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Chockstone Forum - Gear Lust / Lost & Found

Rave About Your Rack Please do not post retail SPAM.

 Page 1 of 2. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 23
Author
the new bashie: any takers?
k
2-Apr-2008
11:07:42 AM
This would have been better to post yesterday, but...

http://camp-usa.com/module/product/detail.asp?ID=313

any takers?

dimpet
2-Apr-2008
11:09:49 AM
Ordered mine yesterday :).

Sabu
2-Apr-2008
11:38:29 AM
wow those are sweet looking, wonder about the reliability though?
most things work in theory...

westie
2-Apr-2008
11:41:19 AM
On 2/04/2008 k wrote:
>This would have been better to post yesterday, but...
>
>http://camp-usa.com/module/product/detail.asp?ID=313
>
>any takers?

nah - my nuts already look like that.

Pat
2-Apr-2008
12:18:23 PM
Sabu- check the Designers name.

evanbb
2-Apr-2008
12:48:19 PM
On 2/04/2008 Pat wrote:
>Sabu- check the Designers name.

Also by the same Doctor:

#9: Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers
In its April 1995 issue Discover Magazine announced that the highly respected wildlife biologist Dr. Aprile Pazzo had discovered a new species in Antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. These fascinating creatures had bony plates on their heads that, fed by numerous blood vessels, could become burning hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speeds. They used this ability to hunt penguins, melting the ice beneath the penguins and causing them to sink downwards into the resulting slush where the hotheads consumed them. After much research, Dr. Pazzo theorized that the hotheads might have been responsible for the mysterious disappearance of noted Antarctic explorer Philippe Poisson in 1837. "To the ice borers, he would have looked like a penguin," the article quoted her as saying. Discover received more mail in response to this article than they had received for any other article in their history.

From: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/

Sabu
2-Apr-2008
1:42:58 PM
On 2/04/2008 Pat wrote:
>Sabu- check the Designers name.
Reguardless of brand name, i would be hesitent to trust something that molds into a crack like blue tac....
For me this one would have to be seen to be believed.

Must admit though, its a great concept.

JimboV10
2-Apr-2008
1:45:36 PM
Dude, pretty sure they are taking the piss out of you...

Pat
2-Apr-2008
1:47:16 PM
I wonder what Aprile Pazzo translates as?
paul
2-Apr-2008
2:19:28 PM
On 2/04/2008 k wrote:
>This would have been better to post yesterday, but...
>
>http://camp-usa.com/module/product/detail.asp?ID=313
>
>any takers?

They would go nicely with my cliff hanger bolt gun.

ajfclark
2-Apr-2008
2:28:27 PM
On 2/04/2008 Pat wrote:
>I wonder what Aprile Pazzo translates as?

Crazy April in Italian I think.


Dikko
2-Apr-2008
2:38:41 PM
www.freetranslation.com says Pazzo = crazy

evanbb
2-Apr-2008
3:12:28 PM
On 2/04/2008 JimboV10 wrote:
>Dude, pretty sure they are taking the piss out of you...

I think they're taking the piss too, but it's not too far from possible. There are materials (such as 'silly putty') that are 'shear thickening', in that when a shear force is applied, quickly, the material responds by stiffening. So, you can stretch or bounce silly putty, but hit it with a hammer and it shatters.

But, this stuff also flows really slowly when under low force, like when used as the first piece on a long pitch. They might stay initially, but your second might only find a yellow streak when he tries to clean it.

Neil
2-Apr-2008
3:16:18 PM
pffft.

the stuff = non newtonian fluids.
where the viscosity changes wrt the speed at which you poke it.
eg toothpaste

try some colgate around your RPs next time and you'll see what i mean.
k
2-Apr-2008
8:53:03 PM
On 2/04/2008 evanbb wrote:
>I think they're taking the piss too, but it's not too far from possible.

I guess it depends if you ask a boulderer, a sport climber or a trad climber. Here's an entertaining review from rock + ice...

Definitely the craziest gear I've seen so far has to be C.A.M.P.'s new Putty Nutz--passive pro that will reshape your mind (especially if it's easily malleable to begin with). Putty Nutz are basically like bashies that you can mold with your hands to fit into cracks. It's the first pro I've see that doesn't use metal (except for the swage). Apparently, the head of the nut is made from something called d3o, which is soft(ish) to touch, but under impact, the molecules of d3o instantly bond together and become rigid. D3o is already being used in ski-racing body armor and in the knuckles of a couple Black Diamond ice-climbing gloves (out next winter). C.A.M.P., maker of the world's lightest gear, took the concept a step further and laser-attached the d3o material to a metal swage. You can read more about it by Clicking Here.

The whole idea of taking falls onto what is basically sexed-up silly putty just seems--well, not only silly, but totally crazy. However, it is climbing gear, meaning it's certified, so it has to be safe, right?

Normally, if I have to review climbing gear that I'm wary of (despite whatever CE stamp it has), I just make one of my interns use it and fall on it a few times, just to be sure it's safe for Me--the more important, less replaceable of the two--to climb on.

Unfortunately, all of Rock and Ice's interns are currently having a group bonding adventure in Mexico with Uncle Jefe. There is, however, one other intern lurking around the office all by himself. However, when he saw the Putty Nutz on my desk, he made some limp excuse about having to go to the bathroom and promptly fled the Valley, without my permission, to climb in Moab for the weekend.

So, with the little ones gone, I resorted to the next best option for testing potentially lethal climbing gear: my girlfriend Jen. Jen climbs 5.13d, but doesn't trad climb. This served two purposes: One, she's not going to fall on 5.10d, and Two, she doesn't know that trad gear normally isn't made of orange putty.

"What are these things," Jen asked, at the base of this local 5.10d thin seam in a granite face.

"C.A.M.P.'s new Putty Nutz," I said. "You just squash them into the crack, give them a hard tug, and they set into place."

"That's it?" Jen said. "I thought it was supposed to be hard to place trad gear."

"Naw, that's just what the old bald fatsos say to fool young sport climbers like you, so you don't piss all over their ‘proud' routes. Trust me. Trad climbing is actually really easy."

"That makes sense. This is only 5.10d," Jen said. "OK, you got me?"

"Yep, go ahead," I said. Jen started up the thin seam with the Putty Nutz and a few extra TCUs, just in case. "Hold on," I said. "Better give me a hug before you go." She did, and I secretly clipped a few more cams to the back of her harness, just in case.

And with that, she was off, firing the 5.10d easily, thank god. She lowered off some fixed anchors, looking a bit rattled.

"That was scary," she said. "Trad climbing IS hard!"

"You did great. What did you think of the Putty Nutz?"

"I don't know. The kid's I watch might like them," she said. (Jen's a nanny). "I think I'd rather just clip bolts."

It was then my turn. I launched up the slabby 60-foot face, climbing on Jen's pre-placed gear, inspecting each of the five Putty Nutz she had placed. They were a bit misshapen, mashed into each seam, but when I tugged hard on them, they orange blob noticeably changed, consolidating into something firm and hard. It was really, really cool.

I reached the anchors without an issue, then lowered and cleaned the nuts out of the crack by pulling steadily--they stretched a bit until, pop!, the nut busted, leaving the rock completely intact and ethically safe and sound.

It was fun little gear-testing session, but Jen and I packed up and headed out to Rifle for the rest of the day. We decided we'd rather spend our time actually having fun than playing with overpriced toys for adults (essentially what trad gear really is).

Which, I guess, is the difference between trad and sport climbers. One group likes to play with toys, and the other likes to try hard. One gets high by feeling righteous over ethically boosted Gumbyatrics; the other gets high by hang-dogging. Neither is technically better than the other, and I like both more or less the same.

But it just seems like trad climbing gets ridiculous when you have to rely on contrived runouts, nested RPs and, in this case, silly putty, to make slab climbing exciting.
Paul
2-Apr-2008
9:13:18 PM
The April issue ?

Sabu
2-Apr-2008
9:37:49 PM
On 2/04/2008 JimboV10 wrote:
>Dude, pretty sure they are taking the piss out of you...

mmm i think you might be right, but it doesn't seem too far fetched. im utterly confused on this one.
edit: a search the CAMP homepage found nothing
http://www.camp.it/home.aspx

sigh, i've been had.

dimpet
3-Apr-2008
12:17:09 AM
hehehehe. Yes you have :).
k
4-Apr-2008
11:44:59 AM
On 2/04/2008 Paul wrote:
>The April issue ?

Indeed.
gfdonc
4-Apr-2008
12:02:55 PM
I did like its anti-dogging properties though. Rest on the gear: it pulls. Fall on the gear: it holds.

 Page 1 of 2. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 23
There are 23 messages in this topic.

 

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