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How do you store cams in a backpack while hiking to the crag?

Original Post
Yer Gonna Die · · Cragville · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 175

...without damaging them

wsperry · · Lafayette, CA · Joined Aug 2014 · Points: 115

They are tougher than you think. Get em dirty, scratch em up, and know that you can adjust the trigger wires.

Sean McAuley · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2013 · Points: 10

Eagle Creek quarter and half cubes...it's like they were invented for trad gear

nate post · · Silverthorne · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 2,446

I store them sort of like I store the change in my pocket

Em Cos · · Boulder, CO · Joined Apr 2010 · Points: 5

...in a backpack.

Is this a trick question?

Thomas Beck · · Las Vegas, Nevada · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,025

Not much info on his profile page and his photo looks like Bear Gryllis. Troll?

Brendan Magee · · Parker, CO · Joined Jun 2013 · Points: 0
Rich zz wrote:...without damaging them
Bubble Wrap!
Karsten Duncan · · Sacramento, CA · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 2,571

First of all, you don't hike to the crag. You run at full speed. You only need a single set of cams for most climbs (and that is too many). What really weighs you down are the Gu packets but you will be consuming those in short order anyway. The best way to store them is on a gear sling on your shoulder.

This generation will not take backpacks to the crag. Find your own dawn wall and really go for it. If you are carrying a backpack you need to go back to the gym and practice.

Also helps if you can drink your own piss.

FrankPS · · Atascadero, CA · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 276

I like to store mine in the pack with the price tags still on them.

mediocre · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2013 · Points: 0

I hang them all from the outside of the pack just so everyone knows I climb.

csproul · · Pittsboro...sort of, NC · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 330

Clip to rack. Shove in pack. Shove more stuff in pack. Close pack.

Beean · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 0

A lot of trolls in this thread.

I have 13 stuff sacks for my cams. They're those UL silnylongore-event ones which help protect my cams from wear should I be caught in a sudden rainstorm. Put each cam in a woolen sock (I use a smartwool knee high ski sock for bigs and a small hiker with double impact absorbing threads for smalls as they're more fragile).

All of these go in a bigger sack which is then placed in my Arc'teryx pack, beside my chair in the coffee shop.

Eliot Augusto · · Lafayette, CO · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 60
Beean wrote:A lot of trolls in this thread. I have 13 stuff sacks for my cams. They're those UL silnylongore-event ones which help protect my cams from wear should I be caught in a sudden rainstorm. Put each cam in a woolen sock (I use a smartwool knee high ski sock for bigs and a small hiker with double impact absorbing threads for smalls as they're more fragile). All of these go in a bigger sack which is then placed in my Arc'teryx pack, beside my chair in the coffee shop.
Jesus that is a lot of work, ignore this.

I just fill my bag with packing peanuts. The only drawback is when I pull the cams out that shit gets everywhere! Sticks to my shoes and clothes. But they usually fall off after a minute or two of climbing.
20 kN · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,346

I just dump them in at the bottom of my pack in any random way and I have never had an issue so far. I have broken a few wires in the field, which may or may have not had something to do with the packing (likely not), but those cams were 20 years old so it's kind of expected anyway.

Blissab · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 5

Not fine china.

Just arrange the large camming units in such a way, as not to dig into your back.

Good Luck.

Beean · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 0
Eliot Augusto wrote: Jesus that is a lot of work, ignore this. I just fill my bag with packing peanuts. The only drawback is when I pull the cams out that shit gets everywhere! Sticks to my shoes and clothes. But they usually fall off after a minute or two of climbing.
You use them!? Don't they get scratched????
Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520

Sadly, I throw my rack in the bag and the trigger wires tend to get a little kinked up. This is no doubt what leads them to eventually break. I restraighten them all of the time. But hey, I don't like babying the gear. It would be better to have they in a sort of quiver like ice screw quivers.

And...I was trolled. Lolz.

Creed Archibald · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,016

I used to put all of them in a stuff sack and then drop the stuff sack in my pack on the theory that it was easier to get the stuff sack in and out. That probably was true, but it added the step of putting everything in the stuff sack. Now I just dump them in my pack.

Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0

The only thing you need to worry about is smaller cams (x4 size) can get kinked easy if alot of weight is pressing down in the middle of the cam. So just throw all the crap in there minus the smaller stuff and pot the smaller stuff / nuts etc on top.

When i travel on a plane i am a little more careful how i pack it more to save room. My 32L BD backpack can fit my rack and still have about half the room left over.

Pavel Burov · · Russia · Joined May 2013 · Points: 50
Rich zz wrote:How do you store cams in a backpack while hiking to the crag? ...without damaging them
I use 3x3 method. I call it 3x3 method because after my Subaru right rear wheel has gone unscrewed and lost there is nothing 4x4 in my life. To be on a positive side I have developed a whole new 3x3 strategy. So I split the problem to 3 tasks and successfully solve each of them in 3 easy steps.

Here the 3x3 method follows.

How to pack cams in a backpack. Three steps to success:
1. Open the backpack.
2. Put cams in.
3. Carefully close the backpack.

How to bring packed cams to a crag. Three steps to success:
1. Put the backpack on.
2. Hike to the crag.
3. Take the backup off.

How to unpack cams from a backpack. Three steps to success:
1. Open the backpack.
2. Take cams out.
3. Carefully close the backpack.
Don Ferris III · · Boulder, CO · Joined Nov 2012 · Points: 186

I like to dip each cam in a strippable plastic coating before each outing. It's also great for deadening the sound of hexes.

It's also super green because you can melt the plastic back down to reuse.

Plastic coating

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

General Climbing
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