todd Posted January 24, 2002 Posted January 24, 2002 just wanted to let everyone know that there is a new cam on the market made by a company based in boulder, colorado. the company is called SPLITTER GEAR and they have produced a bomber cam using only two heads! ive had the opportunity to use these two-cams and they work really well. they work great in shallow cracks, where even tcus/aliens are too wide, and they dont walk. they are extremely lightweight and dont take up a lot of space on the rack. the company has also produced a four-cam with four directly opposed heads (i.e. no walking) i havent had the opportunity to use these yet, but a friend who has raves about them. check 'em out at: www.splittergear.com Quote
Dru Posted January 24, 2002 Posted January 24, 2002 just wanted to let everybody know that there is a revolutionary new lunch meat out there. it is called SPAM! that's right, SPAM! I am not associated with the company at all but it is so good that i thought i would let you all know how good it is . uh uh yum!!! Quote
erik Posted January 24, 2002 Posted January 24, 2002 what is revolutionary about them???? there is nothing new there just a revamped idea....check out old john long and some of the crap he came up with in the 70's.........more money is all i see.......come one come all buy more gear then is reasonablly needed...... i can see applications for them but until they go out of bidness and sell their stock at discount i won't be buying them good luck Quote
BelaySlave Posted January 25, 2002 Posted January 25, 2002 Every body is just so friendly around here Quote
W Posted January 25, 2002 Posted January 25, 2002 Sounds like paid ad to me. My buddy got a hold of four of the two-cam Splittergear units last summer through a friend of his who worked for Splittergear, and we took them up the Pacific Ocean Wall in Yosemite to try them out. We thought they would be great.Our consensus? They suck. After scaring ourselves several times, having one of them walk out of a crack ("they don't walk!!!"- bullshit), and having many other placements shift unexpectedly after weighting them (often after making a string of manky placements), or just not seeming to fit and work as they should, they spent the upper half of the wall buried in bottom of the haul bag; they could just as well have been placed in the shit tube. We continued in high style and comfort using hybrid aliens, regular aliens, and large cam hooks like we should have done in the first place. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Quote
jon Posted January 25, 2002 Posted January 25, 2002 quote: Originally posted by W: Sounds like paid ad to me. Fuck it ain't us! I wrote these guys a longshot email a few months back to see if they would send us a couple units to test out. Idea was to get a few and give them to a few of you fine folks in exchange for a review on them to see how revolutionary they really are. I'm sure Climbing will write a glowing review in exchange for lots of full page ad mula. Obvioulsy I got no response. Quote
Rafael_H Posted January 25, 2002 Posted January 25, 2002 It took me one climb at Index (I wanted to be completely objective) to make up my mind and just one look for Dale. These things are a piece of shit! And in fact, even tapering won't help because the cams are too wide. "Bomber cam", ha-ha-ha, I'd like to witness Todd using them on something one grade higher than his solo level and 150 ft up! Quote
W Posted January 26, 2002 Posted January 26, 2002 I have to admit...upon physical inspection, it would appear that they would be the SHIT for pin scars. They might actually be good for specific pin scars, like the boxy ones found on the Shield headwall. But you don't find those in many other places. We were psyched to try them, but man were we disappointed. I don't know how to describe the way these things seat into tapered scars and flares other than spooky and insecure- particularly in flares because the width of the actual cam head is too big- and they wobble and move around- the light weight almost seems to exacerbate this problem. Think a two cam alien is scary? try a two cam placement with only the back half of the cams touching but the central axis (offset from the line of contact with the rock) pulling down and trying to rotate the placement forward. If they tapered the cam heads that might actually revolutionize the product. Til then, rack up the Hybrid Aliens and don't buy into the hype. These things need some tweaking. Or maybe I just need to learn how to make better placements... Quote
Tommy Posted January 27, 2002 Posted January 27, 2002 Hi All, I was with Mark of the PO-Wall last October when we tried these things out. We were given the cams as part of the American Alpine Institute gear-testing program, and I must say we blasted off on the route with enthusiasm to have such a new weapon at our disposal. Of the ½ of the 28 pitches I lead, I tried at least a dozen times to get these things to place, but was only able get the things to stick once in a semi-secure fashion. I didn’t really spend time analyzing what was wrong with them because I was a bit preoccupied with the climbing, but I would say that after trying them, that they are defiantly not worth buying and/or taking along. The engineers at Splitter Gear still have some work to do. Regards, Tommy [ 01-27-2002: Message edited by: Tommy ] Quote
Matt_Anderson Posted January 28, 2002 Posted January 28, 2002 Well Shit . . . I was all jazzed becaouse my honey bought me one of those for Christmas and I couldn't wait to try it out. Anybody want a good deal on a new cam? Quote
todd Posted January 28, 2002 Author Posted January 28, 2002 well, i guess "w" settled that one. as for me, they worked really well, and i will continue to use them, even at "one grade above my solo-level a whole whopping 150 feet up" or whatever the hell that is supposed to mean. im not at all doubting "w"'s comments, and those of you wishing to REPLACE your other cams with two-cams should listen to his advice. however, i was suggesting that these pieces are a great SUPPLEMENT (i dont think i suggested that these would replace traditional cams, and the makers dont intend for them to do so either) to any rack, and i do think its worth deciding for yourself whether or not you like them. so matt, dont sell your cam just yet... Quote
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