Starting a Rack From Scratch

Yes I agree! A set of hexes, stoppers, and 5 cams is what I started with. Although I was a poor college student. It taught me a lot to climb with more passive gear.

It really depends on how much money you have to spend? I bought a set of 5 rock empire robots as my only cams, then bought BD camalots one at a time. Now I have doubles of most of them.

I supplemented the rock empire robots with nuts hexes and tricams. Tricams are cheap teach you how to set cams in cracks and improve your cleaning skills. There is nothing that is better to me than a large hex perfectly placed in a crack! I used to grin ear to ear and run it out a bit if I ever got such a glorious placement.

Also, its pretty cool to go to a crag with a bunch of hexes a couple cams and have people wondering why?

Hey yeah about camp tricams. They are the Shamshizlfantastic if you ask me. The pink and the red are invaluable for supplementing anchors, and for horizontal cracks. They are great in many climbing areas, and if you are ever in a real bind and need to retreat if you leave one its a lot cheaper than leaving a Cam. I would strongly reccomend a few. I have a bunch that I dont even use, but I will bring an extra on occasion to supplement my rack if the route warrents more of a certain size that I dont have.

Chase Gee wrote:anybody know anything about C.A.M.P. Tricams?

Yeah, I have at least four for sale still. Finicky to place, hard to clean, and generally bomber if used correctly. None the less, like hexes they have gone out of style for the most part.

Not including anchor material and draws my first rack I used while leading, i.e. not just setting top rope anchors, consisted of

BD Stoppers 2-13
WC Rockcentrics 5-9
CAMP Tricams .5-2
BD C4 Camalots .5-3

I later added a few smaller and larger cams, a set of micros and a .25 tricam. Then I had a friend hook me up so I got doubles of the commonly used cams. Leaving me with this.

Now I just have to decide what to buy next. It'll probably be something non-BD to double my #2 C3.

Seriously everyone thanks a lot! I really appreciate everyone's insight.
I really like the concept of the journey of gear buying and using it as an incentive to climb harder but, The dilemma I have with that is... Well right now I have a really good job and can afford to throw around quite a bit of money for climbing equipment but, I'm very miserable in the area where I live so I'm planning on moving back to Utah very soon where I'm more that sure I'll be making far less money and probably dirt poor and won't be able to buy gear hardly ever. My question to you all is do i still attempt to buy piece by piece over time knowing it probably won't be very much for maybe many years or do I by a decent amount while I can of the seemingly unanimous suggestions of decent gear and then slowly add on from that foundation?

You got CASH?!?!? BY God, go for it!!! :o)

Seriously, the good thing about hardwear is that if it's well maintained and not fallen on the resale is pretty decent. So that way if you decide that trad isn't your ballgame your can recoup most of your expenses. You WILL lose some face for having too much shiny gear, but who hasn't?? Gives you more incentive to climb more!! Also I think your line of thinking has been used before by quite a few others including myself, to get what gear you can while you still have income. I wouldn't drop 5 grand, but by all means if you can financially handle it, sure get a full set of C4's and some other of the basic pieces (i.e. full rack of singles). Then later on you can start double up. Considering the fact that a single full rack will probably cost ya bout 2 grand anyway*

• * note...I'm just guessing that's what the whole thing would cost if bought in one fell swoop.

I was in your position when I was about 13...but then who at 13 really had bills? I just had a real good summer job. Anyhow I bought a set of nuts...HB's I think and then got a full set of BD's nuts. Becasue I had money to spend I bought a set of Metolius 4 cam units and 3 cam units...and I've pretty much used them ever since...my god 14 years now. I always planned on getting more, but I haven't done any routes that needed much more.
I have gone through cordelette's, runners, biners and quickdraws though.
IMHO you can't go wrong with a full set of cams from any one manufacturer. So go get your C3's and C4's or your TCU's and Powercams or whatever they call them now and call it good. There will always be more gear to buy, but for just starting a set of nuts and a set of cams should be fine. And should double you up on the smaller sizes.

I lived in Logan for a few years while going to school, you can get away with just quickdraws for a long time.

Interestingly enough, my first rack was about 12-13 or so of more or less un-used Metolius cams hooked to some used ice axes that I picked up from a pawn shop in Logan for less than a $150.00 It was all the money I had at the time, probably put me into my overdraft.

If you have money buy gear, if not get creative or get lucky

Dude buy it all! If I could have sent a whole rack back in the day I would have been STOKED!!

Reguardless of what people say about gear. Its only gear not an f---ing journey.

Its the CLIMBING that is important, its the climbing thats the journey, and letting go! The gear is just a means to the finding the courage to send your journey. Look back to the days when gear was not so high tech, listen to what our forefathers say about climbing and the gear and what that has done to the sport.

The gear is meaningless, and if you need it to send your adventures, then you need it now.

"If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up".
- Ferris Bueller

Here's what you should get:

Doubles in BD C4s - .3 to 3
Singles in BD C4s - 4, 5 and what the hell, 6

C3s - 00 to 2
TCUs - Purple to Red (don't know stupid metolius numbers)

Neutrinos or Super Flies on every cam

BD Stoppers (4-12)- whatever comes in that set with the oval wire.

Tri Cams - .5 to Whatever number the blue is (black, pink, red, brown, purple, blue)

Leave the Hexes alone - nobody likes a noisy climber.

24" Single length Slings (10) - skinny tape mammut with an BD OZ on one end and WC Helium (light and good for clipping) on the other.

48" Double Length Slings (4) - same configuration as single length

Mammut 8' web-o-let with BD Vapor Lock Biner

This should do it for the "core" rack - add pieces where necessary to fill in the gaps for specific situations (offset/hybrid cams, big bros valley giants?)...

Chase Gee wrote:anybody know anything about C.A.M.P. Tricams?

Everyone knows everything about them, but agreement on the 'facts' is rare. Tricams are great peices in my opinion, but are not a good substitute for SLCD's for a beginner. They can be used as such, but are a little more fussy. They make great stoppers too, and are wonderful in horizontals and pockets.

Some people hate them, some people carry a double set of the small ones.

Yeah I'm still working on the scratches and dirt, though I have to admit that I do like shiny gear.

tytonic wrote:Yeah I'm still working on the scratches and dirt, though I have to admit that I do like shiny gear.

You should bang them out on the concrete

Banging pro on concrete causes microfractures. After you're done banging, send them to me for proper disposal. (LOL)

Tricams are not that difficult if you ask me. I dont know everything but I do agree that greater care should be taken in placing them as they have one masterpoint that is narrow and if not cammed properly could come out of the rock easily. When in doubt back it up, backing up a piece with a tricam is good practice placing them, and builds confidence.

When properly placed they are BOMBDIGGITY!

tri cams are the bomb!!! When they are set (in good rock) they are rock solid!! i have taken falls on the pink ones and they have held nicely. I think whoever is cleaning needs to practice removing them. I admit they can be a B#$ch to clean!! Otherwise i have doubles and triples of some. I have used them from the Gunks & NH to here in Colorado vertical, horizontal whatever.

They have replaced my nuts (hehehe)and hexs, so mostly i have those and my metolius cams. When i feel notalgic i take out my nuts again (heheh). I don't have anything over the blue which i think is a 3 (?)The bigger ones look like primitive weapons!I think there is maybe once or twice where i placed them in their "passive" mode. I believe there is some testing that has been done placing them bewteen rock and ice and think they held up pretty well.

It's a love/hate thing. I love them and converted my buddy!! The only thing is stay away from the ones made with dyneema if they still make them that way. I like them with the nylon as they are stiffer making them easier to place. (kinda like havin some viagra)