Ideal Gunks rack?

My rack:

Camalot C4 0.5-4 with doubles of 1
Metolius TCUs 1-3 Mastercam 4
Totem basic green and yellow
Camalot X4 .1 and .2
Tricams pink to purple
set of bd nuts
set of dmm alloy offsets
set of dmm peenuts
dmm brass offsets 4-6

I'm currently working my way through the easier/well protected 5.10s and find that you can never have too many small nuts and cams. On easier stuff camalot sizes .5, .75, and 1 are invaluable and definitely worth having doubles of.

While I've never seen a placement where a tricam in active mode is absolutely mandatory over a cam, I have found several places where a passive tricam is the only thing that would seat securely. Because of this and the fact that they're great for anchors when you get to the top of a long pitch with nothing left in your rack (doubleissima comes to mind), I still often find myself bringing up at least the pink and red on 5.10s where I know I'll need a gear anchor.

At the Gunks, tri-cams are especially useful, in my opinion, as the first piece on a pitch placed in a horizontal. Because they can take an upward pull, they are a reassuring hedge against zippering. On P2 and P3 (again in a horizontal), they make a nice solid Jesus Nut as you launch from the ledge.

I've found the offset nuts to be pretty useful too, including the two larger brass ones.

long runners. lots of traversing and, of course, pulling large overhangs. i like to have about 8 alpine draws and 2-4 double length runners depending on the route. the gunks are a great place to practice rope management. as far as the rest of the rack, its pretty much already been said. but i carry a set of bd stoppers, dmm brass, mastercams 0-3, black diamond .1-3 (2x .5, .75 and 1), two pink and one red tricam. this is enough gear for linking two pitches. i could get by with much less but then i'd have to belay more....

Who's going to be this poor climber's sherpa when they take all the advice posted here?

Jeffrey Dunn wrote:Its right on the front page of the Gunks. mountainproject.com/v/the-g…

Thanks Jeff for trying. :-)

Ahh the age old tricam debate, people seemed to either love em or hate em (search the forums and you'll see plenty of both..). In my opinion, people who don't like them or find them hard to clean just haven't had enough practice, and/or haven't used the newer ones with stiffer slings.

I'm of the former category, tricams are my favorite type of gear. I have plenty of very nice cams, but I use my tricams just as often, or more so. I think they are often much safer, especially in horizontals, pockets, or weird flaring cracks that would leave a cam with half the lobes tipped out. Some pockets are too small for any cam, or so shallow that cam lobes are barely inside the crack, and for these a tricam is often more secure. With practice and the right technique, they're not nearly as hard to clean as people think- I can usually clean them in a matter of seconds, rarely more than a minute or two. Invest some time to practice cleaning them on the ground, and if you can, avoid placing them in deep cracks from a very precarious stance, and you'll be fine.

I don't think I've ever led a pitch without using tricams. The other day I used no less than 3 pink tricams, and a couple of other sizes, on each of two separate climbs (though I tend place a LOT of gear). I currently carry triples of black and pink, doubles of red, and a brown. I also carry doubles of white, but these are very weak pieces, so I try to only use them as a pair placed right next to each other, and clipped with a single biner to a screamer (the white tricams are a last resort, 'better than nothing' pieces, I don't use them often).

I realize my love of tricams is a bit extreme to most people, so I would say a standard Gunks rack should include black through brown tricams, with doubles of black and pink (maybe red) if you are so inclined. I personally wouldn't consider a Gunks rack complete without them.

Happiegrrrl wrote:I haven't got doubles of anything and still manage to sew it up like the chickenheart I am... But then, I carry a set of the oft-maligned tricams, from black through Purple. And use them, along with a set of nuts. My rack is: - Black Diamond Cams, Purple through Blue - Aliens in Red, Blue, Yellow, Green - set of DMM wallnuts - set of Tricams I also kept my hexes for TR setups, but don't rack them for regular climbing And, depending on how long the OP has been climbing, it seems a hammock is the new "must have" accessory.....

Pretty much my rack. Except I have a clear alien (double of the #1 camalot, basically) and two small friends that are about the same size as the Red and yellow alien. I also rack Blue, yellow and orange TCUs, these tend to be more speciality pieces and tricams often work better where I'd place these. Tricams, literally a full set through #4. However, I sometimes leave 3.5 and 4 on the ground. They (#3.5 and #4) mostly get used at belays and I find they are more useful in the Adirondacks.

I do agree with someone above. Cams around the purple Camalot seem to be great anywhere in NY.

My rack has 3-4 cams in that size (camalot, orange TCU, Red alien and friend).

Also, I prefer double ropes, especially in the gunks where you often swing around corners or traverse all over the place.