Best cams for pockets?

No I didn't bother searching the forums.

I have C4s and would like to double up on the 1-3 sizes. I climb a lot of sandstone with round pockets or tafoni cavities. The C4s seem a little wide for the pockets and was wondering what cams one might suggest for them. Also what's a better placement, lobes vertical or horizontal ? I would think vertical but maybe I'm missing something. Thanks for the help and probale unneeded coments. B.

Tri-cams...

Castle Rock State Park has the most that place is like Swiss cheese. Not that it is all I climb but I see enough of them it would be nice to have some that might work better for it. The c4 always seem like the heads are a little wide.

Yeah man..tricams. Made for that!!

Aliens.... or tcus

Tri cams... that's what they are for.

You can try the red, black and green Mastercams... but those are all smaller than a gold c4.

There are purple and clear Aliens on eBay right now... they are a bit larger than the Mastercams.

I can't think of anything worth leading at your level in Castle Rock State Park that would require a double set of cams. I do like the smallest four tricams for pockets there sometimes -- pink through blue, or 0.5 to 2.0.

These come in handy in other places too .. I've placed them on routes at Pinnacles, Lover's Leap, Joshua Tree, even Yosemite Valley. Have someone show you how to place & clean them properly and they are pretty bomber.

Yes Tri cams might do the trick, just got a pink one for Christmas from the girlfriend. First time I placed one and was surprised how stabale it was once set. Maybe Ill try a larger one two. As far as needing more gear at my level, maybe not but I'm a gear whore and still have about 200 climbs left in the skyline area on my tick list. I figure by the time I'm done I might actually need and now how to use them.

Tri-cams and Wired Bliss

Brian Snider wrote:No I didn't bother searching the forums. I have C4s and would like to double up on the 1-3 sizes. I climb a lot of sandstone with round pockets or tafoni cavities. The C4s seem a little wide for the pockets and was wondering what cams one might suggest for them. Also what's a better placement, lobes vertical or horizontal ? I would think vertical but maybe I'm missing something. Thanks for the help and probale unneeded coments. B.

Sierra Trading Post has tricams, mostly the larger sizes left, dirt cheap right now. I got the set of the 4 small ones for $35 and there is always a 20-30% off coupon through their deal flyer.

Tricams!!!

Bobby Hanson wrote:Tri-cams and Wired Bliss

Trango Maxcams have similar head width and range to your C4's but because of their 2-1 expansion range they will shrink down further to slip past a small opening and fit a widening pocket. They place well horizontally as well with the inner lobes down - backwards, I know but the inner lobes are much wider than the outer lobes (added stability) and because the stem is attached only to the inner lobes it changes the angle and allows it to clear the lip of the horizontal saving the stem damage.

Their is a pocket at the top of the first flatiron that takes a #2 Maxcam perfectly but won't accept a #2 C4. because of that (and the Maxcam's usefulness in flares) I take my #2 and #3 Maxcam's instead of C4's on that climb and it makes me happy. If anyone has a #1 Maxcam they would sell to me please pm me :)

For the smaller pockets Metolius Mastercams do the trick quite well as did Aliens before they became rare and expensive. And of course Tricams, but I only carry them if I'm positive I'll be encountering pockets or shallow horizontals.

adam winslow wrote:Trango Maxcams have similar head width and range to your C4's but because of their 2-1 expansion range they will shrink down further to slip past a small opening and fit a widening pocket.