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TheNags
Sep 23, 2011, 4:02 AM
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Registered: Jun 18, 2011
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I am new to trad, and I am starting to build my rack. I was wondering what the best cams are for someone on a budget (starving student). Just so you have an idea of my concerns, here they are: basic noob mistakes (getting the cam stuck, dropping it  , ect)and cost. I guess that is my major concern lol, I know I am bound to make mistakes and do something dumb, however I would like to minimize the cost of such mistakes. any input would be helpful.
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bearbreeder
Sep 23, 2011, 4:23 AM
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Registered: Feb 2, 2009
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just use yr mentors cams ...
once you have reached the point of confidently climbing trad ...
then youll either have more money to buy whatever cams feel best ir yr hand ...
or used cams at the consignment store/gear swaps .... i saw a ton of cams at the canmore consignment store for 20-30$ each in quite good condition when i was out there ... similar places would likely have similar deals if you look
or wait for those year end sales on 20-30% off cams online
at the end of the day ... use the cams and like em before you buy em ... or get em at a hell of a deal ...
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moose_droppings
Sep 23, 2011, 4:25 AM
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Registered: Jun 7, 2005
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TheNags wrote: I am new to trad, and I am starting to build my rack. I was wondering what the best cams are for someone on a budget (starving student). Just so you have an idea of my concerns, here they are: basic noob mistakes (getting the cam stuck, dropping it , ect)and cost. I guess that is my major concern lol, I know I am bound to make mistakes and do something dumb, however I would like to minimize the cost of such mistakes. any input would be helpful.
Before you buy any cam, go out and borrow any cam you can and start plugging them into some cracks at ground level, find out which style and brand you like best. Forget about price differences, which aren't all that much anyway. Climbing ain't cheap and neither is your life.
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jeepnphreak
Sep 23, 2011, 7:45 PM
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Registered: Jul 29, 2008
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so a few reasons I tell people not to buy gear for a while.
1. find a person with gear and ask or climb with them and get the feel of different cams. single axle vs double, three vs four lobes, single vs U stem. it really a personal preference.
2. cams are a big investment, so get the one you are going to be happy with. Dont worry now about getting one stuck or droping one. Plan on alway getting them back, but S@#! does happen. Buying "cheap" intro cams now and buying better cam when you are more experience is well... twice the money than what you really needed to spend.
3. Most cams are with in a few dollars of each other so look for gear sales/deals, spadout.com, mountaingear.com in the ditbag deal section and the for sale section, mountaingear.com EMS.com, prolitegear.com and many others have sales goign on be paient and look for the deals if you want cheap cams.
you are in CA. there is JT, yosemity, loversleap, tolumene (sp?) and much more at your disposal, so finding a climber with a rack should not be a problem. Evan just walking up to someone with a rack and asking to see what kind of cams they have is a good step. Having a rope and a case of beer is evan better for gettng a climbing partner.
I have never spent more than $35 bucks on a cam in my life, the cams I have are black diamond C4s; metolius tcus and master cams and two powercams. to date my best find was a brand new with tags #4 black diamond C4 for $9.00 bucks( some people just dont know what they have). mountaingear.com last year had powercams for $35.00 each .
so again be paitent, the deals are out there.
if that still too expensive than look at passive gear, nuts and stoppers.
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superchuffer
Sep 23, 2011, 10:06 PM
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Registered: May 9, 2011
Posts: 294
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toprope and pretend you are placing gear - that is the cheapest way to trad climb.
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essay
Sep 23, 2011, 11:08 PM
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Registered: May 24, 2011
Posts: 99
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find a mentor, use his gear.
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dagibbs
Sep 24, 2011, 3:46 AM
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Registered: Oct 1, 2007
Posts: 921
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tri-cams. Much cheaper. Much lighter. Of course, they're not SLCs. But, they're still cams.
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rschap
Sep 24, 2011, 9:04 PM
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Registered: Sep 30, 2005
Posts: 592
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I think Trango FlexCams are still the cheapest. I've been climbing on them for 10+ years they work just fine. All cams are rated, mostly it's just creature features that raise the price. There is something to be said for the BD slings though, I had all my cams reslung with the BD C4 style slings. It was time to have them done, I don't think I'd buy a new set and have them reslung.
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