Black Diamond are renowned for their excellent quality gear, and their stoppers are no exception. They feel well made, are well finished and look strong and sturdy.

We liked the shape, the normal orientation (curved face touching the rock) seated well, and they gave reassuring placements. When turned sideways they are actually quite a bit wider than most of the other models we tested, which gives a a sort of double sizing option, which is nice but takes some getting used to if you are used to other models, as they don't match up with the other brands. The Stoppers are colour coded for ease of recognition and this works well, but again doesn't match up with the other brands of nuts we tested.

The finish of the metal on the stoppers themselves seemed quite tough, they were damage resistant (obviously the colours get scratched, but deep gouges didn't happen that easily), whilst this may prolong the life of the nuts, it did mean that they didn't 'bite' as well as some of the other models who, we guess, use a slightly softer metal.

When looking at the strength ratings, the larger BD Stoppers were rated at 10kn, and the smallest (size 1) was rated at 2kn. Size 2 and 3 were up to 5kn and the size 4 (which is roughly equivalent to a Wild Country Rock 1) is 6kn. Overall these were quite strong for the size, but a couple of kn off being the strongest in the test.

One thing we did note with the larger sizes of the BD Stoppers is that they seem a little heavy for the wire to hold them upright properly. They aren't unusable in their waggly nature, but are not as firmly upright as we would have liked. The head of the nut does stay firmly at the top of the wire though, even when waggled furiously, which is an essential feature.

Overall we liked the Black Diamond Stoppers, and they would make a good stand-alone set for someone who wants just one set of nuts. They go down pretty damn small (no need for additional micro wires for most climbing) and you get 13 in a set, which is enough for short trad routes for sure. If we were going for the 'double set of wires' approach (often the choice of UK tradsters on long sea cliff and mountain routes) then we might go for another brand so we could have more similar colour and sizing matches.

CAMP Pronut in action CAMP Pro Nuts have been developed in Italy and their Pro Nut range consists of 7 wires with the smallest being equivalent to a Wild Country Rock 1 and the largest a Rock 8. They are quite a bit wider than they are thick (similar to the BD Stoppers), and if turned on its side the largest Pro Nut is the same width as a Rock 11, so although there is a small range in terms of actual number of nuts, they do cover a wide range of sizes.

Strength-wise, the smallest size rated to 4kn (a few kn less than many counterparts of a similar size) and the larger nuts to 10kn, which matches the Black Diamond strength, but is less than some of the other brands.

The Pro Nuts have a very aggressive curvature to them, and we found this meant that they are a little less intuitive to place than some of the other nuts on test, it's almost as if the rear facing side is a little too curved, so the top of the nut is not its widest point. They are also quite narrow depth-wise, meaning when placed sideways they don't seem to have such a confidence giving placement.

On the waggle test, we did find the larger sizes to be a little on the floppy side, but the heads don't slide down the wire, which is good.

Putting any niggles aside, we put the Pro Nuts in cracks, they stayed where they should, and we lobbed off on them, and they held - they do the job they are supposed to do, but perhaps could be refined slightly more. However one of the best features of the CAMP Pro Nuts is the price. They are priced at around £50 per set, and given that they cover quite a range of crack sizes with only 7 sizes of nut, then these slightly cheaper nuts would be suited to climbers on a tight budget, and for many people out there, this is of high consideration.

Climbing Technology Carved Chocks £70

Climbing Technology carved chocks placement © UKC Gear Climbing Technology 'Carved Chocks' are standard anodised curved nuts that come in a 11 sizes although that does include three sizes which most would consider as micro-nuts. The tiny size 1 is actually only 3.9mm which makes it similar in size to some of the smallest brass soldered nuts available. The whole range seems to be down-shifted from others though since the largest size 11 is actually only about the same size as a Wallnut 9 or 10. They are colour-coded although this isn't precisely matched with DMM/Wild Country scheme but then the sizes aren't either.

Climbing Technology carved chocks smallest three sizes © UKC Gear Strength-wise the larger nuts are as strong as any on the market with size 5 and above being rated at 12kN. Below this they still manage a decent rating although the very smallest sizes 1 to 3 are weaker than their brass soldered equivalents due to them being threaded wire rather than soldered.

The shape of the nuts is a curved wedge with parallel sides like BD Stoppers and WC Rocks but, unlike these two, it has a short groove carved in the concave face. This, combined with the slightly less agressive curvature, gives extra secure placements which does make the nuts hard to remove if 'welded' in by a nervous leader. In our testing they performed particularly well in conventional placements although they did scratch up quite quickly.

On the waggle test, the nuts remained solidly pointing upwards and the heads don't slide down the wire, which is good.

These are really good wires that compliment the other better-known wires on the market. They have a slightly different size range to some of the other brands, effectively adding half sizes to exisitng ranges, and making them and excellent compliment to someone who already has a rack. At £70 they are very good value for a set of 11 nuts but for a starter range, you may want to get an additional larger nut than the biggest size 11 and the smallest three sizes are probably too marginal for beginners to consider using.

Climbing Technology carved chocks range © UKC Gear

DMM Wallnuts and Alloy Offsets £85 Wallnuts & £47.50 Offsets

Wild Country Rock 6 (top) DMM Wallnut 6 (bottom) DMM Wallnuts:

DMM Wallnuts come in sizes 1 to 11. They are well made, well finished and seem 'bomber'. They are colour-coded for ease of size identification, and the colours match the Wild Country Rocks range, as the sizing is quite similar (Wallnuts are just slightly bigger in width, see example photo on right).

The Wallnuts are a little more complex in shape than some of the other nuts, but in use proved to be fantastic at fitting many cracks and slots. The metal bit well in to placement. The wires were tough, rigid enough to hold the larger nuts up easily (meaning placements at full stretch were possible) and from a size 4 upwards they were rated to 12kn, which is one of the strongest in this test.

Wallnuts can be slightly harder to remove on occasion than some of the more simply shaped nuts (due to the 'groove' shape down the centre of the rear face of the Wallnut), but we felt this minor niggle was outweighed by the more secure feel of some of the placements, and the wider variety of placements available with the shape.

They go in, they stay in, and they give confidence, and most of the time your second can get them out again! They match up beautifully with the Wild Country Rocks to give a 'two sets of nuts' rack that is favoured by many UK trad climbers. Equally they are brilliant as a stand alone set, and can be matched up with the following...

DMM Alloy Offsets:

These nuts are developed from the original design by HB, and come in 5 sizes (7-11). They are an offset shape, and have a strong groove feature on the front.

Initially when launched these DMM Alloy Offsets suffered from the unfortunate 'sliding head' - meaning that when help aloft by the wire the head of the nut actually slid back down toward your fingers. Luckily though DMM fixed that problem just a couple of months after they came out back in 2008, and since then the nuts have been performing excellently. The wire is stiff and doesn't flop about, the nut stays where it should, and these shapes go in to flared cracks and shapes that normal Wallnuts won't fit.

They are well made, colour-coded to match the normal DMM Wallnuts in sizes 4-8 (and Wild Country Rocks) and are all rated to a strength of 12kn, the joint highest rating of the test. The only downside we have found is that they can be a bit of a pain to get out!

They come in 5 of the larger sizes, so are not a replacement for a normal set of wires, but are a great addition to an existing set.

DMM Wallnuts and Offsets © UKC Gear Large Size DMM Wallnuts © UKC Gear DMM Offset in a crack © UKC Gear DMM Offset in a crack © UKC Gear

Kouba Alu and Vector £48 Alu and £40 Vector

Kouba Alu

The Kouba Alu come in a set of 9, are not anodised or colour-coded, but are the more old school plain metal. They have a groove in the middle of the front face - similar in style to a DMM Wallnut, but with a more aggressive curve. The sizes in the set range from roughly the same size as a Rock / Wallnut 3 up to a Rock / Wallnut 9.

When in use, we found that the aggressive curve often changed which placements we took, as sometimes it would allow more contact with the rock, but in other placements it would reduce contact. This took a little getting used to, but after a while they we found them to be pretty good at going in the rock, and they did actually give a lot of different placement options when used alongside other more basic shaped nuts.

Where they did fall down (literally!) was on the wiggle test. When held up like a bunch of flowers unfortunately they drooped under the weight of the heaviest nuts. On top of that, when held up and wiggled the heads of the nuts slid down towards your fingers. This isn't ideal when trying to A) place a runner as high as possible (we know we aren't the only ones to do this!) and B) get a runner in as quickly as possible.

Strength-wise these nuts are rated to between 9 and 12kn, which is as strong as the others in the test, and stronger than some.

At £48 for a set of nine wires they are in the lower priced end of the market and fill a niche there. With a tweak to the size of the holes in the nut, or even better a stiffer (thicker?) wire, then they would be a really good lower priced option.

Kouba Vector

Kouba's take on the much-loved offset wire, the Vector's are very similar in appearance to the DMM Offsets. Kouba make the Vector wires in 5 sizes ranging from a rock / wallnut 4 through to a rock / wallnut 8, the same as DMM.

They unfortunately also suffer under the wiggle test being both slightly floppy and also having the same issue as the Alus in that the nut slips down the wire.

Kouba Vectors Kouba Vector in a crack

Metolius Curve Nuts £120

Metolius Astro Nuts © UKC Gear Perhaps slightly off the radar for many UK based trad climbers, the Curve Nuts are from quality American brand Metolius, and feature a very unique shape. Straight away we could tell they were well put together, and we were itching to get them out on to the crag.

Apart from the unique shape, which actually goes in the rock very well (can be slightly tricky to remove), the other feature of these nuts that sets them aside is the ends of the wire. Instead of looping the wire around the base of the nut, the wires are soldered in to the ends of the nut. They are of a similar strength to other nuts, but what this does give is a very neat finish, and up near the carabiner end it means there is no swage, which means racking these nuts is neater, and takes up slightly less room on your 'biner.

Metolius say that this manufacturing process means the nuts are '30% lighter' than the competition, and whilst we didn't find them to be much different in weight to other high end brands, we did like the neatness. One point is that you can't slide the nut down the wire to loop the end over a bolt head or similar - which is something us dodgy Brits do quite often.

When it came to the waggle test, the Metolius Curve Nuts were nice and stiff, making long reach placements easy to do.

All in all, well put together, top quality nuts that are colour-coded (they don't match other brands) and great to use. The unique shape is good, and fits in a lot of placements. Worth a look as an alternative to the usual rack, but they are expensive.

Metolius Astro Nuts © UKC Gear

Wild Country Rocks and Superlight Rocks £64.99 Size 1-8

British Mountain Guide Tim Neill carrying a set of WC Rocks at work in the alps

Wild Country Rocks

Wild Country Rocks have long been a staple in the diet of the UK based trad climber. A simple curved shape that has been tweaked over the last couple of decades, colour-coded nuts that match the DMM Wallnuts in size and colour, and high strength ratings (10kn for size 2 upwards, 7kn for a size 1) have ensured their popularity.

Available in sizes 1 through to a whopping 14, most climbers we know that use them carry a set from size 1-10, but for winter climbers or those who like big nuts(!) the larger sizes are a good addition and a cheaper alternative to camming devices for those on a tight budget.

The wire stiffness is good, they passed all the waggle tests and stand up nice and straight.

One thing about these nuts is that the colours actually match up to their equivilent size in the Wild Country Friends, which is a nice touch.

Overall, these were some of the best nuts we tested for shape, ease of use and strength, we liked them a lot.

Wild Country Superlight Rocks

Superlight in between 2 normal Rock 4s The Wild Country Superlight Rocks have been around a few years now and are remarkably different to all the other nuts in this review due to one reason: they only have one wire strand!

This means that the head of the nut is very slim, and will fit in places that other nuts won't.

These wires aren't quite a strong as the normal Rocks (4 or 6kn depending on size), so they are more akin to micro wires than normal wires in terms of strength, however it is their placement versatility that shines through.

Available is 6 sizes, these Superlights are a brilliant addition to a standard set of Rocks, but not really used as a stand alone product.

NOTE: Additionally, Wild Country are launching their new Superlight Offset Rocks in 2015. We hope to have some on test before they hit the shops.