Stiffening Up Tricams

Anyone have any stories of success or failure in stiffening up tricams to facilitate easier placement?

I've heard of people using various combinations of athletic tape, electrical tape, gaffers tape, drinking straws, plastic sheet, zip ties, and more.

In the past, I used athletic tape. I've added the new pink evo tri-cam to my rack. I definitely like it. I hope that it stays stiff for a while. Reslinging years down the road may be an issue, but places like mtntools will probably figure it out. I haven't had a chance to place it that much, so I do wonder about placements unsetting from the stiffer sling.

Get them laundered. Extra starch.

I believe CAMP specifically called out for McDs straws in the past.
Seriously.

(edit) yep: camp-usa.com/product-highli…

Good link Matt! For the lazy:

"One way to help make Tricams easier to place and remove is to stiffen the upper part the slings. Over the course of the Tricam’s history, we have seen many solutions for this, but one remains superior. It is important to consider that while stiffening can help, it can also reduce the flexibility of the sling and render the unit ineffective by taking away its ability to adapt to various directions of pull. The solution: use a material with some rigidity that also bends easily when needed. Like a soda straw. As with spit balls, McDonalds straws are the best. They are thick and well built. Cut a length that fits perfectly in the upper sling loop and hold it in place with a thin layer of athletic tape. It’s cheap and it works."

I have the Evos and really like them, I think I'll try the drinking straw trick to emulate the same stiffness for the larger sizes, unless someone chimes in w/ a better idea.

Two hours and no good jokes yet? I thought this would be the perfect setup.

you are right, good or not...

problem:

Zach Parsons wrote:A stiffening up tricams to facilitate easier placement? .

Strips cut from a milk jug/any flexible plastic wrapped in tape. The tricam is stiffer but still flexible enough to maneuver and function.

Heat shrink tubing did a great job on a few of mine. Looks all professional and shit too!

I use strips of plastic packing straps and electrical tape

Up to brown i use one strip

For blue and up i use two, one on either side of the nylon to keep it stiff enuff to place one handed

One thing to watch out for is to sling em a bit longer as the stiffened slings can contribute to it walking and falling out of vertical/diagonal cracks

;)

heat shrink works for me, too.

A straw electrical taped to the length of the sling has worked great for me for a few years.

You need a dose of camErect.

I just wrapped mine tightly with electrical tape.

Any issues to worry about between nylon and electrical tape adhesive?

Heatshrink tubing might be ok, there are some which shrink at a lower temperature, you can also start at the lowest temp on a heat gun until it starts shrinking so that you don't overheat the nylon.

I've used low temp heatshrink on mil-spec nylon cords to hold knot ends, we had it tested and didn't find any significant weakening. This was for a lifepreserver so it wouldn't be subject to regular wear and tear and is very dependant on the nylon construction.

Luc wrote:Any issues to worry about between nylon and electrical tape adhesive?