Best totem cam size?

What's the best totem cam size if you can only get one of them?

The size that fits most of the cruxes you climb.
For most that would be off finger.

I guess what I'm implying in the post is because totem fit pin scars and wavy cracks better than other cams, what size is it the most useful? I can imagine as the crack gets bigger, its irregularities become less of an issue and other cams can work well in those situations as well.

And as the crack gets smaller, small cams like TCUs, totem basics, and aliens can do the job there, making the smallest totem cam not as useful.

Is this correct?

Black and Green CCH Aliens seem to be a lot of people's favorites. Totem does not make the black equivalent. Fixe does.

I have used the 1, 1.25, & 1.5 in the double stem Totem cam and those things are great.

Really does depend where you climb and what your "money" piece tends to be.

In the PNW, the Green Alien size was the money piece A LOT. The Smallest BLUE Totem Cam is really close to that one.

Next up for me would be the Green Totem (.75 Camalot) size. The thin head width of the Totem in that particular size seems to be a big plus a LOT. .75 size seems to be shallow or flaring and the other cams out there with their wide heads don't do as well as the Green Totem. Same can be said for the .5 Camalot but that size has more alternatives...

If I were getting the set one by one it would likely go like this

Blue, Green, Purple, Yellow, Red

The blue totem^2 cam is probably one of my favorite pieces of gear. I found I use my blue X4 a lot so I doubled up in that size with the totem and I love them both!

If we are talking about aid climbing in Yosemite then it goes purple, blue, green, then yellow for me. The red isn't my cup of tea.
(Double stem original Totems, not basics)

#1-purple. It sits in the scars and flares really well where your red alien or orange tcu may have trouble.

#2-blue. for reasons stated above but I find that I don't back clean this one as much. I think there are other cams that can work almost as as good in this size (green alien). Still a great piece but it comes in at #2 in terms of utility.

#3-green. Fits in scars a lot better than the green camalot equivalent.

#4-yellow. Its pretty close to the yellow alien in terms of functionality.

These cams are awesome and top choice for placements in aid climbing for me.
If you can get them all, do it.

Yellow for days............. but mostly because that is just my favorite/strongest small size.

Any body know of any deals on these i can only find them for retail. $79.95 US

I wish I could afford to actually buy some of these. My friend has some and I covet them. Awesome cams.

I like the smaller ones, blue and yellow. I remember falling on the yellow totem in one of the more atrocious placements I've ever had. It held and has a soft spot in my heart now.

I bought the Blue and Yellow just because I wanted to try them out. They are both great and I plan to purchase all the sizes.

Campsaver.com has some of them and the coupon code prolite20 will get you 20% off (so $64 instead of $80)

Rei also has them now so use the 20% coupon when it comes around (which I think it just did). Either way 20% is fairly easy to come by if you look and wait.

you can thank me later

64 bucks for totems

A triple rack

If you could only buy one I say get the blue. Small and awesome. Yellow and purple are great too - pick those up if you can only get 3. The bigger ones are nice but more specialized then the smaller so get black next before you pick up the bigger ones. But eventually you will want them all because they are awesome.Then get the basics to fill in lower and around this point i would just go ahead and admit to your SO that you have a problem and need money for rehab to overcome your gear shopping addiction. That cash should help you start to build out the seconds the thirds you will want for all your dream routes / just in case!  

The one having the most fun.

I agree with Max, if you can only get one it should be the blue.

judging by supply and demand...the black one

green.  it's around a .75 to #1 in c4 size.  I was same thought as you.  I have doubles rack in BD, but I wanted to see the hype on Totems, I bought a single green one, and man, it IS awesome.  The thing is like a magnet to rock. I love placing it!

I find by putting my totem pole in the pin scars then turn horizontal, reach for next pin scar; I usually get enough purchase to repeat the process.

Can only get a couple. Debating on getting one black, blue, and yellow or two blacks and one blue; how often is the yellow better than a 0.5 camalot. I would think the bigger the cam the less of a benefit the totem will provide.

Akash Rama wrote:

Can only get a couple. Debating on getting one black, blue, and yellow or two blacks and one blue; how often is the yellow better than a 0.5 camalot. I would think the bigger the cam the less of a benefit the totem will provide.

Yellow is still very much within the size range where the Totem is almost inarguably the better cam. Do note that yellow is actually closer to 0.4 Camalot size; purple Totem is your BD 0.5.

Purple and green Totems are where the "better than other cams" line starts to blur a little bit, and by the time you get to hand sizes they're still nice to have but they don't hold their edge as dominantly over a cheaper cam.

Akash Rama wrote:

Can only get a couple. Debating on getting one black, blue, and yellow or two blacks and one blue; how often is the yellow better than a 0.5 camalot. I would think the bigger the cam the less of a benefit the totem will provide.

Two blacks and a blue would be the LEAST desirable option in my opinion from a value standpoint.  Look at the strength and overlap in the following table from mfr.  black only buys you an extra 0.08 inch narrower crack over blue for 2kN less strength.  

I’d go blue, yellow, then maybe black