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bussolinister
Sep 10, 2008, 12:12 AM
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So I'm looking into buying myself some tricams. I would never lead without the little suckers, but, after scouring the other forums, I haven't been able to find anything except praises for the 4 smallest sizes. I've climbed with these and love them, but I've found packages selling .5 to either size 3 or 4. Part of me is thinking the more tricams the better, but does anyone have any experience with them? At what point (if any) do they just get too big to place easily on trad/too heavy to carry around? Or can anyone offer advice as to why I should buy the bigger sizes??
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deltav
Sep 10, 2008, 12:17 AM
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The hell with the small sizes, you need doubles of the number 7 
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chossmonkey
Sep 10, 2008, 1:03 AM
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Generally cams work better compared to the bigger sizes of tricams.
I have the pink through blue. I mostly use the pink and red. The brown and blue come in handy for pockets sometimes.
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aerili
Sep 10, 2008, 1:24 AM
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I also have pink through blue. I seem to use the pink, red, and brown the most. This has been true of areas as varied as Red Rocks, Lumpy Ridge, and my local Superstitions (rhyolite) and McDowells (desert granite).
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granite_grrl
Sep 10, 2008, 1:57 AM
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Dito - pink to blue, and I don't often use the blue....so why would I bother picking up anything bigger?
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shockabuku
Sep 10, 2008, 2:29 AM
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I own pink through white or green. I don't know which one is biggest because I generally don't use the sizes past the brown.
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colatownkid
Sep 10, 2008, 2:30 AM
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i currently lead on a rack of cams, but i definitely have experience with tricams in NC granite. my personal take is that the pink tricam fits just about anywhere. red and brown are also typically nice. however, i don't use them because it is very rare for me to find a placement where a cam won't fit just as well (or better).
as far as bigger sizes, it's kinda like hexes: they're lighter for the size they fit, so if you know you can use them, awesome, if not, well, not-so-awesome.
the principle use i find for my tricams is when i know i can use them in a particular anchor setup for a toprope. also, they're great as anchor pieces on multipitch with long pitches where i'd rather not have to leave my cams in the anchor.
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moss1956
Sep 10, 2008, 3:11 AM
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The really big tricams can be sort of clanky. I don't just mean when you are carrying them up. Getting a 7 wedged into a placement so that it won't budge is more challenging than setting a small or medium tricam.
I would put off buying the big ones unless you have a lot of disposable income, or until you climb something, where you realize a big one would be good.
I have had some really bomber placements up through the green one,
but really the four smallest are the ones that get used the most by far.
My experience with Hexes is similar. The big ones sound like cowbells when you are carrying them, and then its a chore to set them. The small ones are likewise easier to place.
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adatesman
Sep 10, 2008, 1:09 PM
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jungle_george
Sep 10, 2008, 1:51 PM
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There has been some good info on this thread.
Here's some food for thought about sizes 6&7. Before I say this, both my regular partners have the #7 and place it on occassion - I give them crap about carrying around a boat anchor etc., but they seem to like it and climb harder than me, so...each to his/her own I guess.
On the big sizes that protect offwidth: if you flail on offwidth (like me and 95.3% of all climbers), you've got to be super careful with these dudes. They are so very easy to kick out if you're flailing around, much more so than a cam of similar size.
Some other food for thought: personally when I'm gripped in greasy offwidth, offhands, or something else wide and atrocious, fiddling with a large tri-cam is less than fun. One other advantage to a having a cam in this situation is you can often keep pushing it above you as you go up.
Just my .02 - hope this helps.
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reno
Sep 10, 2008, 1:59 PM
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aerili wrote: I also have pink through blue. I seem to use the pink, red, and brown the most.
That's been my experience as well. My tricams have a permanent place on my light alpine rack.
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sungam
Sep 10, 2008, 3:46 PM
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I've used both the normal wired and the swivel-wired tri cams.
Both are good for scottish winter (only time I used 'em).Never had to use the swivel one passively, and I find the normal wire fast and easier to place with one cold hand.
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dr_feelgood
Sep 10, 2008, 5:04 PM
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The largest one is ideal for killing medium to large sized rodents, baby seals, spiders, child sized zombies, dead hookers and cutzing the rope for your partner.
I own a full set.
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michalp
Sep 10, 2008, 5:06 PM
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I badly wanted to use them... I have the pink, red, and brown.
Not that I am trad expert but I did trips to Yosemite & Tulomne, (CA), Leavenworth (WA), Red Rocks (NV), Cannon Cliff (NH) and placed them maybe twice PER TRIP.
However, in The Gunks I find placement for them on MOST of the CLIMBS. That must be specific type of rock (quartzite conglomerate) that has many horizontal cracks, for which tricams work well.
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uni_jim
Sep 10, 2008, 5:56 PM
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dr_feelgood wrote: The largest one is ideal for killing medium to large sized rodents, baby seals, spiders, child sized zombies, dead hookers and cutzing the rope for your partner. I own a full set.
how do you re-kill a hooker? or is it a zombie hooker?
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hafilax
Sep 10, 2008, 6:01 PM
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The ones bigger than blue or brown are better suited to alpine or scrambling where the light weight and large range makes them versatile and well... light. They're also cheaper than cams if you have to bail.
On harder routes I tend to place tricams at easy stances to save cams for the plug and go situations.
The black tricam is only good for really shallow placements where it won't get stuck like described above. It's great for shallow flared pin scars for example.
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strongmadsends
Sep 10, 2008, 6:04 PM
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I have the black through brown on my rack. The black one seems to clean well...I dig them for where I climb.
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patmay81
Sep 10, 2008, 6:07 PM
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uni_jim wrote: dr_feelgood wrote: The largest one is ideal for killing medium to large sized rodents, baby seals, spiders, child sized zombies, dead hookers and cutzing the rope for your partner. I own a full set. how do you re-kill a hooker? or is it a zombie hooker?
I'm pretty sure there has already been a discussion on killing zombies in another thread. Tricams where not on the list of approved weapons.
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hafilax
Sep 10, 2008, 7:04 PM
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It should be!!
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bussolinister
Sep 11, 2008, 2:12 AM
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dr_feelgood wrote: The largest one is ideal for killing medium to large sized rodents, baby seals, spiders, child sized zombies, dead hookers and cutzing the rope for your partner. I own a full set.
I mean I knew they were versatile... now what do I use if I'm only looking to kill small rodents and woodland creatures? Is that where the #5 and #6 come in?
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dr_feelgood
Sep 11, 2008, 2:14 AM
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uni_jim wrote: dr_feelgood wrote: The largest one is ideal for killing medium to large sized rodents, baby seals, spiders, child sized zombies, dead hookers and cutzing the rope for your partner. I own a full set. how do you re-kill a hooker? or is it a zombie hooker?
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