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Starting a Trad Rack

Jackxc925 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2013 · Points: 0

I will echo the call for certain essential gear.

BD C4's in 0.5 to 3 (one set)

Metolius Mastercams in blue yellow and orange

You should already be covered on stoppers and hexes but you haven't posted what you own, so let us know just for giggles.

Ahh... tricams, my favorite pieces for anchors, I own from pink to the big green one, and I have placed them all. Their usefulness depends greatly on the nature of the rock, and the grade you are climbing, as well as single versus multi pitch objectives.

If you love to enjoy yourself on long easy routes I definitely think they are useful, but certainly not essential. Pink is best if you try them.

If you don't mind little biners you should get the camp nanos or the metolius minis. Once you move up to a double rack you will appreciate the saved weight. It is harder on the wallet to decide those cheap heavy biners aren't cutting it, and having to basically buy everything twice.

Also, 60 cm slings are your friends, over the shoulder with one biner, or tripled into alpine draws on your harness. You should expect to drop a chunk of cash on these, especially if you are on the right coast.

ze dirtbag · · Tahoe · Joined Jun 2012 · Points: 50

i think everyone can agree you need at least a single rack of c4s up to #3

as far as other gear, a lot of it depends on where you're climbing.

east -i like to carry some tricams and tcus for pockets and other generally fucked up placements other gear doesn't really seen to fit as well

desert -find a size crack you like climbing and buy a bunch of cams that size

west -you'll probably want to stock up on some offsets for flaring cracks and pin scars

a lot of people are hardcore alien or mastercam. i like them both, for everyday climbing i rack up my mastercams. they last longer, and for the most part work as well as aliens. if i'm climbing a wall or something hard where i know i'll be falling a good bit, i rack the aliens even though they don't last quite as long.

Brian · · North Kingstown, RI · Joined Sep 2001 · Points: 804

What you are looking at is a good choice. I'd double up on the mid-range cams (.5-2) when you get the money and can find sales. I recently retired all my small Metolius Mastercams for BD X4s as they have better range. I also did a unplanned test of the X4 .2 with a 20 foot fall in Yosemite. I'd get extra cams before the tri-cams. Tri-cams, as mentioned, are "fiddley" to place and the harder you climb they less time you have to hang out and fiddle one in. They also fiddle themselves out if they get wiggled by the rope so they should usually be placed on long runners. There are some decent routes at Ross Pond (1/2 hour from Providence) where you can place gear. I'll maybe see you out there if it ever warms up and stops snowing.
climbri.com/ross.htm

Jackxc925 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2013 · Points: 0
Brian wrote:What you are looking at is a good choice. I'd double up on the mid-range cams (.5-2) when you get the money and can find sales. I recently retired all my small Metolius Mastercams for BD X4s as they have better range. I also did a unplanned test of the X4 .2 with a 20 foot fall in Yosemite. I'd get extra cams before the tri-cams. Tri-cams, as mentioned, are "fiddley" to place and the harder you climb they less time you have to hang out and fiddle one in. They also fiddle themselves out if they get wiggled by the rope so they should usually be placed on long runners. There are some decent routes at Ross Pond (1/2 hour from Providence) where you can place gear. I'll maybe see you out there if it ever warms up and stops snowing. climbri.com/ross.htm
I'd disagree with one point you make, tricams are less likely to walk than sldcs because you can set them in their placement. if a tricam moves at all, it's a shit placement...
Insert name · · Harts Location · Joined Dec 2011 · Points: 46
LCC-Climber wrote:Tricams are a waste of money.
Disregard that and buy atleast a pink & brown. They are great for the Gunks and other places in the Northeast. Especially when dealing with anchor building. They aren't hard to place and you should learn to be solid in gear placement and not "opt" out and be lazy about climbing.
Dan Felix · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2012 · Points: 35
Jackxc925 wrote: I'd disagree with one point you make, tricams are less likely to walk than sldcs because you can set them in their placement. if a tricam moves at all, it's a shit placement...
Yep.

I'll add to the opinion on getting the tri-cams. I know I've placed the black one a few times, but the most used one is definitely the pink. I honestly don't think I placed any of the others at all last year. Despite the opinion that they are a waste of money, they work well for small pockets where a cam simply won't fit and there is no constriction for a nut. At this stage, assuming you are buying new, I would go with the new Evo tri-cam- it can be slotted passively in 2 directions as well as cammed, plus it has a stiffer sling. Get the black, pink and red, and it's likely you won't need any others.

Be open to used hardware as well. I've put together most of a second rack by buying used.

Someone mentioned using the Nano's for racking biners. Yes, they are the lightest biner on the market (last I checked anyway), but those small biners can be a major PITA to get off the harness or a gear sling. For a few more grams of weight, the Oz biners are a hell of a lot easier to use (especially if you don't have small hands) and nearly as light. Plus the new ones have the "hood" to prevent snagging....
JacksonLandFill Wood · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2013 · Points: 40
PosiDave wrote: Disregard that and buy atleast a pink & brown. They are great for the Gunks and other places in the Northeast. Especially when dealing with anchor building. They aren't hard to place and you should learn to be solid in gear placement and not "opt" out and be lazy about climbing.
Great advice. Tricams quite good, makes up most of my rack. I ended up up getting cams as doubles to the tricams (don't spend too much time thinking about that).

Buy the cams you want and add one of the sets of tricams.
ze dirtbag · · Tahoe · Joined Jun 2012 · Points: 50

if you really want to dial in you rack, a good source in the ne is bayard russell. he owns cathedal mountain guides....super smart guy & could probably give you the best set up.

Nick Goldsmith · · Pomfret VT · Joined Aug 2009 · Points: 440

anyone who claims that tri cams are esentual probobly is not nearly as good a climber as they think they are;) personaly i carry the pink and red but certainly could easily do without them. I would not be a happy camper without my cams...
I have had a full rack of tricams and hexes in the past but got over that silly wankery in the eightys..

JacksonLandFill Wood · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2013 · Points: 40
Nick Goldsmith wrote:anyone who claims that tri cams are esentual probobly is not nearly as good a climber as they think they are;) personaly i carry the pink and red but certainly could easily do without them. I would not be a happy camper without my cams... I have had a full rack of tricams and hexes in the past but got over that silly wankery in the eightys..
Haha! I feel like I should join a support group: "Hi my name is Jackson and I have active pro but never use it." ;] Carry on...
Nathan Burns · · Atlanta, GA · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 66

Heres what I started out with

Metolius TCU's: 1-4

Camalot C4: .4-3

Black Diamond Stoppers: 4-13

Tricams: Pink and Red

  • In my opinion TCUs are a far better small cam option if you are on a budget, got a set of four for 172 shipped brand new
  • Tricams are cool and all, but you can honestly go without them. I love my pink for looking glass NC though
Eric Chabot · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 45

Single rack as you describe in your original post should do you well. When I first started out, I'd buy pieces to supplement my more experienced buddy's rack, then racked up to a single rack of cams: blue tcu and .3-#3 c4s, set of nuts, and a few tricams.

Then I doubled up and expanded into smaller sizes (I like c3s personally). When I first started I'd bring the whole monster rack on every pitch, and now I usually just bring a single rack w/doubles here and there depending on the route unless I'm doing multipitch or a splitter. But starting off having more gear felt safer, and on moderate pitches the weight wasn't as big of a deal.

If you have only led 4 routes on gear you may want to consider finding a more experienced person to go with...ask them what gear they would like to have an extra of, and buy that...you can learn whether you prefer c3s/metolius/aliens by leading on others' gear. You will also have someone who can warn you when you are making shit placements. Do this for a while and you'll have a rack before you know it.

See ya at cathedral!

Happiegrrrl · · Gunks · Joined Dec 2005 · Points: 60

Regarding tricams....

Firstly, I do not think I am a great climber, so that's off the table.

I tend to place a lot of gear, and find all those double-up on Cams racks I see people sporting to be absurd. I will NOT carry duplicate cams on a multi-pitch route at the Gunks. Just not going to happen.

I tend to use cams when I am a little nervous on my stance, but when I get a good one, if a tricam fits well, I will use he tricam and keep the cam for later. I am not one of those people who can remember what gear I placed on a route, and where, no mater if I have led it ten times. I can't even bring up the "traverse left and then angle right" types of route descriptions from reading the guidebook before I cast off. So....

The weight difference between carrying duplicate cams and one set of cams and one set of tricams, to me seems a no brainer. I also find too many cams to be an annoyance. I rack from my harness, and they take up space. They get in the way.

I also like using tricams at the belay, so my partner can have the cams for the next pitch.

Are tricams necessary? No...but nobody here claimed they were, that I can recall. Some people just seem to get a wierd kick out of dissing tricams, similar as the way some make fun of boulderers and sport climbers.

john strand · · southern colo · Joined May 2008 · Points: 1,640
LCC-Climber wrote:Tricams are a waste of money.
Agreed..i climbed quite a bit in the NE and never placed one ..ever...I threw one away once.

you do need a lot of biners, lots more than you think
Nick Goldsmith · · Pomfret VT · Joined Aug 2009 · Points: 440

I seem to remember carrying doubbles on small cams @ the gunks up to green camalot. singles on red through blue camalots. the bulk of your pieces should be stoppers. they are the cheapest,lightest and often most secure. It's fun dissing tricams because of the cult like following that seems to think tricams are the best thing ever invented... NOT :) seriously if you are just starting out don't wast the$$$ on tricams. put that money twords stoppers and real cams.

Siberia · · Birmingham, AL · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 30

You need a set of nuts!

john strand · · southern colo · Joined May 2008 · Points: 1,640

you won't go wrong with a double set of wires..Given the recent issues with X4's ...metolius tcu's work pretty good as well as tech Friends

GabeO · · Boston, MA · Joined May 2006 · Points: 302

I think your first post was best, and you've been led astray - mostly, it seems, by non northeast climbers.

You do not want or need doubles in hand sized cams in the northeast. Especially not if you're already carrying hexes.

Much better to get a single rack of cams, and if you need more than that, double up on some of the nuts and pick up a few tricams if you like them.

As for the Alien versus Predat... oops, I mean X4s: I own both. You are lucky to be climbing in an age where there are good options in small gear. For most of the last eight years or so you could roll the dice with Aliens, or buy a niche piece of gear that some people liked, but many did not. Now there are lots of good options, including two brands of reliable Aliens, and the X4s are among the best. I like the X4s, and think they stand up fine next to Aliens. If you do go with Aliens, though, I'd get the Totem Basics. They made a few improvements, while Fixe stayed exactly true to the original.

GO

WDW4 Weatherford · · Houston · Joined Feb 2012 · Points: 176

Its funny how every "buying a rack" post heavily features disagreements about tricams in the replies.

Personally, I love them and consider them an essential part of my rack. I use them way more than my 4 Torque Nuts (basically hexes).

Brian · · North Kingstown, RI · Joined Sep 2001 · Points: 804
Brassmonkey wrote:I climb at the gunks, now getting into 11's there for some reference. When I first started climbing there on the easier routes I had maybe 7 or 8 tricams and enjoyed using them. After a couple of years I sold half of them due to lack of use and kept pink, red, and brown. I carried them racked with my stoppers for quite some time and then realized I never placed them either. Never. So why carry the extra weight? Sold, and I dont miss them one bit.
+1 Yup, exactly my experience with tri-cams.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Northeastern States
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