Fixe Triplex Bolts

Fixe USA is a branch of their parent company in Spain that makes bolts specifically for climbing. They are one of the few companies that do so, and they offer a high quality product. Many people just buy whatever crap bolts they can find at the local hardware store, but if you are taking the time to put the bolts in, you have no excuse not to use the finest equipment available. Think about how comfortable you would be knowing your girlfriend or child was taking falls onto these bolts. Yeah, that’s what I thought.

For a long time the standard bolt for climbing has been the Rawl 5 piece. This bolt works well in a variety of rock types, but it has its flaws, most notably the tendency to jam up in the hole, due to all the pieces. The idea behind the Fixe Triplex bolt is that it takes the functionality of the Rawl/Powers 5 piece and eliminates some of the parts. The result is a very simple and strong bolt that consists of a nut, a sleeve and stud/cone. This virtually eliminates the possibility for the bolt to jam in the hole. No more botched placements!

A very unique feature of this bolt is that it’s also designed to be easily removable for inspection and/or replacement. The way this is accomplished is that the recommended 12mm bits drill a hole slightly larger than the diameter of the bolt. The bolt tightens up just fine, but if you need to remove it, you loosen the nut, and pry the sleeve off. Presto, out comes the bolt! I was skeptical at first, how well could this really work? But my first try at removing one went smooth and it really does work. The only caveat with this bolt is that because the hole is slightly larger than the bolt, you need to be certain you tighten it properly the first time.

These bolts are more expensive than their Rawl counterparts, but you certainly can’t beat them for quality. So the next time you head out, ditch the red heads (Are you really still placing those?) and grab a box of Triplex bolts instead.