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very
Feb 27, 2004, 1:25 AM
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Registered: Jan 22, 2004
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Ok, so everybody on this other thread says spend your hard earned cash on tri-cams-
I got rid of my tri-cams a long time ago, after about a year of leading trad, just cause I never used them, even at places like looking glass in NC
and I never was super confident in them, and only used them horizontally, and always could get a better cam tied short anyways-
So, who exactly has taken a good fall on these? or built one into an anchor on a wall and hauled off it?
and who has ripped them right out of the rock, and who has never to use them again after decking.
I havent seen or heard of anyone ever using one west of the Missippi(lord knows no body in Cali does)
Or do we all recommend tricams because they are cheap and for traddies, and make us look old school, you know, like carrying cow bells (hexes)
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holdplease2
Feb 27, 2004, 1:31 AM
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I have whipped on tricams and they have held and used them in anchors, but not for hauling. I learned trad in the gunks, so placing them was second nature.
Now, however, I have enough dinero for as many cams as I can use. So I don't carry tricams often. Cams are just so much easier to place.
In fact, now that I am camafied, I only use tricams where cams wont work as well, like the occasional really weird pin scar. I hate to admit it.
Also, on super-soft sandstone, all of the force that is transferred to the "point" on the tricam scars the rock more often than a regular cam if you weight them like in aiding or falling.
But, if you won't be fully camafied for awhile, having 2-3 of these can make a nice supplement...if you take the time to learn to place them right.
-Kate.
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jello
Feb 27, 2004, 1:40 AM
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Registered: Nov 21, 2003
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I have set up bomber ankers using tri-cams as 2 of the 3 equalizied pieces.
I have aided on them, they work great in pockets.
I have not fallen on them but would not think twice about it.
although I have used them setting natural ankers on walls, no I have not hauled on one but would.
Pink, red, brown, and yes, I even like the blue! :D
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smallnutsandbigballs
Feb 27, 2004, 2:13 AM
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Registered: Oct 30, 2003
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Tri-cams are bomber and versatile. I haven't fallen on one, but they're certainly not junk. They probably work better in flares than just about anything else - especially in softer rock. There's no need to go and buy a whole set, but the smallest sizes are cheap and very handy...
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trad_mike
Feb 27, 2004, 2:22 AM
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There are some pocket placements where tricams will work and slcds will not. I can even think of a few placements where the choice was place a hex or use a fully open cam w/ cam stops as a passive placement. Just depends on where you climb and whether or not you're willing to run it out.
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bones
Feb 27, 2004, 2:22 AM
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I've used them for anchors at Jtree quite a few times and used them for hanging belays at other places (i.e. On the Lamb @ Tuolumne). They're great in horizontals when you don't want to permanently bend your cam stems. Good for alpine routes too. I'd say get some if you only have one set of cams or you want to save some weight off your rack. I've got the pink through blue myself.
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dirtineye
Feb 27, 2004, 2:29 AM
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Why do I feel like I'm taking the bait?
I've fallen on tri-cams. I've built anchors with tricams and those anchors have taken falls. I led much of a climb two weeks ago on nothing but tricams.
Tricams and hexes go in places that cams don't work so well, but then you'd have to know how to use em, and it sounds like you don't.
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drkodos
Feb 27, 2004, 2:29 AM
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They are estoeric little trinkets, no doubt, but they have their applications.
As gunkie I guess I should be a bigger fan, but I am not. I have found their use at the Gunks to be overrarted to a large degree now that cam technology is what it is.
I do think they have their moments, though, and the Gunks seems to give them more of their moments to shine than some other crags, but I find mine have gathered much dust in recent years.
I have come to be highly suspicious of the little pin that keeps the whole house of cards from collapsing.
I have fallen on them, many times, and I have used them often in alpine situtions, and when it comes to the question as to what gear to sacrifice to the mountain to get back down, they rate highly on my list.
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angry
Feb 27, 2004, 2:30 AM
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I totally trust them to fall on, I just don't like placing em on lead. They are the anchor piece, I really like them for that. Everything that everyone else said too.
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sfclimber
Feb 27, 2004, 2:37 AM
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I've got pink through blue. They hang very comfortably on my garage wall, rarely seeing the light of day. Not because I don't trust them, it's just that cams will so often fill the same placement with less effort.
I once used the pink for an aid placement during a climbing class. When I aggressively bounce tested it, it shifted but held. The instructor didn't like the look of it, so he savagely bounce tested it in hopes of illustrating how a piece might pop. It didn't pop, and I sent the pitch :-)
On the other occasions that I brought them climbing (before picking up a second set of cams) they would see the odd horizontal placement, including at anchors.
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mackavus
Feb 27, 2004, 2:40 AM
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My first trad lead was done with mostly all tricams. To me, they are one of the easiest pieces to place because I think it is easy to tell when you have the thing set right. I too though, am a little suspicious of the little pin that holds the whole shabang together. Never whipped on one yet.
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catbiter
Feb 27, 2004, 3:24 AM
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Thank god for my black tri-cam. That's all I can say.
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ottoman
Feb 27, 2004, 4:02 AM
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Registered: May 26, 2003
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i have dbl's of the first 3 on my rack...and use them every time!!good stuff to use as long as ya know how to place them...i learned back in the 80's...keep it cool!!
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bsignorelli
Feb 27, 2004, 4:31 AM
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In reply to: I havent seen or heard of anyone ever using one west of the Missippi (lord knows no body in Cali does)
Tri-cams are pretty popular in Arkansas. I and the guys I learned from place one almost every time we leave the ground.
The pink and the red especially.
I've used them in Colorado and Oklahoma too.
I've heard though, that you either luv them or hate them. No sitting on the fence with them. :)
Bryan
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kilgymrats
Feb 27, 2004, 4:41 AM
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Registered: Jul 28, 2003
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Ask CJStudent about falling on tri-cams.
He took a 30'er after a cam blew out and his red tri-cam held. Junk? No way. I don't leave the ground without the smallest 3. Tri-cams fit where some things just don't.
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gunked
Feb 27, 2004, 4:44 AM
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I love them, though, I consider them secondary pieces. I have yet to fall on one, but now that I have moved back to the Gunks, it's only a matter of time. They really do rock in shallow horizontals. There's no shortage of those in the Gunks!
I lived in Cali. for the last six years and used them quite a bit there as well. Although, I probably could've used a cam in almost every place that I got a tricam in. I wouldn't hesitate to use them as a lead piece or in the anchor.
They ARE bomber if you know how to place them! Just like cams and nuts, it's important to know what kind of pulls (ie. - what direction?) will dislodge it or make it a poor placement. It's a light-weight piece that doubles as a nut to boot! :wink:
-Jason
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okinawatricam
Feb 27, 2004, 4:55 AM
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Registered: Apr 23, 2003
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I like my tricams, I don't get to use them as much on the west coast has in the southeast, but I alway have a few when I leave the ground.
They work great as gig nut too.
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micahmcguire
Feb 27, 2004, 5:05 AM
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of course they're not junk. I've taken nuemerous falls on tricams before. If you place them intelligently, they are bomber.
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hex
Mar 2, 2004, 5:59 PM
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they are great in bore-holes in my local quarry.
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tedc
Mar 2, 2004, 6:05 PM
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I enerally only carry them on C2 or harder aid; and then it is usually just two pink and a red. The only time I really placed them for pro on lead was on Independance Monument because the pro is tri-cams in 2" drilled holes. (Used to have metal pipes sticking out of them). The beta for the route indicated this. So, I guess they DO have thier place.
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scubasnyder
Mar 2, 2004, 6:11 PM
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Registered: Oct 3, 2003
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Tri cams are awsome, just hard to retrieve
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tradpuppy
Mar 2, 2004, 6:14 PM
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Registered: Jan 15, 2002
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Weird, twisty cracks in Linville Gorge EAT them as well as other passive...though I am fully camafied.
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hyhuu
Mar 2, 2004, 6:34 PM
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Beside horizontal crack, flare and shallow crack or pockets. Very light for alpine.
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kindredlion
Mar 2, 2004, 7:05 PM
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Hey Dude,
I live in Cali - and I think I may have slept in your dirty wharehouse in the ghetto b4.
But FoSheeeezy! I couldn't protect the biguns without numba 7 until I could afford a 4.5 Camalot.
And seriously - you've been on the tower - how many fixed pinkies can you count?
Who uses those crappy, heavy, expensive camalots these days anyways? People in Cali? Waste of money?
Take Air,
Adam
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moss1956
Mar 2, 2004, 7:52 PM
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This is a troll right?
I think Iowa is west of the Mississippi.
Though there are very few people who climb trad here, everyone I know uses them. I have never seen one pull in a fall, including under me. I've seen cams come out though.
Like any gear, there is a learning curve. I'll teach you tricams if you'll teach me hexes. :P
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