why are people rhapsodic about the pink tri-cam?

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Messages 21 - 39 of total 39 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
Rocky5000

Trad climber
Falls Church, VA
Jun 3, 2007 - 10:30am PT
I have three, of much different ages and fade. They hold in pin scars and anything equally unlikely. A partner of mine once took three lead falls in a row on a pink in a spot at Jtree where nothing else would do. He bought me a new one, being a prince of a fellow, but I still use the old one too. Trust the Tricam!

I've never lost a tricam because I couldn't get it out; like any other cam, I don't jam it in as hard as it will go. There's a fixed, very faded pink halfway up Simple J Malarkey, at Seneca, and two small but expensive active cams permanently jammed at the second belay. Typical perhaps for a popular (and scary) training-lead.
Rhodo-Router

Gym climber
Otto, NC
Jun 3, 2007 - 11:14am PT
The filed-down pinkie is the sign of one who has spent way too much time at Looking Glass.

So Jello-- was that the smallest you could make those, or what? Seems like lots of people would buy and use a sub-pinkie if it were available.
marky

climber
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 3, 2007 - 02:11pm PT
is this the only commercially available pink tricam in 2007?

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?productId=1004&storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&color=SIZE%20.5&img=/media/471141_4617Lrg.jpg&view=large
dirtineye

Trad climber
the south
Jun 3, 2007 - 04:59pm PT
Beware! The new pinkies are bigger than the old ones.

Anyone who knows their worth has two or more.

Yes you can overcam tri-cams, just let the tail rails touch the same side of the surface the point touches, good luck getting that one back.



WHY are people rhapsodic about the pink tri-cam???


IF you have to ask...
Jerry Dodrill

climber
Bodega, CA
Jun 3, 2007 - 05:24pm PT
Nice for those little horizontal slots in Tuolumne, like Ed said.

I can think of two stuck pinkies. One is at or just above the second belay of Bears Reach at the Leap, and the other is on the first pitch of Fish Hook Arete. Both have been there a while. I assume they are still there. (?)
cintune

climber
Penn's Woods
Jun 3, 2007 - 06:50pm PT
"is this the only commercially available pink tricam in 2007?"

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?productId=1004&storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&color=SIZE%20.5&img=/media/471141_4617Lrg.jpg&view=large

The new ones are anodized and have dyneema slings. Only seen them online, but not in any shops yet. They are such pretty things. Got the old ones, 2 pinks, 2 reds, one light and one dark blue, and a brown. They make a nice clacking sound to go with the cowbell hexes. Practically a one-man percussion band.
golsen

Social climber
kennewick, wa
Jun 5, 2007 - 01:51pm PT
I think the original was RED. I remember obtaining it in the 80's and the color was changed to better match ones lycra....
GOclimb

Trad climber
Boston, MA
Jun 5, 2007 - 02:52pm PT
Also perfect for solution pockets (think small round holes) in granite, where absolutely nothing else will go, and a tricam is completely bomber and easy to get in and out. Whitehorse in North Conway has a few pitches where the only pro you can get in 50 meters of slab is a few tricams.

GO
BenLyon

Trad climber
Alabama!
Jun 5, 2007 - 03:21pm PT
Got double in pink...and red...singles in brown and blue.

These are key pieces in the SE and Western North Carolina.

The pink caught my sorry butt not long ago when a blue TCU popped out of a crappy, flairing placement as I whizzed past.

The red caught a single piece winger I treated myself to two weeks ago.

Oh yeah.
AbeFrohman

Trad climber
new york, NY
Jun 5, 2007 - 03:40pm PT
dont climb in the gunks without your tricams. although, admittedly, i havent been placing mine much. i need more practice.
i've heard from some about grinding down their .5s - anyone care to share some pix or details?
wbw

climber
'cross the great divide
Jun 5, 2007 - 04:24pm PT
If yer stayin' in the pink, it can't be wrong.
G_Gnome

Trad climber
Knob Central
Jun 5, 2007 - 05:39pm PT
I used my pink one on Black Widow at Tuolumne last Saturday. If you have a couple pinks that route gets a G rating, without tricams it is a sure R.

If you want to know why we praise the pinky like no other, go do routes on Power Dome at Courtwright Reservoir. There is NO other pro available on the last pitch of most routes there. Whoa to you if you venture there without them.
Apocalypsenow

Trad climber
Cali
Jun 5, 2007 - 05:44pm PT
Great piece....however gets stuck easy.
dirtineye

Trad climber
the south
Jun 5, 2007 - 06:46pm PT
If you'd stop putting them in your ears and up your nose they would not get stuck so easily, Apocy.
Apocalypsenow

Trad climber
Cali
Jun 5, 2007 - 06:49pm PT
Dirt...are you stalking again?
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
Jun 5, 2007 - 06:51pm PT
I have a yellow and I've used it. That's right, a yellow- numero 7.
dirtineye

Trad climber
the south
Jun 5, 2007 - 06:56pm PT
HEY pocraplips, I'm just trying to help you out of yoru little problem. Post stalker.

I have the giant one myself, actually two, and one is still stuck in a big crack in the BSF. When you need one of those you really need one.
CAMNOTCLIMB

Trad climber
novato ca
Jun 5, 2007 - 07:35pm PT
Pink has kept my ass out of the dirt. Simple, clean, works.
Brian
Tarbuster

climber
right here, right now
Jun 5, 2007 - 07:58pm PT
RCA in the Meadows, the only route I've used that piece on in 35 years of climbing; I can also see how they'd help on Black Widow.

I typically don't carry them and really don't like wiggling them out of regular crack placements, but if someone tells me I need one for a pocket, than I've got a red and a pink to cover those "nothing else will work" placements. The Courtwright Res, Gunks, N Carolina, Whitehorse tips sound smart.
Messages 21 - 39 of total 39 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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