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fluffystuff
Aug 18, 2008, 3:51 PM
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Registered: Nov 21, 2006
Posts: 40
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Have you seen a piece slip a bit while making a popping noise and then hold? What the heck happened? This happened to a yellow #2 c3.
Here's the situation... it was essential that the #2 c3 hold, after I committed to moving up six feet through the crux. So, I tested the C3 by jumping off the rock with the C3 at my waist. (There was a bomber piece a few feet below that would have protected me from this location.)
Anyhow, the c3 held, but only after it made a popping noise while sliding from the back to the front of the slighting flaring crack. Have you seen this before? Was the rock lacking some friction? Is this common in flaring cracks? How come the cam didn't just pop? I'm pretty sure there was not a constriction. Would a larger fall (say while in the crux a few feet above) have likely pulled the piece?
I ended up getting a better placement, and moved on up. Thanks for any input!
BTW... if you're familiar with the climb, I was on Wasp at the Gunks.
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angry
Aug 18, 2008, 4:02 PM
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Registered: Jul 22, 2003
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I've frequently seen cams, nuts, and hexes move then catch. Some as much as an inch or two.
Usually it's because the placement I made wasn't as good as I thought, the cam comes out, and it then catches on something else before it leaves the crack.
If the springs are in good shape you've got a better chance of this working than if your springs are soft. Still, it's a luck shot and is best to be avoided.
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tedman
Aug 18, 2008, 4:11 PM
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Registered: Sep 5, 2007
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Could be bits of the rock exploding under the pressure from the suddenly weighted cam. With the tiny cams, all the pressure of a fall is exerted through a tiny surface area into the rock=lots of pressure, enough to demolish little nubbins of rock where it might be placed. If you pulled it out and the cam looks fine, I'd bet on this.
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Arrogant_Bastard
Aug 18, 2008, 8:44 PM
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Registered: Oct 31, 2007
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Did you look at the piece aftwards? Were all three lobes in place? The C3s have a tendency to rotate in certain situations, further camming the lower lobe and opening up the top lobe. I've had the top lobe completely invert before in a flaring crack, making a bit of a popping noise.
However, tedman's post was the first thing that came to mind, and it can happen with any cam.
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kennoyce
Aug 18, 2008, 9:08 PM
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Registered: Mar 6, 2001
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I have seen the exact same thing with metolius tcu's in flared quartzite cracks. When I have seen it the popping noise isn't crystals or nubbins being crushed, it's just the noise of the cam scraping against the rock two or three times before the placement holds (if the cam doesn't just pull out). As has been said before, while a cam placed like this may hold, it doesn't mean it will, so I would either try to find a better placement, or not fall.
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