Cam Doubles

[G-spotter]

TriCams are the shit. Get a double set of TriCams from pink to the first blue.

[spiderman]

I have to agree with the .75, 1, and 2 to start off doubles. Stoppers will always help take care of the fingers sized cracks, and cowbells(hexes) are what I consider to be old technology and way too time consuming to place when pushing your limits. I don't carry hexes or tri-cams.

 

To really push your physical ability while leading, you'll want double cams of each size in the end. Hemp22 is right, take your time to find good deals and you might get as many as 4 cams for the money. But stick with the big brand names like Camalot, Metolius, and Alien. Their gear is much more versatile and durable over time.

 

Maybe watch the yard sale for low milage gear too. I bought a #2 camalot that appeared as though it had never been placed in real rock. AMAZING! The seller had just decided climbing wasn't for him and had alot of cams to get rid of.

[Off_White]

TriCams are the shit.

 

 

Agreed. Have you used the new smaller-than-pinkie TriCams yet?

[lunger]

also agree. for those that complain re: ease/speed of placement: consider them a lightweight alternative to cams to use at belay anchors. and of course, there's the occasional pocket or irregular/flared crack that ONLY a tri-cam can secure. $.02.

 

also curious to hear about these smaller ones. likely nuts fit the bill in those sizes...

[spiderman]

I third that notion. For cams in the fingers sizes or smaller, Metolius TCU's and Aliens are best. Anyone out there had any positive experiences with those offset TCU's???

[ryanb]

Tri cams are a waste of time at index. They aren't small enough to protect the places that are hard to protect. When they are the only thing that will fit in a placement you probably want that pod as hand hold.

 

For finger cracks at index (many of the 5.10 and harder gear routes), get at least 4-5 micro nuts (i carry 8 stoppers, a set of BD micros and a couple of metolius astro nuts for flared placements. I may buy a few offsets at the next opertunity.) and concentrate multiples in the small cams up to 1. I own triples of blue alien/purple metolius and green alien/blue metolius. I usually carry nothing bigger than a single 2 unless i know the route has sustained wide sections.

 

There are places (sag, p1 japanese gardens, GM probably others) where a 4 and/or a couple of 3's are nice but for a lot "index moderate" classics (thin fingers, tatoosh, godzilla, p2 city park, sloe children, klaus von whatever, p3 japanese gardens, iron horse, dr sniff, marginal karma, even steven) the emphasis is on thin to thin hands. Convince your partner to buy, and carry, the big stuff.

[G-spotter]

TriCams are the shit.

 

 

Agreed. Have you used the new smaller-than-pinkie TriCams yet?

 

I got the black one and it is the same size as the blue TCU.

The smaller white one I decided not to get as that size is too small for my fingers to manipulate it so it might get stuck easily. Also the white one is like 6 kN and I already have a purple TCU and a yellow ZeroCam in that size.

[hafilax]

The black tricam is good for shallow placements and I've found some great spots for it that the blue TCU wouldn't fit. Deep placements make it too difficult to manipulate. The white is right out. Maybe for aid.

[marc_leclerc]

What do you guys generally enjoy having doubles of the most?

 

(*)(*)

 

[Braydon]

i thought it was this (.)(.)

i guess thats a personal preference

[RuMR]

not when they are laying on their back...duh...

[willstrickland]

I look at from the view of what sizes are harder to climb and thus you'd want more gear for. I mean really, are you going to fall out of a perfect #2 camalot crack? Not likely.

 

I'd double up on 0.5, .75, and 1 camalots before doubling anything else (assuming you already have a set of nuts and set of cams finger size and smaller)

[bar-tacked]

I find Omega linked cams pretty good as doubles.

They cost (and weight) a lot, but they have huge range so you can carry 1 or at most 2 pieces (I carry only #2 in addition to BD set #0.4-#3) and you don't need to guess which size you're going to need.

Works, unless you're climbing a lot of cracks which eat only particular size.

 

[Braydon]

after mass research on tricams, i have come to a decision.

http://www.swarpa.net/~danforth/climb/sinkthepink.html

[bstach]

For the price of a large cam you can get 3 hexes. I'd suggest 8,9 and 10 Hexentrics which will cover approx. #1-#3 Camalot sizes. They are an inexpensive and lighweight way to double up on big sizes and cheap to leave behind if you ever have to bail (so especially good for an alpine rack). Plus, lots of people here don't seem to like them, so you can probably get a bunch in the gear swap section for super cheap. (Said people will probably chime in and trash-talk this suggestion).

[bstach]

climb more, climb harder, and place less gear.

 

Best suggestion. Placing less gear = carrying less gear, climbing faster and having more fun.

[Braydon]

I got a # 2 link cam with my rei 20% off and like it. anyone who's tried it, is it worth getting a 1 or just another 2? the difference in range from the 1 and 2 is like 1/10 of an inch on the low point of the range.

 

then again the new .75 size is coming out soon.

[matt_m]

Are tricams very usefull here? I've never used them here but my uncle who climbs in North Carolina has them and I love using them when I climb with him there.

 

Having climbed in the NE (Gunks, NH etc) I found the Tricams very, very useful there. Lots of horizontal placements and things where they fit just perfectly. Out here I've almost NEVER found a use for them except in the Alpine for belays etc. A set is nice but not for the PNW.

 

As for doubles and your prefs, Yellow Alien, Red Alien, .75 camalot.