Tricams...the silent heroes.

[chirp]

Instead of hijacking JosephH's thread I moved this homage to the Tricam to the "Gear Forum".

 

From my archive of all things obscure and ancient, I bring you the: 1982 Lowe Tri Cam brochure

 

[snoboy]

I never knew you could stack tricams.

 

cool post chirp.

[iain]

I thought the whole mystique behind tricams is there was no documentation for them and learning to use them was an art passed down from generation to generation around the campfire

[catbirdseat]

Iain, that isn't far from the truth. Hey, where the heck is Dru?

[gosolo]

Hi,

these things may seem prehistoric, however, they were the bomb! remember in 1982 the only cams we had were FRIENDS wi the rigid shaft and the smallest was a #1. When 0.5 tricams came out they were the greatest thing going for horizontals and difficult placements. Used a #6 and a #7 for off-widths too; however, the big tricams had a tendancy to fall out of the crack. Thanks for the post - remindsx me of the old days.....

[thelawgoddess]

tricams are sweet. i love climbing with partners who have them!

[chriss]

Hi,

remember in 1982 the only cams we had were FRIENDS wi the rigid shaft and the smallest was a #1.

 

au contraire,

 

How quickly we forget the SMC Camlocks and CMI's Kirks-Cams. There were plenty of companies looking at cams then. Lowe even hand a springloaded cam out.

 

They all sucked (maybe to harsh) or they would still be in production today.

 

chris

[treknclime]

Saw a guy peel about a half pitch on Midway...and just missed Jello Tower on the way down. 4-5 of his SMC camlocks pulled...and he didn't stand a chance. My partner and I assisted with the rescue with Chelan rescue, but that's another story.

 

Haven't used any Tricams, but know some guys like'em.

[chirp]

First time I used mine, back in the day (1985) I was leading upper Pisces...I had never jammed before so I was laybacking it (ugly I know) and had 3 Tricams in. I slipped off and fell 10 feet back to the belay ledge...all the Tricams came rattling out. I am amazed I didnt roll of that ledge and fall to the bottom.

Ahh the stupid things we do in the name of learning.

 

Tricams my fave for Red Rocks and Zion, awesome pieces for weird soft rock.

[forrest_m]

the small sizes are awesome for horizontal cracks - often too good. one out of every three routes at the gunks has a fixed red or pink tricam. the preceeding sentence contains at least one exaggeration.