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petsfed
Nov 13, 2009, 10:30 PM
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We all have our favorite bits of gear, and, as a topic, its been done before. As a change of pace, tell us about your least favorite piece of gear, or the gear you find most frustrating to use.
I'll start:
The Omega Pacific Doval. Now, the concept is pretty sound: a lightweight utility carabiner for general purpose use. The problem is in the execution: they ovalize the exterior so its hard to find the nose, making it difficult to clip without looking at it, but they keep the D-shape on the interior, so that you still have that horrifying shifting when you load it. In other words, they took the worst features of the oval carabiner (namely the exterior symmetry and lack of a clear nose), jettisoned the best features of the oval (the ovalized interior for less shifting while aid climbing), then threw a wiregate on their, just to keep it lightweight. And yet somehow, the marketing scheme worked well enough that all of my dirtbag friends, who were sucked in by the marketing, are too poor to replace the thirty or so they snapped up upon first release.
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johnwesely
Nov 13, 2009, 10:35 PM
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SMC Camlocks.
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gunkiemike
Nov 13, 2009, 10:42 PM
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Small first generation flexible Friends. Too much steel and therefore heavy.
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Lazlo
Nov 13, 2009, 10:46 PM
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Registered: Nov 14, 2007
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Tib locs
I had two. I gave them both away.
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gulla826
Nov 13, 2009, 10:47 PM
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Registered: May 2, 2006
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BD Bionic Crampons
the secondary points might as well not even be there, they climb like shit and quickly blow out my calfs...way to drop the ball BD. i though I was just a weak bastard until I got the CAMP vectors
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coastal_climber
Nov 13, 2009, 10:56 PM
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Auto locking harnesses.
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caughtinside
Nov 13, 2009, 11:06 PM
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what a retard! Grigris and autolocking harness belts are two of the best things going.
Least favorite gear though? Probably be mad rock anything. Their shoes are poorly made and fall apart super fast. I don't know anyone who climbs in them besides n00bs or people who get them free. Crappy harnesses that reportedly feel like wire on the guts. Cheap biners which are tough to clip. SIngle use haulbags. The fact that they led teh charge to make every piece of climbing gear in china. And that joe garland guy.
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coastal_climber
Nov 13, 2009, 11:11 PM
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caughtinside wrote: what a retard! Grigris and autolocking harness belts are two of the best things going.
Sorry, I forgot how hard it is to belay with an ATC.
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caughtinside
Nov 13, 2009, 11:13 PM
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coastal_climber wrote: caughtinside wrote: what a retard! Grigris and autolocking harness belts are two of the best things going. Sorry, I forgot how hard it is to belay with an ATC.
The classic n00b mistake. You think the grigri is a n00b device. The grigri is actually easier for the belayer to use in a variety of situations.
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ryanb
Nov 13, 2009, 11:35 PM
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This topic is going to piss people off quick...
These are all just personal preference, i know people who swear by some of this stuff but the gear I have had, used or seen that sucks so much I won't use it:
Tri-cams. There are some placements where only these will fit. Fortunately most of these placements will have one permanently stuck and the rest are on routes that will be occupied by a dude in a wind shirt and an ecrin rock who will spend 10 minutes pausing in the middle of the easiest section of the route to fiddle a tri-cam into said placement and then announce to all present how glad he is he had them with him.
The 9.4 mm tangle prone extension cord petzl sells as a climbing rope.
The 12 mm mammut supersafe sold as a 10.2...I got suckered into getting one of these thinking it was the safe thing to do... what a beast to climb on.
Sportiva Miuras...i used to think they were great cause the pros wear them and went through 3 or 4 pairs before i tried on some other brands and realized the pointy toe shape is nothing like my foot and results in really sloppy front point edging.
Link cams. Some people love these things but they have always seemed sketchy to me.
The petzl tikka. The battery life is so good that I broke and returned three of them before needing to buy new batteries.
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anthonycb
Nov 13, 2009, 11:40 PM
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coastal_climber wrote: caughtinside wrote: what a retard! Grigris and autolocking harness belts are two of the best things going. Sorry, I forgot how hard it is to belay with an ATC.
It's certainly bulky, but is great for bringing up a second. Its auto ratcheting behavior makes it great for pulley setups.
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caughtinside
Nov 13, 2009, 11:46 PM
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ryanb wrote: Tri-cams. There are some placements where only these will fit. Fortunately most of these placements will have one permanently stuck and the rest are on routes that will be occupied by a dude in a wind shirt and an ecrin rock who will spend 10 minutes pausing in the middle of the easiest section of the route to fiddle a tri-cam into said placement and then announce to all present how glad he is he had them with him.
quoted for humor and for truth!
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rhythm164
Nov 14, 2009, 12:11 AM
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anything from mad rock or north face
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airforceclmr
Nov 14, 2009, 12:34 AM
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Lucky biners, gate spring is weak and they clip like shit.
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sungam
Nov 14, 2009, 12:41 AM
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ryanb wrote: Link cams. Some people love these things but they have always seemed sketchy to me.
Gear I hatez:
-twistlock beaners, especially if I'm wearing gloves (actually pretty much only when I'm wearing gloves).
-Ovals
-Tech-Friends
-tin foil ice axes.
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shimanilami
Nov 14, 2009, 12:55 AM
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Things that were conceptually good ideas, but suck in reality:
Eco ball
Rope hook
FS Mini, Oz, Nano, Doval biners
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caughtinside
Nov 14, 2009, 12:56 AM
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good one. I have some of those FS Minis, and they are near impossible to clip.
EDIT: I like the nanos though, at least the originals before they made them the nano 23s. The OZs seem ok. The neutrino might still be the best full service lightweight biner out there in my opinion though.
(This post was edited by caughtinside on Nov 14, 2009, 12:57 AM)
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ryanb
Nov 14, 2009, 12:59 AM
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sungam wrote: ryanb wrote: Link cams. Some people love these things but they have always seemed sketchy to me. Just curious, have you used them more then twice?
Absolutely not. I don't use gear that won't hold a fall.
I would sooner climb on new aliens then new link cams.
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lostlazy
Nov 14, 2009, 2:11 AM
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Registered: Mar 29, 2004
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Ballnutz. Not least useful, but definitely least favorite.
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Myxomatosis
Nov 14, 2009, 2:57 AM
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I think Ballnutz really depend on where you are climbing.
My least favorite is Petzl Shunt.
Its heavy, hard to get a good set up (always jams for the first few months you use it until you buy extra equipment to rig it properly) and expensive compared to a bit of prussik.
Also plastic gear loops on cheap harness's... might as well spend another $20 and get a petzl/BD, they fall off in days.
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tigerlilly
Nov 14, 2009, 3:00 AM
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Registered: Nov 2, 2006
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One of my partner's old, heavy, notch-nosed oval and D carabiners. I finally got him to try the light keylock biners on my draws on a recent trip to JTree. He has seen the light! I am to bring my draws whenever we climb together until he has a chance to replace his this winter. Gladly!
Kathy
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Lazlo
Nov 14, 2009, 3:25 AM
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tigerlilly wrote: One of my partner's old, heavy, notch-nosed oval and D carabiners. I finally got him to try the light keylock biners on my draws on a recent trip to JTree. He has seen the light! I am to bring my draws whenever we climb together until he has a chance to replace his this winter. Gladly! Kathy
Send them to me!
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moose_droppings
Nov 14, 2009, 4:16 AM
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Almost all the older 5.10 shoes. I couldn't keep my heel in them with a glue gun.
6mm slings, maybe a years use and they're trashed.
Can't remember what they were called, but those first madrock ATC tube type belay devices, rope use to jerk thru those like a sticky clutch till they got really worn.
Just about any of the fly weight biners except the superflys.
Multi colored spandex pants.
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