Mountain Project Logo

Rack for the Gunks

Original Post
Joey Stansfield · · Denver, CO · Joined Apr 2014 · Points: 15

Hello, I'm slowly putting together a rack that will be used mainly for 5.6 - 5.9 routes out at the Gunks. Here's what I'm thinking:

-DMM Demon Cams 0-3.5 (this is roughly equivalent to C4s .3-3)
-DMM Wallnuts 1-11
-red and pink tricams
-And of course some slings and draws and a cordelette

My real question is will that cam and nut setup cover it? Some posts have led me to believe that I'll need more smaller cams. What do you guys think? Am I missing anything big?

slk · · Reno, NV · Joined Jan 2011 · Points: 130

Use the search engine... I'm sure this has been asked before... multiple times...

-kovar

Gunkiemike · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2009 · Points: 3,492

Your suggested rack should be fine up to 5.9. Beyond that you'll likely want more small pieces, but of course every route is different.

Medic741 · · Des Moines, IA (WTF) · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 265

Brown tricam is really helpful. Also there are some good climbs that take big cams. Having 1 #5 c4 is really helpful for them. I find I like to have doubles in the bd c4 .5 range.

slk · · Reno, NV · Joined Jan 2011 · Points: 130

^^^^^^^

You guys are enabling him.

There are over 600 threads about this... are ya'll bored?

-kovar

Medic741 · · Des Moines, IA (WTF) · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 265

So bored. Sitting in an ambulance with nothing else to do but peruse mp and ogle routes for the summer trip.

slk · · Reno, NV · Joined Jan 2011 · Points: 130

"So bored. Sitting in an ambulance with nothing else to do but peruse mp and ogle routes for the summer trip."

haha, got you... head over to supertopo... there is way more fun... it's like a soap opera... it will amuse you for days...

Medic741 · · Des Moines, IA (WTF) · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 265

Ooh never been to supertopo. I'm about to get off though so heading to the bouldering gym. Good times in... Upstate NY said no climber ever

slk · · Reno, NV · Joined Jan 2011 · Points: 130

Have fun... I grew up about thirty minutes from the Gunks... In Reno now, good granite if you're ever out this way...

Joey Stansfield · · Denver, CO · Joined Apr 2014 · Points: 15

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Medic741 · · Des Moines, IA (WTF) · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 265

No way! I'm headed back to bard college in red hook, waiting to hear back from new paltz rescue on a job

Oh an blue tricam. Every time I carry one it gets used.

Medic741 · · Des Moines, IA (WTF) · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 265

An when you get bored of the Gunks ADK is a much more engaging interesting place to climb

TheIceManCometh · · Albany, NY · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 621

Ditch the Tri-cams. Get some aliens instead and you'll always reach for them before the Tri-cams - especially when you start to climb 10s and above.

Ryder Stroud · · Seattle, WA · Joined Sep 2011 · Points: 1,465

A #4 is about the biggest you will need, and even then, on many routes you will have to go out of your way to find a home for it. It ends up being deadweight most of the time unless you know in advance that you'll need it. Still, if you're going to climb outside of the Gunks, a #4 is nice to have.

Rack heavier on the small to medium cams, if you can swing it. Doubles from .3-1 will give you plenty of latitude. You may want to consider adding some small cams like the X4s (or the DMM equivalent) if you decide to push to the end of your comfort zone. It's always nice to have a cam you can place for a psych boost if you get spooked when the holds get thin.

The Gunks is the king of tricam placements, but they can take a while to fiddle with and place. If you want to use a diversity of gear, add a tricam or two. Otherwise, just get an extra cam.

For slings: 8 single length (60 cm) and 2 double-length (120 cm) will do just fine. And have 2 cordelettes.

Have fun out there.

Mtn Cat · · Denver, CO · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 21

The rack you're looking at will be able to get you up most of the climbs in the 5.6 - 5.9 range, as long as you're comfortable with some short runouts through the easier sections.

If you're going to double up on any cams, I'd suggest getting cams around BD size 0.4, 0.5, and 0.75 first (0.4 = yellow alien, 0.5 = red). And if you are looking for doubles around there, I'd get a set of Aliens (more preferably the Totem Basics, when they start selling them again) before I got more DMMs or BDs. The narrow head on the alien seems a lot more secure in some of the pebbly horizontals than the wider C4s.

For nuts, I usually prefer the Wallnuts over the BD nuts, though that's mostly in the smaller range, like BD #4-8. I feel like the long taper on the Wallnuts give them more surface area in some of the harder placements. You'll also get a lot of use out of a set of offset nuts.

I'd get a set of tricams too, especially the Pink. Red, and Brown ones. They're hard to place well on lead, but it helps to have a set of them with you when you need to build an anchor after you've already placed all of your cams. They're light to carry, and also double as some of the larger nuts if you run out of those.

Besides that, I'm sure you'll be fine on most climbs. And if you ever need some gear beta, you can always just ask around, since it's hard to get more than 5 ft away from anybody else on a crowded weekend up there.

J. Serpico · · Saratoga County, NY · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 140

I know tricams can be tough to place on harder routes with one hand, but the weight to expansion range of a tricam is unparalleled (better than anything else) and they love both horizontal and vertical cracks. But do especially well in horizontal. They also workgreat as passive pro. THough are much weaker. I've placed solid tricams in many a flared crack that wouldn't take a SLCD or a nut.

I'd say 2 pink, 2 red, a brown and a (blue or is it purple for the 2.0?) at a minimum. Certainly going up to green or Grey isn't a bad idea, as you may use them infrequently, but they still weigh less than equivalent cams. In fact, I rarely carry my #3 or #3.5 camalot anymore.

If nothing else they are great for the belays where I doubt you want to leave cams. Then again, at the lower grades I prefer to lead on tricams and leave the weight of the SLCDs at the belay. I figure this will give me confidence placing them in winter when SLCDs work poorly.

I'd also double up the nuts. At least the middle sizes. Probably like 4-10 in BD equivalent.

I should note, I place a lot of gear. I've climbed with people that place 4 pieces per pitch, I probably place 2-3x that on some pitches. So my recommendations are probably the high end.

J. Serpico · · Saratoga County, NY · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 140

Also, I am with the post above. Aliens are well suited to the Gunks. And all things being equal they should be a little more stabile and hold better than a TCU. My rack has a mix of TCU and Aliens which tend to fit into pockets and pin scars well. Same placements tricams seem to work well.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Northeastern States
Post a Reply to "Rack for the Gunks"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.