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FTOR
Sport climber
CA
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interesting to see them going to a ti stem. presume they did that for strength. other early small friend builders also used ti. we went with a thicker stock, and stronger 7075 T6 al alloy. but it alway seemed axel shaft strength in the 1/2 was more of a concern, you have go with a smaller axel diameter to accommodate the smaller lobe size. in crude tests, hucking weights directly onto placements, bending of the axel was the point of failure. our axels were 4340 alloy steel, which i had commercially heat treated. one concern in seeing all the knock offs was whether they were using the same quality of materials.
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Lorenzo
Trad climber
Oregon
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The reason I retired all three of the small cams I pictured was elongation of the hole in the shafts that the axle went trough and the resulting slop. The ti shaft included. ( it is also slightly bent in the transverse direction near the axle)
I think it is evident in this pic
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mastadon
Trad climber
crack addict
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A Walt Shipley biner???
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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those are his initials and I believe, his mark. klaus could confirm
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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France
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Oct 10, 2014 - 12:47am PT
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The one in the front was the first cam smaller than a #1 friend I ever saw. 1/2 size. Bought it at Seneca maybe a year or two earlier on the Gendarme porch. Lorenzo: here is the cam that truly looks like the one in the front of your photo.
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Lorenzo
Trad climber
Oregon
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Oct 10, 2014 - 06:28pm PT
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Nutstory
Here is the cam profile on mine:
Sure looks similar, though yours looks a lot more pristine
Another thing to look at would be the shaft size. Here is mine compared to the 2nd generation 1/2 friend.
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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France
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Oct 11, 2014 - 09:19am PT
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Left to right: Micro 1/2, Steve Jones "Friend" 3/4 (1982/1983), unknown "Friend" 3/4, Wild Country Friend 1/2 (1st generation, 1986), Wild Country Friend 1/2 (2nd generation, 1986).
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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France
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Jul 30, 2015 - 10:09am PT
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FTOR, as you can see above, unfortunately, there is still not any sample of your splendid micro-cams in the Nuts Museum...
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Roots
Mountain climber
Tustin, CA
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Jul 30, 2015 - 12:59pm PT
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Would love to buy that Shipley carabiner...for sale?
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Steven Amter
climber
Washington, DC
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I just wanted to correct part of a post from seven years ago. I wrote:
"I also know that custom made small sized friends, and maybe TCUs hit the Gunks by no later than summer of 1983 - I bought some from Steve and Corey Rich, who were making them, and possibly visiting western climbers who were also making and selling them."
I meant Steve and Corey Jones; (credit where it due).
I guess I am also doing my part to keep this cool this thread going.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Jan 24, 2017 - 02:44pm PT
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This seems to be the main thread for solid shaft cams smaller than a #1 Friend,
and I haven't seen photos of this particular model, so here you go.
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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France
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Aug 10, 2017 - 02:13am PT
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Clint, I have just discovered your post!
Thank you for these great photos!
One more dreaming device for the Nuts Museum... ;-)
At the first page of this thread you wrote:
there were several people who made small cams in the late 80s prior to the arrival of TCUs. Various people were selling them in Camp 4. I have seen at least 6 different designs. Some were quite nicely made and others were crude (Rob Oravetz's were pretty nice). Do you remember who was (is) the manufacturer of the Micro?
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jaaan
Trad climber
Chamonix, France
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Aug 10, 2017 - 08:21am PT
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there were several people who made small cams in the late 80s prior to the arrival of TCUs. Various people were selling them in Camp 4. I have seen at least 6 different designs. Some were quite nicely made and others were crude (Rob Oravetz's were pretty nice).
There was also Malcom Matheson in Australia who made them in the 80s. They were extremely well made. Not sure of the sizing - one was about what was later to be 1/2 Friend sized and the other a little smaller. Here they are (Stephane has already seen this photo, perhaps he can fill me in on the sizing):
They date from 1985, the Euro coin, a little later...
The 'HB' stamp might be confusing. It stands for Horsham Bruce, not Hugh Banner!
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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France
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Aug 10, 2017 - 08:56am PT
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jaan, your second generation of HB's is desperately missing to the Nuts Museum...;-)
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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Aug 10, 2017 - 04:37pm PT
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Clint - Cool Kuate cams. I have not seen the smaller sizes before. Looks like they were well used!
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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France
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Aug 18, 2017 - 02:07am PT
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After eight years of research, and forlorn hopes, I have finally been able to add a precious Associate to the Nuts Museum!
Allow me to tell you this wonderful tale: - a couple of weeks ago, my long-time supporter healyje forwarded me a link to a Mountain Project thread with this laconic question “Prototype?”. Skye Swoboda-Colberg had found a host of fascinating old climbing devices at a goodwill sale in the Seattle area, among them a rather crude CCH Offset Trigger-Cam made in 1986 by the greatly missed Dave Waggoner. I was also able to identify the other treasures found by Skye but a small four cam unit with a rigid stem puzzled me somewhat. It was only when I carefully compared it with the two other samples in my collection (Micro ½ and Steve Jones “Friend” ¾) that I was undoubtedly able to identify it as a little cam made by Eben Stromquist, Dave Altman and Rob Oravetz circa 1983, a genuine Associate!
I posted this short message on the Mountain Project thread, as I would have thrown a bottle in the sea, with such little hope:
“Skye Swoboda-Colberg, if you ever part with the small four cam unit (with a blue tape) on the right of the fourth photograph, it would be a great addition to the Nuts Museum, here in Corsica ;-)”
The very next day, I received this private message:
"Hello Stéphane PENNEQUIN (I presume), I admire your collection and am willing to send you the piece you are interested in, hopefully one day I can see the collection in person. Let me know where you want the item shipped and I'll see what I can do.
Skye"
I am most grateful to Skye for his sincere interest in my collection and for all his generosity. I have been searching for this little wonder for the past eight years now…
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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Aug 18, 2017 - 07:28am PT
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Stephane - Nice cams!
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