MoapaPk wrote:Recommendation for 16" chimneys: knee pads.
16" is not a crack or OW. It is a squeeze chimney.
How certain of the rating are you if it hasn't been climbed?
How is the geometric form & such? This matters a lot regarding my suggestion, as some cracks are hard to fall out of, even if they are very hard to climb up.
I just checked that size for myself and thought about some of the chimney sizes that I've climbed in Yosemite. If this 16" is not an overhanging slot, not extremely flared & you can get all the way inside and have proportions at all similar to me (I'm 5'9"), then I'd say
your body is your pro! Don't bother worrying about anything else as you are completely solid in there as long as you know proper chimney technique!
If your climb is at all like old school Yosemite 5.7-5.8, then I'd say develop technique such that you don't need pro.
First pitch of Doggie Diversions is 40' or so of 5.7 chimneying at about 16" and while I wouldn't solo many low 5th class routes, I'm happy as a clam in here without any pro for the pitch:
No pro was placed, but rope was trailed to belay my follower.
Third pitch of Flatus was another 30-40' 5.7 chimney. The piece I have below me here was the only one for the pitch, about 20' up and very optional (it was there & I had to traverse around a chockstone, so I might as well)
5.6 Chimney in the Caverns, trailing a pack. No pro in here for about 50 ft of horizontal & 30 ft of vertical chimneying.
More of the Caverns Chimney with no pro yet, but plenty solid.
5.7 chimney on Desperate Straights. A very small cam was below me here, the entry was closer to 8", gradually to 9-10", and was cruiser at 16" where I could no longer fall out. Went about 40' to first piece of pro once starting the wide.
The Remnant, Right (5.7) also starts more like 30" and tapers to about 9". No pro for the first 20' or so on this one, but totally solid.
Of course 16" is also sort of the size of the wider part of the flare on Ahab (5.10b, or 6b), although it quickly tapers to about 10" where your crotch is, and about 7" deeper inside, so you can't fit inside very well and it leans out, so you can fall out very easily, so on that one I would want pro! However, many climbers have led it fine without gear larger than 6". One solution for climbing this one solidly, I hear, is doing what is called the SideWinder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOr8CCip2fs#t=1m27s