Lightening up my rack

[genepires]

If you are a good climber, you prolly are not asking the original question.

 

The sigline is sarcasm, I take it.

 

no insult intended. Just a response to bearbreeder who is a stated 5.12 good climber and that him and his friends use all kinds of gear. Since he is using "good" to describe 5.12, I used "good" in my line.

 

A better statement would be

"If you are a 5.12 climber, you prolly are not asking the original question"

 

FWIW, if 5.12 is good, I am not a good climber.

[matt_warfield]

Dean Potter lightened his rack at Moab by running out 5.13 crack and saving the one big piece he felt he could carry for the end of the tips layback to where the crack widened.

 

And high end trad climbers have very specific racks with all kind of different nuts and cams tailored for the route.

 

I think Gene's point is lightening your rack is different for climbers of different abilities. Alex Honnold's rack was pretty light when he free solod The Phoenix (5.13) in Yosemite. But sewing up Givler's Crack or Outer Space for a climber at his/her limit is where weight can become important. Perspective and ability matters.

Edited November 13, 2012 by matt_warfield

[bearbreeder]

im a totally awful climber, compared to others out here anyways ...

 

the point is simply a response to those who say that if you dont use C4s and aliens, you never climb anything "hard" ... well i would like to know where this magical hard point is where i cant use my metolius, DMMs, WCs .... its obviously harder than what i or some of my partners can climb

 

the best way to lighten up the cams IMO is simply to get stronger and better .... youll end up placing less of them, within reason of course ... good nut placements and tricam placements always help of course, as long as your second is fast at cleaning em

 

beyond that its your money ... any decent cam will work ...

 

for a good view on metolius cams try this

 

http://www.highinfatuation.com/blog/second-set-of-cams/

[danmcph]

If you are like me and climbing alpine then you will love the smaller sizes of the camp tri-cams. The red and the pink are some of the best pieces on my rack. It seems like they get placed EVERY pitch. Ask anyone who as the pink one, they will tell you it is the shit. You can add a few of the small ones to your rack and it is really light. Lighter than equal sized cams by a HUGE amount. I really only carry cams from the .5 camalot size up to #3 on alpine. Take a look at the Trango line of cams, light, multiple options for clipping and inexpensive. If you have to bail it's easier to leave a cheap cam instead of an expensive one. Of course we all know if you life is at stake, don't be cheap, but it is nicer to "bail on a budget"

[bstach]

Anybody ever swap out hexes for big cams when headed into the unknown in the alpine?

 

YES! I love my hexes for this and carry #8, #9 and #10 hexentrics. Of course I usually get sprayed on when i suggest it here - i think by people who can't place anyting but a cam. Also I get the "Needs more cowbell" jokes on the trail.

[B Deleted_Beck]

I switched to all Metolius UL Powcams and TCUs, got rid of doubles except for a couple small-medium pieces, switched to 23s for racking beaners, Photons and Contact Runners for draws, went from an Adjuma to a CAMP Blitz, grabbed a 60m Serenity from Bluewater twins, switched to Titan for anchor cord.. I bought a hex set before discovering that they're not actually any weight-savings over UL Powercams- Metolius cams are freaken light. I'm gonna forsake my Reverso for a Mega Jul if I can get my hands on one.

 

I didn't weigh my before rack, so I have no quantifiable weight savings.. But it's definitely a LOT lighter.

 

Then I tore my rotator cuff in a splitboard accident... so's gonna be a while before all this shiny new gear gets broken in.

[matt_warfield]

Anybody ever swap out hexes for big cams when headed into the unknown in the alpine?

 

YES! I love my hexes for this and carry #8, #9 and #10 hexentrics. Of course I usually get sprayed on when i suggest it here - i think by people who can't place anyting but a cam. Also I get the "Needs more cowbell" jokes on the trail.

 

I won't give you any spray about hexes. They are heavy but when you have an angled slot instead of a splitter they are the bomb.

 

But the key to a light rack is concentrating on small gear when you can. A perfect slot for a big cam can be passed when a stopper or small cam is just ahead with a big weight savings.

 

As John Long once said, strip down, hose off, and simplify your clothing and rack and rock climbing gets a lot more fun.

 

Snow and ice climbers are just out there to suffer anyway so we won't worry about them.

 

 

Edited March 31, 2013 by matt_warfield

[bstach]

I won't give you any spray about hexes. They are heavy but when you have an angled slot instead of a splitter they are the bomb.

 

Lol @ "They are heavy"...yes, compared to leaving the large gear at home and looking for a smaller placement, they are heavy. Compared with carrying double #4 and double #5 camalots they are good value for the weight.

 

I agree with your advice overall though. Best bet is to just take less gear. Chose climbs within your ability so you don't need to sew it up and can climb through to those smaller placements. Much more enjoyable that way.

Edited March 31, 2013 by bstach

[B Deleted_Beck]

I won't give you any spray about hexes. They are heavy but when you have an angled slot instead of a splitter they are the bomb.

 

Lol @ "They are heavy"...yes, compared to leaving the large gear at home and looking for a smaller placement, they are heavy. Compared with carrying double #4 and double #5 camalots they are good value for the weight.

 

I agree with your advice overall though. Best bet is to just take less gear. Chose climbs within your ability so you don't need to sew it up and can climb through to those smaller placements. Much more enjoyable that way.

 

I don't remember what the exact weights were (5 minutes googling would drag up results), but UL Powcams weigh about the same as BD Hexentrics. Some Hexes actually weigh slightly more than their UL size counterpart. People call BS when I say that... great way to wager for free beers.

[G-spotter]

Which ones cost less when you leave them behind in a bail anchor