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CAMS - Whats your preference

matty

18-Feb-2004
11:51:41 AM

CAMS - What's your preference

What brand of CAMS do you use and why?
Any good/bad experiences.
When buying CAMs (not that u do everyday) do you people buy what's on special or are you loyal to a particular brand?
I know it depends on where you climb but what are your most commonly used CAM #s.
Does anyone use offset CAMS or are you just wasting your money?
Flexible vs Rigid?

nmonteith

18-Feb-2004
11:53:33 AM

I am sure this has been covered before... take a check back through the old topics.

matty

18-Feb-2004
12:17:42 PM

oops - refer article ALIENS vs ZEROS

gfdonc

7-Jun-2004
12:59:20 PM

Naah, I just tracked through that thread and got no satisfaction.
So I reckon Matty's original questions still stand.

I've seen 1.25 size Friends advertised. Anyone using them?
What's the largest size cam that each of you carry regularly?
My rack: Alien (green, not sure what size), Friend 1/2 (I think, must check), 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3.5, 4. Lost the 3 some time ago but don't miss it too much. I won't always carry the 3.5 and 4. The Friend 1.5 is a favourite.
- Steve

IdratherbeclimbingM9

7-Jun-2004
2:02:25 PM

On 18/02/2004 matty wrote:
>What brand of CAMS do you use and why?
A mixture. Wild Country, HB quad, Trango, BD & Alien

>Any good/bad experiences.
I prefer 4 cam units instead of 3 cam. Less prone to walk and have had a 3 cam blowout once.

>When buying CAMs (not that u do everyday) do you people buy what's on
>special or are you loyal to a particular brand?
Loyal somewhat to Wild Country & BD. Try to get specials when they happen.

>I know it depends on where you climb but what are your most commonly used
>CAM #s.
Sandstone; mid to larger sizes.
Trachyte and limestone; small to mid/large
Granite; everything!
If I was on a limited budget I'd go for 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4,

>Does anyone use offset CAMS or are you just wasting your money?
Yes, only the smallest two offset aliens for aid climbs. I have heard the other sizes can be good at Frog though.

>Flexible vs Rigid?
Mixture.
All the 'full' sizes are rigid; my half sizes are flexible. Small sizes are 'technical stems', as are my BD 4.5 and 5
I find this mixture works very well.
I don't like the propensity for poorly placed (overcammed) single flexible-stem units to be hard to retrieve.

gfdonc
>What's the largest size cam that each of you carry regularly?
Wild Country # 4 for 'unknown' trad climbs.
Obviously if its anticipated to be thin or wide then it varies.

adski

7-Jun-2004
3:00:58 PM

>What brand of CAMS do you use and why?
HB for their reach, and because you can spin them on one finger like john wayne. 00 - 2.5
Camalots for their expando-range. 1-4
(and of course hexes 6-10 to complement them)

>Any good/bad experiences.
Seeing a HB tri-cam hold on just two of its' three cams.

>When buying CAMs (not that u do everyday) do you people buy what's on
>special or are you loyal to a particular brand?
only specific brands, and only when on special

>I know it depends on where you climb but what are your most commonly used
>CAM #s.
on the rack most of the time is fingers to fists: 0.5 to 3
the most often placed is the #1 HB

>Does anyone use offset CAMS or are you just wasting your money?
no use here.

>Flexible vs Rigid?
the flexible ones are more, um, flexible.

James

7-Jun-2004
8:31:01 PM

A5 - I find my offset aliens really bloody good on Victoria sandstone (gramps/araps).. I have & use blue/black, green/blue & green/yellow lots & lots. The cracks at Frog are much more parrallel & uniform so regular cams are fine there. The advent of 1st cams & then later aliens, have made Frog testpieces a litte saner compared to when they were put up.

I wouldn't buy bigger offsets but my small ones get racked 1st everytime, I find they turn your average dodgy wire into a bomber cam.

otherwise, camelots & aliens are the way to go. I have a few WC friends (both technical & forged) but I find they walk more so I won't buy any more. I have some cheapie ("Wired Bliss") brand from when I started climbing, but they don't get used much anymore (only when I need to double or triple up on sizes).

I agree re everyone's comments re critical/most used sizes.

mousey

7-Jun-2004
10:32:16 PM

i have a couple HB quadcams which i dont particularly like-
the BD camalots are solid but very heavy, DMM i really like
WC techfriends are awesome, couldnt ask for anything better (except maybe a shiny new ring :)) and for a cheaper option those one pinnacle sports sell (not the spider cams the other ones) are very solid little units, very light as well

what are the general prefences between the aliens and the WC micros? ive carried both on my rack (no, not mine) but only placed a couple and never fallen on either....

shaggy

8-Jun-2004
12:03:14 AM

>What brand of CAMS do you use and why?

What brands? Anything I have found or bootied.

Why? Because it's cheaper than buying them.

mousey

8-Jun-2004
7:10:24 AM

eh the thin we have to remember is that save a few dodgy little pieces, all cams WORK, its just a preference thing (like ropes, belay devices etc.)

Bernardo

8-Jun-2004
11:50:32 AM

id suggest machined stoppers.
i have fallen on a smaller wild country and actualy inverted it, the stoppers simply sheared (admitadly it was a bad placement, many years ago wheni first started leading)
so now a days i either buy something with machined stoppers or use a hex, a #10 preferably!!!

matty

8-Jun-2004
3:51:24 PM

Thanks for the reponse everyone.
Recently bought a couple of BD Camalots (.75 & 2).
So far so good(even put a scratch on one).
They seem to cover a good range and I'll probably get another one soon, just to increase the range.

I also discovered hexes are still good when you don't have a Cam that will fit..just as long as you make sure they are placed well.

matty

8-Jun-2004
4:09:16 PM

Neil - refering to the 'I Need Cams' topic and the 15 other Cam topics.

What about we make a table up with a list of all the different CAMs. At the end a summary of everyones experiences, preferences and thoughts. I know some magazines have done a Cam comparison but it would be good to do one from a climbers perspective and not a manufacturers.

Some of the reasons there are so many topics is that there are so many different Cams, they cost a lot, and everyone wants the right piece of gear first time.

Might save us starting Cam Topic #101

Cheers
Matty

IdratherbeclimbingM9

11-Jun-2004
12:48:12 PM

On 7/06/2004 James wrote:
>A5 - I find my offset aliens really bloody good on Victoria sandstone (gramps/araps)..
>I have & use blue/black, green/blue & green/yellow lots & lots.
Fair enough. (I was not knocking them).
I only recently aquired the smallest aliens, and I got them specifically for pin scars on old aid climbs that I intend to do (clean).
My sandstone experience is predominantly Sydney seacliffs and the Blueys. I have yet to partake of the Grampians delights.
IMO seacliff sandstone does not engender faith in ANY small pieces ... (cams or passive).

How often would you use your green/yellow relative to the 2 smaller sizes and also relative to similar sized 'regular' cams?

nmonteith

11-Jun-2004
2:45:17 PM

I have used James offset aliens in the Grampians. They do indeed rock my world big time. I guess i would use them about 30% of the time on long trad leads. The Grampians rock tends to form complex, flared and fiddly placements. The offset aliens are perfect for these!

There are 15 messages in this topic.