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tomcat_ct
Dec 28, 2008, 8:15 PM
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Registered: Jan 26, 2008
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hi,
I live in Romania in Constanta(near the Black Sea) and I want to start to put together my first trad rack.Rock Empire cams are the only cams I can afford right now.(I live quite a distance from the mountains and I will have to order them online).I don't know if I should go with the robots(U stem) or the durangos (single stem).I personally would go with the durnagos because they are the model sold by Trango last year, but I would like to know what you guys think about it.
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mar_leclerc
Dec 28, 2008, 8:32 PM
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I have both robots and durangos. The Robots are technically stronger b/c of the two stems and always feel secure in vertical cracks. Durangos are very good for pods and horizontal placements but the large Durangos (size 5) never feel to stable in their placements, prone to walking. Sometimes b/c RE cams are cheaper the action can get rough faster than BD cams, Metolius cam lube deals with this problem fore me. If you are going to be climbing is areas where you will be placing cams in pockets and horizontal cracks get Durango's. If you are going to be climbing straight splitter cracks (Indian Creek Style) get Robots.
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Omni
Dec 28, 2008, 8:33 PM
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Registered: Dec 20, 2007
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I have the Robots and they are OK, never tried the Durango's.
I know that you don't want to hear this but save for the Black Diamond Camalots. I was in the same position as you and ordered the Robots, they work fine but after I finally got a Black Diamond I realized that the Robots are a lower quality. Now I find that I only keep them for backup and they are the last cams I grab. Compared to the Black Diamonds they place poor and the springs are inconsistent.
Omni
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Alphaboth
Dec 28, 2008, 8:40 PM
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They're strong, but especially the smaller cams tend to become sticky after a while. Just not a well-consturcted cam in my opinion, but the micro robots I have yet to try and i've heard decent reviews on them.
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tomcat_ct
Dec 28, 2008, 8:50 PM
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I mostly climb limestone and conglomerate(I know, not the best type of rock for trad...) so I guess the durangous would work better
I know that it would be ideal to save up for camalots but even for these cams I'm streaching my buget.
I'm planning on getting the rock empire cams, a set of black diamond nuts and the last 4-5 hexes from black diamond for my rack.
Most of the trad climbing here is called "clasic".There are some fixed pins and bolts on most routes(most belay stations are bolted) and I need a rack to back-up very long runouts(between old rusty pins)present on a lot of routes here.
(This post was edited by tomcat_ct on Dec 28, 2008, 8:52 PM)
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brownie710
Dec 28, 2008, 10:11 PM
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Omni wrote: save for the Black Diamond Camalots. the Robots are a lower quality. Compared to the Black Diamonds they place poor and the springs are inconsistent. Omni
nuff said
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mar_leclerc
Dec 28, 2008, 10:16 PM
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Well in that case the Durangos are probably the cams for you. Get large hexes to back up large cams as they are lighter than large cams. BD stoppers are quite nice. It sounds to me like you are going to the Dolomites or something.... I thing small cams are probably good to have in that type of rock (I don't know for sure though) so make sure to get doubles in the 1/4 and 1/2 sizes. Micro stoppers are pretty good too BD size 3 and 4 often come in very handy.....
Marc
Marc
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tomcat_ct
Dec 28, 2008, 10:44 PM
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actually the Carpathians (8 hour drive from where i live)
I had to give up quite a lot of routes this summer because the fixed hardware was just too old and scary and that's when I decided I need a rack.I'll probably add camalots in the sizes I find most usefull with time, but for now there's no way I can afford a full set(not to mention it would be complicate to order it overseas)
http://lh5.ggpht.com/...MGP6079_exposure.JPG
http://static.panoramio.com/...original/4556373.jpg
(This post was edited by tomcat_ct on Dec 28, 2008, 10:45 PM)
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Jbitz
Dec 28, 2008, 11:02 PM
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I have used the Durangos, Robots, Pulsars, and Comets.
Of the four models that RE has on the market I have to say the Comet Cams perform the best. They do not have the action problems of the Durangos.
I suspect that alot of people are going to tell you to save your money and buy BD cams. The action does feel better then any of the RE cams. The dual axle is nice in that respect, but it makes the cam a little heavier. I personally don't feel that they are worth the added cost over the RE Comets in particular. If you can get your hands on the comets give them a try. They will do the job and are durable.
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tomcat_ct
Jan 13, 2009, 4:47 PM
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Registered: Jan 26, 2008
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well I went with what everyone else told me and I didn't buy the rock empires.I put some more money together and went for 0.5-3 techfriends and I also got a BD 7-13 stopper set and the WC classic rock set(1-10 for 48pounds-can't beat the price).
I made the order at www.outside.co.uk(got the friends for 99/3cams).Can't wait for it to arrive :P
I'm preety happy with this as the foundation of my rack and with time I'll probably add some hexes and the first 4 camp tricams(oh; and binners for trad drawas-I only have 8 sport draws that I can canabalize for making trad draws for now)
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patto
Jan 13, 2009, 8:02 PM
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tomcat_ct wrote: well I went with what everyone else told me and I didn't buy the rock empires.I put some more money together and went for 0.5-3 techfriends and I also got a BD 7-13 stopper set and the WC classic rock set(1-10 for 48pounds-can't beat the price). I made the order at www.outside.co.uk(got the friends for 99/3cams).Can't wait for it to arrive :P I'm preety happy with this as the foundation of my rack and with time I'll probably add some hexes and the first 4 camp tricams(oh; and binners for trad drawas-I only have 8 sport draws that I can canabalize for making trad draws for now)
Sounds good! Nice one!
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puerto
Jan 19, 2009, 11:59 PM
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Registered: Aug 22, 2005
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I wouldn't climb in the Carpathians, that's where Dracula hangs out!
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puerto
Jan 20, 2009, 10:19 PM
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Registered: Aug 22, 2005
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Nuh-uh.
Marvel Comics Vol 1 "Tomb of Dracula" says so, so it must be true.
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USnavy
Jan 21, 2009, 4:42 AM
Post #15 of 17
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Registered: Nov 6, 2007
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I have a set of RE Robots. The cam action gets stiff fast. I just applied a coat of cam lube to mine and they are only a few months old. They also seem to get stuck easier than other cams when overcamed. Other than that they seem to work well.
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tomcat_ct
Jan 21, 2009, 12:17 PM
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Registered: Jan 26, 2008
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well I guess you can put some garlic on your cams and nuts.that should keep Darcula and his friends away(probably other climbers too! )
on a more serious note, I sometimes think that someone like Vlad the Impaler would be the solution to the corrupt politicians we have around here
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lithiummetalman
Jan 21, 2009, 8:31 PM
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Registered: Feb 28, 2004
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Robots work quite well especially grey to blue sizes. They're solid little pieces, been using my set for the last 4 years, a little bit of TLC and they work like a charm!
Grounds for flaming; in some cases I prefer using them over my BD's!
Don't get me wrong BD's are great but I also believe Robots are great too.
cheers
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