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27-Oct-2008 11:06:11 AM
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Has anyone used those big bros before? What's your opinion of them?
If you had to take heaps of large gear, would you take a range of big bros or lots of cams?
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27-Oct-2008 12:05:23 PM
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I have two but I very rarely use them. Most of the time I would prefer large cams as they are faster to place.
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27-Oct-2008 12:29:49 PM
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Hi Ti, I only have one big bro, and I don't use it so much as it's quite fiddly to place. They work best in parallel cracks, although it's reassuring to have a nubbin to wedge the hole in the end over. They are apparently good for aiding, you can stand on them as well as pull on them as long as you go for the right end (they are made with sloped edges to cam into the crack and the cord is attached to the appropriate end). For leading, I love my big cams, you can throw them in quickly and shuffle them ahead of you, I think they are worth the bulk, and the new style camalots are remarkably lighter than my old ones.
Wendy
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27-Oct-2008 12:49:02 PM
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On 27/10/2008 ti wrote:
>Has anyone used those big bros before? What's your opinion of them?
They are good, and sometimes the only option (or a home-made equivalent).
They are expensive, but so are large cams.
>If you had to take heaps of large gear, would you take a range of big
>bros or lots of cams?
I have coveted only the largest size big bros ie bigger than the largest cams.
Having said that I don't own any (use other peoples instead), and have mostly made do with stacking out cams with wooden wedges ...
Many true offwidths still allow minor size pro to be placed in lesser cracks within their bowels.
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27-Oct-2008 1:10:21 PM
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I have used big bro's in the past, don't own any, but would probably go with cams, that said I think
some of the larger sized BB's are bigger than the largest available cams, I have also made chocks
from 2X2" pine, with a notch cut in to keep the chord in place and a bit of paranoia tape (gaffa) to keep
the chord in the grooves (don't drill holes to place the chord unless using aluminium chocks) the
grooves are just cut into the 4 right angle corners of the timber to prevent the chord from
moving/sliding, I used 6mm cord with a clove hitch, they worked great, when testing them I found that
they had to be hammered out of place to clean them, 15 degree angles cut on the ends
/======X==/ in this simple sketch the x is the grooved tie in point for the clove hitch.
If it's just for one climb, this might be a solution, the pine is light but you'll need to get the size right
cos they aren't adjustable, maybe cut a few slightly longer/shorter ones to give you some choice in
sizing placements. I held falls of three meters with this set up and weigh 80 kgs, they were only short,
30 cm to 60 cm, any longer and I would be upgrading the thickness of the timber to 3X3", this would
be the way to shunt a large cam whilst still having something under you when leading.
Good luck and welcome to the world of OFFWIDTH, or OW for those in the know!
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27-Oct-2008 2:29:23 PM
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I went to an aluminium supplier once to make some choobs. When I told them what I was going to use it for they insisted I get some 7000-series, which they didn't sell, but referred me to some supplier in the south-eastern suburbs (Melbourne).
The project stalled at that point ..
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28-Oct-2008 7:39:52 AM
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Just a note to say that when setting Big Bros you need to give them a very large tug to set them very well. Big Bros also are handy to run the rope over as some sort of pulley.
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28-Oct-2008 9:26:21 AM
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>you need to give them a very large tug to set them very well
At Frog maybe?
Buffalo granite grabs them OK most times if the right size is used!
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