Gear failure (small cam)

I've been around the block when it comes to climbing without cams of any kind. I made what I think was the first all-nut ascent in the Gunks (Double Crack, 1967) and in subsequent years managed up to 5.11+ on only stoppers because that's all there were. I still place a far higher percentage of nuts than most of the younger people I climb with.

Nowadays, small cams---in fact doubles of small cams---are on my rack for all climbs, not just those harder than 5.8, and I think the idea that they shouldn't be used on "easy" climbs is silly. Getting some protection is way better than getting no protection, period, and I would encourage any beginning leader in the Gunks to have gear down to at least the extremely useful green Alien size.

The problem with small cams and, to some extent, with cams in general, is blind trust. Small cams are no less tricky to place than small nuts and are harder to judge; you have to eyeball the placement carefully, make sure you have near full compression of the cam lobes, and be aware of flares, crystals or pebbles, and locally wider sections of the crack that will compromise the placement. You can't just plug and chug. And after you do all that to the best of your ability, they still may not hold, because the tolerances between solid and worthless are small and not all motions can be anticipated all the time. This is one of the reasons I have doubles in the small cam sizes, because mission-critical placements may often require more than one such cam. This is no less true on a 5.4 PG than it is on a 5.12 R.

Another aspect of "cam blind faith" is that all cams are equivalent, and a small cam is going to be as good as a much bigger one. This is far from true, and if a climber is plugging in small cams when they could be getting in much bigger ones or solid nuts, then they are a probably a nasty accident waiting to happen.

Small cams can and regularly do hold big whippers. They also blow from apparently good placements when mildly bounce-tested. It is a good idea when learning to do a bunch of top-rope protected aid and a lot of ``ground school'' placements to get a sense of how good and how bad small cams can be. Another good place to work on this craft is on easy climbs, where the climber is more likely to have comfortable stances to place from, so by all means carry and place your small cams on easy climbs.

Just remember that in spite of all the whippers held, small cams will always be marginal gear. They shouldn't be mindlessly substituted for other, better placements, and climbers should understand that, in addition to requiring appropriate levels of attention, there will still be unanticipated failures. Perhaps the cam blew because it was poorly and inattentively placed, but perhaps it just wasn't meant to hold the load it got from the direction it was applied. These are risks you take when you leave the ground, but that doesn't mean one shouldn't use small cams on easy climbs.

rgold wrote:Small cams can and regularly do hold big whippers. They also blow from apparently good placements when mildly bounce-tested. It is a good idea when learning to do a bunch of top-rope protected aid and a lot of ``ground school'' placements to get a sense of how good and how bad small cams can be. Another good place to work on this craft is on easy climbs, where the climber is more likely to have comfortable stances to place from, so by all means carry and place your small cams on easy climbs.

This last bit is what came to my mind as I read this thread. Small gear is fiddly and there's a need to get lots of practice with these pieces. Show me someone who only racks the little guys for an at-limit onsight attempt, and I'll show you someone who at best isn't going to be perfectly content with them. At worst, they'll place the tiny pieces with the same plug-and-go attitude that they use for larger gear, and get spanked by protection that isn't up to the demands placed upon it.

My $0.02 anyway, and it's why you'll see me dinking in Ballnuts and blue Aliens on 5.6s.

HUHH??

In good rock I'd take falls all day on a green alien or ~ size piece. Am I nuts?
That's not aid gear, that's pro, bro!

When you need small gear is when that is what is available and you are near your limit. When you don't is when the placement is bigger and/or when you are a few grades below your limit.

No particular grade justifies small gear, not makes it unnecessary.

I'm in concord with Tony here. There's no "grade limit" to what gear is appropriate or not, just what will fit and do the job or not.

My advice is to learn some of the limits of your gear, if you are in doubt, back it up, and take the effort to make your placements as good as you are able in a reasonable amount of time. While they influence on another, protection and climbing are two different skills, and you need both.

I don't think there is a limit at all. But I see a lot of new leaders or moderately experienced leaders with tiny cams (I'm talking black-blue Alien sizes) and I don't think those pieces are needed on the routes that new or moderately experienced leaders are climbing. Sure there are exceptions, but they are rarely in the 5.6-5.8 range.

Green-Yellow, I don't really consider those pieces to be specialised pieces so I guess I exaggerated a bit (since it was a Yellow that started the conversation). But I still think that there are a lot of climbers out there that grab for cams first, reason being that they aren't confident in their ability to place good passive gear. And I think we all agree that anything below Yellow Alien size, passive is what you want.

Ryan Williams wrote: But I see a lot of new leaders or moderately experienced leaders with tiny cams (I'm talking black-blue Alien sizes) and I don't think those pieces are needed on the routes that new or moderately experienced leaders are climbing. Sure there are exceptions, but they are rarely in the 5.6-5.8 range.

Maybe. I guess I know a lot of stuff, having come from Devil's lake and then coming to Eldo, where the pro is thin no matter the difficulty. Low angle rock can be that way. I climb with thin stuff no matter the grade and I place it pretty often, but then again, Eldo is a little unique - it's more or less face climbing while protecting cracks, many of which are quite thin and parallel. And to that end, I get well above my small gear with no less trust than for my larger pieces. OK, maybe not the black, but surely the blue - doesn't make me nervous at all to get up above the thing. It's good solid pro. (not to mention green)

Ryan Williams wrote: And I think we all agree that anything below Yellow Alien size, passive is what you want.

Honestly, and I'm not trying to be obstinate, no, I don't agree. Give me a parallel-sided blue or back alien crack, I'd I'm going for the cam over a stopper every darn time. I place the gear that fits.

So, if a person is leading at whatever level, and the rock is solid and tends to be parallel and thin, they should carry and place small gear. I sure wouldn't advise them "you are new, so take less gear and place less gear." which is in effect what you do when you take away pieces from the quiver.
The ancillary advice I might give would be: "But since you are new, if you place small gear, start looking for another piece as soon as you can to control the risk associated with inexperience."

I'm still tending toward's Tony's thinking, but my overall point is to place whatever gear you use well. Maybe I've tended to bring more small pieces than strictly necessary, being a more "cam-centric" guy myself and rationalizing that small cams don't weigh that much if not used. If I were hauling the #5 every climb, it would be more noticeable!

There is something to bringing the gear needed - no more, no less - that Ryan seems to be talking about, and I do find myself relying on the stoppers where I would have gone for the cams more often nowadays. Lately, instead of doubles in small cams, I bring a single set of micros, some offset small cams, and nuts for the rest. Then again, for several test piece finger cracks (for me) in my area, I eschew stoppers completely, opting to fire in cams alone.

There are a lot of different approaches towards the same goal, it is worthwhile considering them even if they aren't our style.