Tri-cams (for the gunks)

I have been planing on going to the gunks this spring and have been building my rack and I wanted to ask some questions about tri-cams.

Now everywhere I look for examples of gunks racks, people say that tri cams are a must for all the horizontal cracks and swear by always having them.

Now I have the smallest C4's and they get small and seem flexible enough for horizontal placements but was still thinking about getting a set of tri-cams for more shallower placements.

The real question here is could I get away with a hand full of aliens, c3's, wild country zeros or comparable flexible stem cams instead of using tri-cams?(I got a new partner who's planing on dropping some money on gear, and I got 80% of what we need. So the price difference between slcd's vs tri-cam isnt a big issue.)

What do you use in the gunks?

I don't mind hearing anything on why I really should use tri-cams, just want the truth.

Thanks in advance

There are pockets where cams won't fit. But, you can most certainly climb in the Gunks with a standard SLCD rack. I usually at least carry a pink and red, but on many routes I don't place either. Totally optional, just nice to have.

Pink, Red and Brown are all great. I actually have doubles of pink and red after I found that another one would have been useful climbing one day. But I don't lead very hard in the Gunks so I have time to fiddle with gear (tri-cams, nuts, etc).

Also consider a set of DMM Offset nuts. Those are great too.

+1 for the DMM offsets and Pink Tri-cam. both will help slot gear in places cams don't give confidence. Tri-cams are invaluable anywhere with flared or irregular cracks. TCU's are also a great choice in 1-4 range. I would recommend getting the off sets and a 4 pack or Tri-cams

Raze (Taylor) wrote:The real question here is could I get away with a hand full of aliens, c3's, wild country zeros or comparable flexible stem cams instead of using tri-cams

Of course; you can get by just fine on the majority of routes with that gear. Nonetheless, tricams are a nice supplement, and will expand your protection options. They are generally useful, but not mandatory (except when they are...).

If you are just visiting the Gunks for a few days, no need to bother with the tricams. If you plan on spending a lot of time there, then it is worthwhile to invest in some, especially since they are comparatively inexpensive. They will get used plenty.

I have tri-cams. I climb a lot at the Gunks. I've never reached the crux of a Gunks route and thought to myself, "damn, I wish I had that pink/red/brown/whatever tri-cam." They're fun in some situations, for anchors, on low angle terrain, to screw around with your second ... but you'll be a-ok without them.

Sweet guys, really like and appreciate the fast multiple responses!!!

Yeah, I figure with all the people swearing by them for all the horizontal placements it was going to be a must have.

They are a light, cheap(er) and versatile tool all in one. If you know you need or want to save a cam for later on and you have a good stance.. throw in a tricam. If you need to place a funny shaped nut then it will do a lot passive. They are also good for anchors when you either run out of other gear or you want to save pieces for the next pitch.

i think pink is a bit over hyped but i have doubles in finger sized cams so perhaps that is why.

+1 on offset nuts. i need to get a few

shut up Jake! you know you love pink tricams!

No i love .75 C4's.. they go freaking everywhere. i have basically 3 with 2 c4s and 1 red mastercam ;)

Tricams are absolutely not essential for the Gunks. You'll be just fine without them (and I say this from 50 years of Gunks experience).

It is true that some people like them and find them useful, and it might be that on one or two percent of Gunks climbs a Tricam might change the protection rating, but by and large nuts and cams will be just as good.

What distinguishes Tricams from other camming devices is head width. A Tricam has half the width of a C4. The narrow head means that pockets and "holes" in irregular cracks will admit a Tricam but nothing else. This could be potentially decisive, but in the Gunks you can almost always arrange equivalent protection nearby. Moreover, Tricams have much less of an advantage over Aliens and Totem cams. The purple Totem cam, for example, has a head with just 1/4 inch larger than the pink Tricam. So that placement hole has to be pretty tight for the pink to work and the Totem not to fit.

If you already owned them, I'd say consider carrying a few. If you were moving East and intended to climb regularly in the Gunks, I'd say buy a set for your "swat rack." But just coming for a visit? No need to buy Tricams just for that.

If you do buy some, make sure you and your partners know how to get them out. A fixed Tricam is an ugly addition to the environment that very rapidly becomes useless litter. Not infrequently, it blocks a good nut or cam placement to boot, since it wasn't really in the "nothing else will fit here" category after all.

Not a local Gunks climber, but my home rock fractures horizontally as well. Are there any bolts at the Gunks?

In my situation (no bolts anywhere) tri-cams are really useful for TR set-up of many climbs.

For lead climbing my opinion is mixed.
Bad News: Tri-cams are hard to fiddle with on lead when compared to slcd's, an overwhelming number of followers are flummoxed as to how to remove a tri-cam (or hex for that matter), and a poorly placed tri-cam is about as solid as a crushed pop-can (useful in a pinch :P)

Good News: Tri-cams are way cheaper than slcd's, the sling on a tri-cam is designed to run over a horizontal lip such as horizontal cracks and pockets whereas the slcd wires are gonna get mangled if you whip, and as stated earlier the head size is narrow which fits in places slcd's do not.

rgold wrote: A fixed Tricam is an ugly addition to the environment that very rapidly becomes useless litter. Not infrequently, it blocks a good nut or cam placement to boot, since it wasn't really in the "nothing else will fit here" category after all.

+1000

Bastards stuck all over that cliff...

eparker-s wrote: +1000 Bastards stuck all over that cliff...

Yeah, i've bootied at least 3 from there. DO NOT push them all the way to the back of the crack or "overcam" them.

Raze (Taylor) -

As others said, you'll be fine with the rack you have, they're not necessary by any means. There are just many places for the pink and red, so just bring some cams in those sizes.

That said, I do really love tricams at the gunks, I find them quite confidence inspiring and place them constantly. Yes, they're harder to place under pressure, but i personally find them easier and more common than most nut placements. Also, I find most climbs there have really distinct cruxes separated by easier climbing/stances, so i don't see placing them to be an issue (I don't lead much on gear above 5.9 though, so your results may vary), just use them when you're in the easier sections and keep the cams for the tougher parts. Pink is about the size of a purple (.5) camalot, red is close to a tight green (.75) camalot

You asked what we carry there... I carry what i think is a pretty hefty rack, TCU's 0-4, and C4's .3-4, and pink-purple tricams, doubles in the pink and red, and standard set of nuts. I don't usually carry all of that though, the 4 and the 0tcu often stay on the ground.

With apologies to those who already know this, and in the interests not littering the cliff with more fixed Tricams, here is some information about removal.

First, as Larry says just above, the leader should place a size that has a little bit of room for maneuvering. Sliding something in with virtually no tolerance and then setting it (all Tricams have to be set) will make the piece extremely hard to remove. The stuck Tricam in this case is a leader error, not the follower's fault, and the situation is analogous to overcamming an ordinary cam.

Given that Tricams have to be set, most of the time removal is a two-handed process requiring a nut tool. If the rock is steep, the second will have to hang to get the Tricam out.

The directions in the description here assume a placement in a horizontal crack.

The first step in removal is to hook the tool behind the fulcrum point (the "stinger" on the larger sizes) and jerk straight out to unlock the setting action.

The second step is to keep the hook behind the fulcrum point while pushing the rails back into the crack to "uncam" the Tricam. (This is the moment when it matters that the leader has not opted for a glove-like fit.) You want to keep the nut tool behind the fulcrum point so that pushing the rails in doesn't just slide the entire Tricam deeper into the crack, where removal will become even harder.