Guidance on filling out my rack

Hey,

I've searched quite a bit on the topic of cams, so apologies if this irritates anyone. This is just for cams, set on other stuff. I mostly climb in ADK and Gunks for strictly rock, but also Cascades, Alaska and abroad for alpine. I only mention it so any recommendations/opinions could take into account what you guys find yourself using in an alpine environment. A lot of the alpine stuff I've done lately is involved quite a bit of mixed as opposed to when I first started. I definitely want to get out to Cali or potentially move there in 1-2 years as well.

At the moment, I've BD C4 .5-3 and a full set Totem Cams (not Basics) .65-1.5.

I'm quite happy with both, really bomber cams. I'm mostly looking for smaller cams, but any advice is welcome. I was looking at X4 and the new Alien Evolutions. Any advice on which or both would compliment my rack?

Money is not a limiting factor. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

Don't have a good reason why, but I freaking love my metolius tcu's. x4's are awesome too, but I generally reach for a tcu before an x4. x4's could be more helpful for the gunks with the flexy flexy stems I suppose though... hmm...

I have quadruple of .75 and .5 of BD C4'S. And they have the most wear on them. Get more of those for California.

Raw Crack wrote:Don't have a good reason why, but I freaking love my metolius tcu's. x4's are awesome too, but I generally reach for a tcu before an x4. x4's could be more helpful for the gunks with the flexy flexy stems I suppose though... hmm...

Heard good things about TCU, never used them myself. Any size recommendations? Yeah, highly considering the X4 .1-.3.

eyesonice2014 wrote:I have quadruple of .75 and .5 of BD C4'S. And they have the most wear on them. Get more of those for California.

I was thinking of getting doubles in those sizes actually, but was looking at X4.

Thanks.

I love the X4's in smaller sizes. I wouldn't go bigger than .5 though. I always find myself reaching for my X4's a lot more often than the regular C4 or C3 equalivent.

Money is not a problem? Then sample some cams from all different manufacturers, keep the ones you like and sell the rest.

I'm a big fan of my mastercams and use the 0-3 routinely at the gunks. C3s are also bomber in some instances but I usually reach for the mastercams first.

Don't buy the TCUs. They were amazing 30+ years ago but cams have come a long way.
Do they work? Of course they work and they work well but have limits with the 'U' stem. In small shallow vertical pods the cables inhibit the fit. A better choice is the C3s. They fit much better because of the cable design and have a wider range in the lobes.

The X4s and Aliens are a staple at the Gunks and Dacks. If your doing some of the harder climbs at Poke-O on the big wall section, the C3s pay off huge dividends.

As for alpine climbing you won't need too many cams. C4 .5-3, set of nuts and 3 or 4 tricams. Again it depends on the route but I find that hand cracks don't need too much protection. They are usually the most secure climbing on the wall.

TCUs are great for 'gunks horizontals, but so are small tri-cams

I have Wild Country Zeros as my small cams, they seem to work very well and are plenty flexible, and have a pretty narrow head width. Plus there's the extendable sling too.

OP, how do you like the Totems? They look pretty interesting.

Totems look pretty bizzare.

A.wilk wrote:Money is not a problem? Then sample some cams from all different manufacturers, keep the ones you like and sell the rest.

This!

Seems there are proponents and opponents for every different manufacturer's smalll cams.

Personally, I like having a set each of aliens up to red and TCUs up to Orange. This overlaps up to Camalot # 0.5. I owned and used mastercams and X4s and have used C3s provided for guiding, but still like aliens and TCUs better. And, I have a set each of old CCH aliens and Totem basics. The basics are nicer quality, but both are equally functional.

I have master cams as well as the zeros, so I wouldn't limit myself to one brand either, they all have pros and cons. The Master cams have really narrow head widths.

If you are using em in winter where there may be snow/ice and other fun stuff, the sheath on the alien can freeze

I suspect the x4 might have a similar issue

The "obsolete" tcu you can just tap out the ice/snow and its good to go

Sometimes an "open" design works better for certain applications

;)

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated. I guess I will just sample and test a bit before a final decision. I'll get my hands on some this week (hopefully in store and on some pitches) and see how it goes. I'm fairly certain my store as all brands mentioned here. Does anyone know if the FIXE Alien LITE is the same thing as the FIXE Alien Evolution? Those double length ones look sweet.

As for how I like the Totems, they're sweet. All the things I was concerned about prior to buying them were a non-issue. I thought they might not rack as well or might be slightly less durable, but neither has been an issue at all. They were slightly different feeling on my rack like anything new you put on, but a few pitches sorted that. They're really flexible, never had one walk. Maybe sometimes feel more comfortable not extending something, just depends. They just feel bomber when you place them, haven't had any issue with it being too flexible when placing or pumped. They place extremely well in flares which I really like. I've not yet aided off the pieces except just messing around in really shallow holds or near the ground, and they were bomber even with just the two lobes. I haven't fallen on one yet, but I'm not worried about it holding if I do. I don't think I've read or seen anyone with much negative to say about the cams. They look a bit odd at first, but I think they look pretty cool. I purchased the set @ 25 percent off so it didn't cost a lot either. I definitely think they're a great cam, wish they came in some smaller sizes.