Tri Cams - anyone still use these do dads??

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Tork

climber

Yosemite

Dec 19, 2008 - 03:06pm PT

I use them all the time. Never had one fall out. They are much cheaper than cams. They never ever end up on your partners rack at the end of the day. They can be used as a nut or a cam. They can go in places that nothing else will. They are great for horizontals. They are often free, left for the taking.

It seems silly to me to carry a stopper or a hex bigger than a #8BD stopper when a tricam will work wherever the stopper will but not the other way around.

I skipped several bolts on this route near great tricam placements

Jeff

TradIsGood

Chalkless climber

the Gunks end of the country

Dec 19, 2008 - 03:12pm PT

Built an anchor using just 3 tri-cams at the Gunks this past year (P1 of Arrow).

I have also found a number of spots where they seem to work "passively" as stoppers.

Also have found them from time to time where they had not been removed. Pulled one out of Shockley's this year since the webbing was so faded that it seemed better not to leave it for somebody to rely on. Took about 10 minutes to free it.

I also know somebody that decked on Arrow (off-route) when his tri-cam pulled. He will never use one again.

10b4me

Ice climber

the sads

Dec 19, 2008 - 03:15pm PT

my buddy, Fletcher, swears by them. I use to have the pink one. never a big fan of them

Anastasia

climber

Not here

Dec 19, 2008 - 03:19pm PT

Aaron S. does of Stoney Point and he is one heck of a climber. I was questioning their age and he gave me the look... You know that look of "how dare you question this perfect gear?"
:)AF

rhyang

climber

SJC

Dec 19, 2008 - 03:31pm PT

Tricams useless in Yosemite and Jtree ? I know I've placed them climbing in both.

Ed Hartouni

Trad climber

Livermore, CA

Dec 19, 2008 - 03:34pm PT

I've used them in Tuolumne Meadows on those nice little holes that pop up occasionally on blank faces (think R.C.A. on DAFF). They fit those like no cam, including Aliens, can.

Usually take 3, pink, blue, brown... but they are nice to have, though not necessary.

I can imagine that the Gunks would be a great place for them, but we used mostly hexes and stoppers, and later cams when I climbed there in the 80s.

The Wedge

Boulder climber

Bishop, CA

Dec 19, 2008 - 03:43pm PT

I always take them. Im a seneca rocks, wv climber from way back. I tend to use them more for belays (alot in Toulumne) allowing me to save my cams and HOLD ONTO MY NUTS for the next pitch.. If a nut doesn't fit and a cam just does't seem right......it more than likely a tricam placement. I still show them to participants when Im guiding. And yes people seem to have a hard time getting them out. But if was easy they would call is sport climbing!

It's cheaper to leave a tricam than a cam!

Loomis

climber

*_*

Dec 19, 2008 - 03:52pm PT

I used the pink and red last weekend on a new route, did the whole thing without cams.
I like to go retro sometimes, makes climbing a little more interesting.

Danielle Winters

Trad climber

Alaska

Dec 19, 2008 - 03:53pm PT

I use the 6 smallest size's , they work in place's that other stuff wont.
Danielle

kev

climber

Dec 19, 2008 - 04:11pm PT

Depends where I'm climbing. I've used them in the meadows a few times but they're great to have in places like Power Dome at Courtright Res.

Loomis

climber

*_*

Dec 19, 2008 - 04:14pm PT

Kev, yea and Trapper dome too. Courtright rules!

Mighty Hiker

Social climber

Vancouver, B.C.

Dec 19, 2008 - 04:16pm PT

The pink tri-cam, at least, seems to be something of a fetish to aficionadoes. There have been several threads just on that subject - see:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=269620
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=393205

The threads in turn refer to a pink tri-cam website, and poems. Go figure.

Toker Villain

Big Wall climber

Toquerville, Utah

Dec 19, 2008 - 04:29pm PT

Like the old adage of size, it depends how you use it.

People that put down Tri Cams just haven't learned how to use them well. They are neither the end-all nor an anachronism, but rather another tool in the trad toolbox that, if used well, expand the potential for "clean" anchors.
I've seen them work where nothing else will.
That alone is enough to earn my respect.

Greg Barnes

climber

Dec 19, 2008 - 05:26pm PT

Ground-up FAs at Owens:

you get to a pocket that is around 3/4" - 1" tall in the middle, 4" wide, has sharp edges, is very inconsistent inside, and has dusty dirt on the bottom. The pocket pinches off to each end. So you dig the dust with your finger tips, blow it straight back into your face, then try to plug an Alien since the other cams won't even go in. The Alien goes in, but one side is a bit too open and you don't know if the dust is super thin or a few millimeters thick so you're not sure the thing is good, so you screw around trying to get it someplace even vaguely happy-looking. You try to back it up with a nut in the sides of the pocket but it breaks out a bit of junk from one end and the other end doesn't quite work. You hunt around for other pockets but realize that there's only the one. You're getting super pumped, so you throw in your other Alien that will fit, then head up knowing that neither cam may hold and that you just blew your only 2 pieces that would fit that size pocket. You then proceed to get 15 feet above the bunk cams and only a few feet from a great rest, but then as you try to head up the great rest disappears as you realize that the big hold above it is part of a 100 pound detached block, so you downclimb onto some sketchy rock and try to one-handed power drill off of a flat-edged hold, but then you get way too pumped and the rock is a bit sketchy where you can reach with the drill, so you throw a hook into a crumbly edge/pocket way out right and pray that it holds as you drop onto it since your hand just flamed out.

Or, you place a tricam and climb fine since you never got pumped in the first place.

[or old-school - you pound in a big bong and climb fine, but that wrecks the pockets]

ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Trad climber

San Francisco, Ca

Dec 19, 2008 - 05:32pm PT

Tri-cam threads always generate a lot of posts. I carry a pinkie. It sometimes works where nothing else will.

I used to carry the big number 7 on sandstone towers as additional wide crack pro.

Barcus

Trad climber

San Luis Obispo, Ca.

Dec 19, 2008 - 05:50pm PT

Just ordered A 4pack of tri's last week and they just showed up today!
I love affirmation!

crøtch

climber

Dec 19, 2008 - 05:59pm PT

Pink, red, brown, and blue when going with a single rack of cams on longish routes. Used at belays to save finger sized cams for the leader. If cragging, I'll bring more cams.