Metolius TCUs vs. Master Cams for aid

I currently have a full set of TCUs that I have been using for trad climbing. I have recently started getting into aid and my buddy who Im climbing with has a few master cams on his rack. In comparing the two I am having a tough time understanding why anyone would prefer the TCU over the master cam. The single/flexible stem seems great and the sizes are the same. Am I correct in thinking that the master cam would be better for aid climbing than the TCU? or are there certain placements that the TCU is better for? My thought right now is to keep my TCU set and work on a set of masters so I can have doubles in the sizes but I have the option of the TCU vs MC. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. BTW I live in NC so most of my aid is going to be on Looking Glass for a while.

Photocodo

Three people will respond: "Just get aliens"

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One person will respond with helpful advice relevant to your location.

I will respond: I like my MC's more then my TCU's for aiding. I Like my offset MC's more than my MC's for aiding. In a super deep parallel crack TCU's really shine. Some people really love the offset TCUs for aiding, though, like, a little too much..

Mastercams all the way for aid. I dont even take my TCUs on aid routes anymore. Or free routes anymore for that matter....

FS: Assortment of TCUs, offsets as well.

There are certainly placements in which a TCU will work and a Mastercam will not. It isn't often, but it does happen occasionally.

I don't know anything about looking glass. But if you ever travel outside of NC to Yosemite, Zion, you will need a set of Offset. So if I were you, I would start collecting Offset Mastercams.

Thanks for the replies,
It seems like the MCs are the way to go. I guess my plan will be to get doubles in the 00-4 sizes of MCs and then slowly replace my TCUs with MCs.

I guess Im hijacking my own thread but as far as offsets go, what is the largest offset that is typically used? it seems that the smaller few sizes would be great and the larger sizes wouldnt get used as much, or if there was a placement for them you could use a non-offset cam in its place.

divnamite wrote:I don't know anything about looking glass. But if you ever travel outside of NC to Yosemite, Zion, you will need a set of Offset. So if I were you, I would start collecting Offset Mastercams.

I do not leave the ground without offsets anymore regardless of where i am...i consistently placemy offsets especially around NC more than i do my regular MC's

photocodo wrote:I guess Im hijacking my own thread but as far as offsets go, what is the largest offset that is typically used? it seems that the smaller few sizes would be great and the larger sizes wouldnt get used as much, or if there was a placement for them you could use a non-offset cam in its place.

Wild country used to make offset friends - not sure if they still do - and those are the largest size i have used. I have offset yellow/orange and yellow/blue in MC's. Frankly any bigger and usually you can get parallel placements here in the SE. I also dont like the MC's above orange personally

I have two sets of the offset and regular Master Cams and am pretty much set up for any Yosemite or Zion aid route.

The T format of the cams allows them to fit into pin scars very well.. The U format of the TCUs doesn't allow for that.

Your use range will probably be in the smaller to medium cams but there is nothing worse than coming across an easy placement for cam you don't have!

Another vote for Master Cams. I bring a double set of offset Master Cams up every aid route and they nearly always work perfectly fine.

I like the masters more as well. I have 0-6 and some tcus as well the masters dont get as mangled in weird placements.

Take with salt I just do aid to play with gear more I am more of a trad climber.

Just bought a set of offset Master Cams for Yosemite in October. So far I'm impressed and really pleased with my purchase. A little off topic but I also climb in NC and have noticed they come in handy on free climbs all the time. I was climbing over the weekend and found some awesome placements for them at Table Rock.

The tcu is ideal for horizontal placements. They are stellar from blue to red, imho. I'd say double up in mastercams, but there is no reason not to keep the tcu's around.