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I’ve never been able to find a nut key that just works really well, so here’s my attempt at doing what a lot of manufacturers seem to do badly.
The things i found to be most important in a nut key are as follows; must be strong, durable, and have a really good handle so you can give your gear a good whack when it doesnt want to come gently.
The last point is the major failing in most designs and so this is what i have tried most to improve on. I have also tried to incorporate an easy way to attach it to the harness as it’s obviously no good if you drop it to the bottom of the crag/mountain!

Image I
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Its team spelt with an i. I’m in the first year of a product design course at college and i just like to climb lots really.
I like the knob on the end - i think that’s a real improvment on current models. Now if you can only find a way to stop me whacking my knuckles on the rock when the nut dislodges I’ll buy one!
i was trying to avoid having a stretchy cord on it, as ive experimented with this and found it gets in the way more than anything, especially if your already carrying a lot of gear. Ive found just havign it tied on with a length of cord si best.
The ‘s’ shape sounds like a good idea, althoguh i’d imagine if the crack wasn’t very uniform it’d be more likely to get stuck.
The design I have in mind is only very slight “S” shape, I’m hoping over Christmas i can have a go a making a proto type, once i have a design on computer i will post a URL.
i think i see what you eman ollie, i imagine it would be a bit easier to hold but do you think there’s any significant advantage?
ive done a few pics of the ‘s’ shape i think your talking about, ollie. send em an email at remknowles at gmail dot com if you want me to send them to you.
Maybe a retractable cord (similar to ski-card holder things) would be a good idea, stays oiut of the way, clipped to the back of your back gear loop, untill pulled forwards. You drop it, it pops back around to the back, out of the way.
that sounds like a prety cool idea magnus, but i was trying to keep the whole thing as simple as possible really.
I suppose it comes down to finding a balance between simplicity and function really, quite a hard tihng to do with this i think. I’ll have a think about it!
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Perhaps an improvement maybe to have a stretchy cord attached to your nut key and also attached to your harness. I also believe that instead of having a straight shaft if it were slightly “S” shaped it would work better.
just a thought. :D