a set (various makers) of cord slung hexes forever. I've reslung them several times and use them on innumerable climbs. So, I thought I would get a set of the wired for all the obvious reason. I won't say I wasted my money, but if you have a set of cord slung hexes, these are kinda redundant. On the good side, they hold everthing a corded hex will, and almost as well: the stiff wire can actually cause you to need to rack more gear (slings, et.c.). In the end, these are THE bomber protection, since before cams were ever made, and this set is great if you don't have any hexes, but if you do, unless you just want another set, while these are great, IMHO corded are more versatile.

Top product!!! Cams don't compare in my book. Dunno why people are comparing them to nuts, I rarely if ever use nuts and hexes for the same sort of application.

I use my hexes as much as possible.

Curved hexex have slightly more vaerstaility when placed as active camming chocks, but BD hexes are truck. Carry a few on most trad leads. Good stuff.

When I first started learning to place gear hexes were my most commonly used piece. I felt like they taught me the proper skills for placing pieces and evaluating the placement. It takes more skill to evaluate a cam, so hexes are great for learning these skills. Over time they got phased out in favor of cams, and currently I only carry a few when I know I will need them.

Nothing instills confidence like a solid hex placement though.

I have the bigger sizes (8,9,10) and find them to be quite useful. They are lighter and cheaper than similarly sized cams. The're useful in anchors, or in supplementing if you're expecting many placements of a certain size. They can also go places cams can't. I've done over 150 different climbs in J Tree and find that i can often get a hex where nothing else will work, especially the wacky flared cracks one finds in abundance here.

They don't place as fast as cams do. Often if i have the choice between placing a hex or a cam and the stance is good, i'll place the hex and save the cam for later.