Trad climbing cam reddit.

Trad climbing cam reddit A lot of the climbing is on limestone. A lot of harder trad in my experience, I needed some rudimentary aid climbing techniques anyway in order to access the route to parse out the free climbing beta safely. But go ahead and try it and see how it goes Don't think that's true. Seems to cover nearly all bases. When I started leading I had the same fears, I did the "ghetto" aid with nylon slings also. So take them when climbing limestone with small and odd shaped pockets especially (won’t need the big cams there). In normal multipitch id much rather have trad draws with 2 biners than single biner. Cams are less likely to get unseated as you climb above them (but more likely to walk inward). If you have a trad climbing partner, you should ask him. com is a good tool to figure out cam sizing. Black diamond cam sizes are not 1:1 with inches, for instance for a 3 inch crack you’d probably place a number 4. Get tips on what cams, nuts and other gear to take rock climbing and how to organize it all. 3 and up. IMO the axel cams are completely serviceable and so far none of my friends has complained about using them. Personally, I'd get metolius to re-sling them if you can. Even talk with other climbers to see why they like the cams they own. . For someone beginning in trad climbing I would recommend them 100% for two reasons. 5 and 5. I want to buy cams/friends to start with, and I would like recommendations on useful brands and sizes for a beginner, keeping in mind that I will continue using them in the future. The difference in service between Metolius and BD is huge. In your opinion what are the must have sizes for start and the not so important ones? I think that a Hella big cam like a 7 would be hardly used where I climb. Get some nuts and that will probably carry you into plenty of 5. Extendable slings are great in this setting. 2 through 8 next to . Haul loop: Shoes. In addition to knowing how to lead belay, trad climbers need to know how to belay from above, how to place and remove gear, how to build belay anchors, and how to rappel. If you have other climbing friends with different brands of cams in their rack that you can try, go and do that. are all fair game here. Cool cam comparison tool rack a cam versus a hex or tricam. Metolius cams are great, and people climbed way harder than most of us ever will on gear that was way worse. 3 z4s. They can be placed passively (like a nut) or actively (like a cam), depending on the orientation and features in the rock. Traditional climbing: use at your own risk. I mainly climb in the Squamish area, and am looking for pieces which work well in pin scars. I keep my BD cams . Heya I was looking kouba cams since I want to buy some of them for my multi pitch climbs. I'm mostly climbing in France in the vicinity of Grenoble. Got almost $100 off, that’s like 1 1/4 free cams. there's a lot of information in the stickied post on this sub but standard rack is doubles . Offset cams are more often found on the rack of aid climbers, but in certain places with lots of pin scars, free climbers will carry them as well. Grigri, ATC, prusik, triple or quad length sling or a cordalette, bail gear, etc. I thought I'd address that. Middle Rear (5th loop): Bought my Petzl Aquila specifically for this loop for trad climbing. The exact peculiarities of a crack matter less with cams. 1-0. Sport draws are too rigid for use on nut placements and don't help that much on cam placements unless the line you climb is very straight So I’ve recently started trad climbing and have only led 2 very easy ones (5. This is an adventure-biking sub dedicated to the vast world that exists between ultralight road racing and technical singletrack. Hello fellow trad climbers. They’re super light, super flexible and they seem to fit everywhere. If you are climbing harder trad and redpointing then you will probably rack some of your cams that way as you have already figured out the gear. 25 to 7. On my ground practice and first day of the season climbing I've been racking the Master Cams with their own color carabiner to the left of each approximate size C4 Camalot, smaller to larger cams from left to right. New trad climbers often get in a fairly dogmatic frame of mind about "nuts go in constrictions and cams go in parallel cracks" when in practice, most of my placements are cams in constrictions. Whether a hybrid rack is worth it or not really depends on where you climb. Be careful to make sure it is talking about cam sizes and not inches. Totems are the best. But we worry that for the route we're planning to climb, we might need #5 DMM (~3BD) cam. Trad climbing involves a set of technical skills very different to those used in single-pitch sport climbing. Much larger expansion range than single axles like the Metolius or Totems. 1-. Since they are very expensive I'm not going to buy a full set in one go, i Think i'll buy one by one any time i have enough funds. Cams resist outward pulls (as do tricams). 5 or a tight . The rope might be under the head piece or in my partners pack. The force on your top piece of gear in a lead fall should not be approaching 10 kN unless it is a factor > 1 fall. 17K subscribers in the tradclimbing community. Weighting cams on sharp irregular rock also cam burr the lobes so i try to avoid. Maybe your friend didn't. Least used things on the bottom (static 11mm for example). Apart from the ridiculous price, also worth thinking that if this is your first rack and you're new to trad climbing, all those cams are single axle which are much more finicky to place, they can invert and spin. 2 extra trad draws for nuts. 99% of real world trad lead falls both cams will function safely. 4-4 and a single rack of friends . Alpines, slings, stoppers, etc I got piece by piece as I saw deals. I'd recommend sport climbing outside for a few seasons before you consider getting into trad climbing, its a whole other conversation in itself. My trad leading grades are so far quite a bit below my sports grade, but I'm working on a lot of easy trad routes and upping the grade a little bit at a time. Cams from fingers to fist (BD #0. You’ll be able to climb much more on a set of double axels vs the same amount of single axel cams ( provided you know how to place passive pro like nuts and whatnot). On here sits all the extra stuff. Second this, I only use my totem sized BD C4s and Z4s if I don’t have enough totems. My question is, if I’ve used all my cams earlier on a climb. I saw that there are a lot of sizes ranging from 0. For instance, lets say I want to climb a long 5. The local climbing guide books would be my first choice for information on this topic but they are often too vague. ” Totems are overhyped for free-climbing IMO. If i can, I try to get as much lobe to rock contact as possible so looking for smooth surfaces that are neither flaring nor irregular. Hi, I'm going to buy my first camming device for trad climbing. All-road, crossover, gravel, monster-cross, road-plus, supple tires, steel frames, vintage bikes, hybrids, commuting, bike touring, bikepacking, fatbiking, single-speeds, fixies, Frankenbikes with ragbag parts and specs, etc. There is a reason why cam brands like Totem, Black Biamond, DMM, Wild Country, and Metolius are so popular. But I can't imagine going to an unknown trad route with 3 cams. Learning how to place trad gear is an essential skill as you progress as a climber. Try not to sweat having the right cams too too much. Relying on a cam in a vertical crack to "rotate" for an upward pull is a gamble, IMO Price is roughly the same and it will all be free climbing don't really get much aid in the uk I have a double rack of cams, one set friends, one set C4s. 3 through 3. In Yosemite for example, pin scars are very common and you want either offset cams or totems. Previous to having this harness, I just squeezed all this stuff behind all the alpines, but it was a pain. BD merely used what nylon they had in stock that wasn’t “too outdated” for $10/cam. 7). Don’t forget to read and understand the instructions that come with your climbing gear. What I have in the past is compare my hand shape for crack positions to my cams while loaded in the proper amount. Mountainproject. I keep a second set of master cams racked the same way. Since you're asking about trad climbing, at some point in your career you're going to have to untie and thread your sling or use it for rap tat. Modern dual axle cams are so much easier to use especially in the larger sizes that I wouldnt recommend those to a newbie. Yes, get a set of nuts. Cams generally don't come with racking biners by default. Pretty much always in black diamond size numbers. Totally what I would expect to happen and a placement I'd never realistically choose. Cams are easier and faster for your second to clean. My background in placing gear is 30% alpine, 65% mixed sport climbing (you have bolts and pegs but using gear is advisable) and 5% pure trad. Also been collecting a trad rack for a while and I’m about to purchase the final pieces. From what I’ve been hearing, don’t place nuts in horizontal cracks and place cams instead. set of nuts. Totems are great. I'm assuming limited rack so one sling per cam. Thumb loop BD cams are best sent in and done professionally. Jan 22, 2010 · Does anyone now (or have you in the past) climb with on a rack that was all or mostly passive protection? How common is it for today's trad climber to reach for a hex or a stopper before to reach for a cam? I'll occasionally lead a route intentionally using nothing but passive gear. My usual standard rack for a single, decent length pitch I know little about includes 4-8 quickdraws in addition to maybe 4 alpine draws. Maybe not the most used, but the easiest to place correctly are BD #2's. you can supplement with bigger or smaller gear if you need to. The largest axel cam is pretty much equivalent to a #4. as far as trigger wires go, they dont snap unannounced. Cams work in parallel cracks. I can see an advantage for mixed alpine climbing where you may have iced up cracks. 75 (so the 0. My take is that the dragons are really great for alpine climbing. Currently, I have Z4/C4s from . You can tie off your own plunger style BD cams by tying a loop of 1” nylon webbing. Opposed nuts, threads, bolts (obviously), a girth-hitched tree, cams in horizontal cracks all can be multidirectional. Generally I like my axel cams a lot. 5 and 5 are kept separate. What are everyone's favourite small cams? I am looking to expand my rack to include some small pieces, and am having a tough time deciding what to get. I tend to prefer the friends for the reasons you've mentioned. 2 equivalent (black) and use metolius ultralight master cams for the smaller sizes 0 and 00. This article teaches you how to place stoppers and cams. In 99. This is good to compare how a ring lock might be an rocked-out . Cams, Nuts, Hexes is an expensive road that never really ends. I think he's saying just don't fall in those areas. Basically falling below your belay, in that case you should have two other pieces backing up that cam. Then I bought a set of friends (sizes . Even climbing on Little Cottonwood Granite with weird flares and pin scars, one of my Metolius cams or an offset cam/nut fit the same or better than an equivalent Totem. I feel like passive pro often comes down to rocktype eg lots of little wires for volcanic / cams for sandstone. 5-3, and Master Cams or Aliens for smaller sizes. I heard from a trad climber at an NC crag that it is better to have 2 different brands of cams compose your rack (Such as a set of c4's and a set of wild country friends) because even the same "size" will have slightly different dimensions. I'm planning some harder alpine routes with my partner this summer. 4-4, with . The BD equivalent might be a couple of grams heavier. 7 but go on about how "sport climbing is neither," but you've also got sport climbers who shit on trad climbers for the precise reasons you've outlined and argue the opposite side of the coin that sport climbing The quality/feel of the cams depends a lot on if they are single or double axle. Where I'm practicing the horizontals are chossy and it's a non-climbing area. Metolius cleaned, lubed and added new slings for $5/cam. I bought climbing-rated biners to rack my cams. 3-3), rack of nuts, 4 alpine draws and the quickdraws you already have. So often people 'exaggerate' the camming ranges of BD cams and ignore the comparison of useable ranges. I don't climb in the Pacific Northwest (yet?) but I could get by in a lot of the East Coast with . I had the slings on a few of my older cams replaced recently. While the original unit had two placements (one passive, one active), the I did a bit of top rope and sport climbing after that, and moved onto climbing a little bit of trad as a second for a while until I felt I was ready to start leading trad. I owned a set black-green and sold them because I preferred my ULMCs. 5 - 3 clipped to the racking carabiner for my 3. In Indian Creek, cracks are insanely parallel and there is very little benefit in having such specialized cams. Everything else held amazingly well and gave me more confidence in cam placements. View community ranking In the Top 5% of largest communities on Reddit. I have (occasionally) confirmed this myself while testing gear I've placed while lowering. com has a thriving used gear section. Then cams, then passive, the draws. Which neither of us own. We're planning to climb the north face of Petit Dru. The verticals are quite decent though. Having said that its definitely a rare animal that goes back to hexes after they own a set of cams. Cams will make your day when you are pumped and need to get Do you find this will your cam size or is this big enough for bomber chicken wings where you can chill out and sort out and stuck ropes? I definitely have considered how I will get any cam bigger than a 6 in Europe and have wondered about how possible it would be to make one myself. Whatever gear he likes to place often and is practical for you to buy, it will be nice to have doubles between the two of you. The tricams are a bit odd at first but they can almost always fit somehow. Retire your cams if the cams have been damaged in a fall, if the cam teeth are worn away, if the tailpiece or crossbar is cracked, if the stem cable is frayed, kinked or damaged in any way, or if the springs are weak or damaged. and after reading all the feedback, talking to some other trad climbing friends, and going to Bent Gate to look at all the options I decided the thing that makes the most sense is more Black Diamond cams, so I now have C3s in 0, 1, 2, C4s from 0. Reply reply Before I ever led trad I had already "french freed" (plug in a cam and use it as a hand hold) my way through the crux of 9+ that was over my head after climbing all of 4 months. I have been sport climbing for the past year and a half, and I am about to take a trad climbing course. The only thing I'd be worried about is the potential for a fall to create a kink in the loop, though as far as I'm aware that is really only an issue if you were going with thinner slings or doing a girth hitch or something. 4-3, but that's 6 cams, not 3. I carry about 8-10 at the Gunks. Also see some examples of gear-racking options. Several local guides have told me it's known that cams have a tendency to pull in limestone, steel ones more so than aluminium ones. Feb 20, 2022 · Having an eye for getting in a secure blue/black offset vs a purple c3 vs a #4 rp on your first try IMO takes some experience - wanting trick gear to help get in a green Alien / black Totem size - I question whether you should even be trad climbing. You can either cut up your cordelette, cut up one of your nice expensive Dyneema slings or take my sage advice about carrying at least one tied runner. I started with just nuts and a single cam, then added different nuts and more cams and finally fell in love with tricams. 8 vs 11. 3 The basic trad rack varies by area, but a lot of people like C4's from . Building Your Rack. 10 trad climbing as well as alpine stuff. If you want color-coded racking biners, you usually buy them separately. Only thing I wish is that it were the ultralights and zeros throughout since fully l Being honest about why you're doing this and how much risk you're willing to take is important. not every used cam needs a total refurb. The average useable range per cam is actually larger for the ULMCs (11. if your cams are so gritty the lobes dont move expect your trigger wires to get over powered. My local trad climbing area is eldo, so I place these things a lot, and I’ve fallen on them plenty. Trying to master my gear placement though. Small BD cams suck, consider Metolius in the smaller sizes up to Metolius Orange. 3-3 (with doubles in 1 and a DMM Dragon doubles my 2, see below) and X4s from 0. But looks like you may not of had the option with the way the rock is. Makes sense if you know you are going to place a cam and extend it. For larger sizes (#2 and above), BD C4s at my pick though. That rock split and separated under pressure and the cam pulled. 6 or so alpine draws a few of your sport quickdraws, some 7mm cord to build anchors and some lockers. In the most commonly used sizes, one can carry 7 ULMC cams and, even with the new C4s, save 4. 5 ounces (128g) over the same range. Trad climbing is a lot broader than sport. When those aren't factors, I'll just clip my racking biner directly. That is when you start to get into some bigger numbers, but if cared for properly, Trad gear should last you many seasons. Cam-parison. We each own a set of nuts, and cams (partner 6 BD cams, and I 5 DMM dragons). I also know the size choice is very dependant to the rock, but, what are the sizes most used in trad climbing? Even though most of the climbing I do is mostly crack climbing and therefore I rely heavily on cams, I still carry quickdraws. Got a single rack of c4s . 4. I extend cams when the route wanders, or I want to prevent the cam walking. r/climbing • Hardest trad BD won’t resling a damaged cam that is obviously bent, broken, abused. you can have a full rack for a fraction of the price of a rack from any other brand allowing you to leave piece of gear behind if you need to bail out from a route without feeling like you've just thrown away 200$. I knew I wanted to start trad climbing this past season, so I bought 1 C4 cam a month every month starting around this time last year. offsets nuts are really nice to have I have totems down to . I feel like I place passive more than most people I climb with, but I still disagree with Plrdr21. For a burgeoning trad climber these are a great start. honestly i think you can find shitty personalities in every kind of climbing--sure you've got trad dads who won't climb harder than 5. it's dangerous. Sep 6, 2013 · The Tricam is a puzzling piece: It’s delightfully simple, with no active—or moving—parts, yet it has more potential uses than either a spring-loaded camming device (SLCD) or a standard nut. It covers everything from hard single pitch cragging where you're basically sport climbing on gear to sketchballs alpine climbing where the gear is mostly there so they can follow the rope to find your body. Awesome project and pretty cool you have the skill to do it. The only time I do the single carabiner sling is on alpine climbs and I'll put the sling trad draw style using the racking carabiner directly on the cam. 75 (depending on hand size) same for #2 and #1 for me are roughly rockie hand jams or tight hand jams. For onsights or multipitch routes where the gear changes each pitch it makes less sense. every area is different but that one fits a large majority of climbs. In my opinion the extendable sling doesn't often offer enough extension to avoid using/carrying draws and n most cases, but will create an added margin of safety by allowing you to extend to avoid a feature that might cause the draw to unclip or lever over an edge. 5-3 C4 cam size. C4s are great for pure trad: when I’m pumped while placing gear I really enjoy a thumb loop. It's pretty cheap, tho shipping can be costly depending on where you live. Traditional climbing: use at your own risk. if you've abused a stuck cam with a nut tool, expect trigger wire damage. 19 votes, 32 comments. 12d gear route that is at my free climbing limit. Totally worth the money. 4-3) last week bc of an REI 20% coupon. I’d say your first set should be a double axle cam like the C4 or WC friends. First and foremost, trad climbing gear is expensive, so if you are just starting out, see what you can do to share or borrow gear! IMO, use alpine draws for trad climbing. xfxtve wbwv kcg yffp ndgy tyjgxt hkjyogi uuey khqgjl pwyyu lum wnar miqaoti kesm gxwq