DMM Torque Nut Review

Overview

The DMM Torque Nut is a modern take on the classic hexcentric nut — large passive protection designed for trad climbing and particularly well-regarded in winter conditions. Four sizes cover a notably wide crack range, and the pieces work both as traditional wedges and in a deliberate camming mode, including in parallel-sided cracks. If your rack already has cams nailed down and you’re looking for reliable large passive pieces to complement them, these deserve a serious look.

Key Specs

Spec	Detail
Sizes Available	1 (Green), 2 (Red), 3 (Gold), 4 (Blue)
Per-Size Weights	Size 1: 54g / Size 2: 70g / Size 3: 104g / Size 4: 146g
Strength Rating	14kN (all sizes)
Material	Aluminium Alloy
Sling Type	Extendable double Dyneema (8mm)
Color Coded	Yes — coordinated across DMM’s full protection range
Re-slinging	Available via DMM’s in-house service
Comparison	See how DMM Torque Nuts compare to similar gear

Performance

Placement Versatility

This is where the Torque Nut earns its name. The geometry has been carefully worked out to maximize camming expansion — and critically, the expansion ranges overlap between sizes, meaning you’re unlikely to hit a gap in coverage. The UKC review quotes designer Graham Desroy: “by carefully calculating the relative side angles the expansion range is increased” and noted that four Torque Nut sizes match the coverage of five Wild Country Rockcentric sizes. That’s meaningful on a packed rack.

In practice, you get multiple usable orientations from each piece. They work as standard wedge placements in tapered cracks, and they genuinely cam in parallel-sided cracks — not just as a theoretical party trick. Users on UKClimbing report the camming action is noticeably more purposeful than older hex designs, and the geometry is “especially noticeable in horizontal placements.”

Winter Utility

Passive protection has a strong case in winter that sometimes gets overlooked. Cams can be genuinely sketchy in icy cracks, while the Torque Nut’s all-aluminium construction has no moving parts to freeze up. Multiple users specifically call these out as go-to pieces on mixed and winter routes where you can’t rely on a cam to hold. One thing worth noting: if you’re doing a lot of overhead placements in bulky gloves, DMM also makes a Wired Torque Nut version — the wire is more controllable above your head and more resistant to accidental axe strikes than the sling version.

The Extendable Dyneema Sling

The double Dyneema sling is probably the most practically significant design improvement over older hex designs. The slings rack short (doubled up) but extend quickly to reduce rope drag on wandering routes — no extra quickdraw needed. The 8mm Dyneema is impressively robust; in pull tests, the Dyneema was strong enough to fail the alloy body before the sling parted. The stitching is also covered in a protective plastic coating, and the sling sits in a countersunk groove machined into the top of the body to reduce abrasion wear.

The trade-off: collapsing the sling back to its racked configuration one-handed when you’re seconding is genuinely fiddly. Don’t expect to pop these off an anchor and re-rack them quickly mid-pitch. It’s a minor annoyance rather than a deal-breaker, but worth knowing.

Weight-to-Coverage Comparison

At 54g (size 1) through 146g (size 4), these are competitive for the crack sizes they protect. Forum discussion on UKClimbing points out that a Size 3 Torque Nut at 104g covers roughly the same crack range as a Metolius Ultralight PowerCam No.7 at 127g — a meaningful weight saving once you start stacking several pieces on an alpine or multi-pitch rack.

Size Range Limitation

One genuine gap: Torque Nuts only go down to a Size 1, which is larger than the smallest offerings from CAMP and Wild Country. If you need smaller hex-style pieces to fill out the low end of your passive rack, you’ll need to supplement from elsewhere — Wild Country Rockcentrics or Black Diamond Hexentrics cover smaller sizes.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Four sizes cover the equivalent range of five Wild Country Rockcentrics
• Genuine, well-engineered camming action in parallel-sided cracks
• Excellent winter performance in icy cracks where cams are risky
• Extendable Dyneema sling reduces rope drag without extra quickdraws
• Sling is replaceable via DMM’s re-slinging service — longevity built in
• Color-coded and cross-coordinated with DMM’s full active and passive protection range
• Bomb-proof strength; Dyneema outlasted the aluminium body in testing

Cons

• No sizes below the current Size 1 — smaller hex territory is uncovered
• Collapsing the extended sling one-handed while seconding is awkward
• Not ideal for overhead winter placements compared to the Wired version
• Passive protection generally requires more practiced placement skill than cams

Who Should Buy This

The Torque Nut is best suited to trad and alpine climbers who already have a functional cam rack and want reliable large passive pieces to complement it — saving weight on long routes, covering icy cracks in winter, and filling in belay anchors without burning cams. They’re also a sensible pick for multi-pitch objectives in the UK and Alps where big crack passive gear is a legitimate rack choice. If you’re building a first rack from scratch and want maximum flexibility with limited pieces, you may find that seven Rockcentrics (covering more sizes) outweigh the Torque Nut’s design advantages for your purposes.

Verdict

The DMM Torque Nut is a well-engineered, genuinely modern rethink of the hexcentric nut — not just a cosmetic refresh. The combination of deliberate multi-orientation camming geometry, overlapping size coverage, and the extendable Dyneema sling makes it meaningfully better than older hex designs in real use. The only real criticisms are the absence of smaller sizes at the lower end and the slightly fiddly sling retrieval; neither undercuts the core case for buying these. Rating: 8/10.