more Tri-Cam sizes

I'd love to see a few more sizes in Tri-Cams.   Particularly something in between black and pink.   Also, after red it seems to be a huge jump to the next one.   

Maybe the market is too small for this type of innovation.... Applause or flames, I'm ready!

I don't know, Russ. I used to cherish my tri-cams, but I haven't used one in many years now. They are important to a shrinking minority of climbers. Same with hexes. I gave away my last three Tricams in 2010-ish...I totally get that they work well in a very small number of placements where most other things won't. But I'll never carry them again. 

Carrying ~4 (pink, red, brown, blue) as anchor pieces is a low-cost courtesy to your partner if you swing leads. 

Taking multiple slings + key pieces from the rack just before handing what's left of it over to lead the crux pitch - that's a pet peeve of mine.

I would like to see more sizes, too. 

I love my tricams too. I carry black, pink x2, red, brown, and sometimes blue and violet as well. That said I don't think I would likely buy any new sizes if they were announced. I don't really think there is that much of a jump in size between red and brown. It seems to me like they get much bigger between sizes after that, but it's pretty unusual that I end up placing brown or bigger anyway. I do think it's very area specific though. 

BITD before there was a black, some folks used to file down the stinger of the pink so it was effectively a bit smaller. That's still an option if you're not freaked out by the notion of modifying your gear (I realize most folks would never consider such sacrilege).

I frequently rack a few tricams. Anchor pieces, pods, horizontals, funky featured cracks... love 'em. 

Besides there being not enough void in the market for more sizes, I don't think there's a need. Between active and passive mode, there's much overlap in the sizes, one of those will work (I'm not gonna look up the specs, but I'm sure someone will). 

I would probably pick up white, blue, and maybe purple if they made them as EVOs. I usually rack my EVOs in place of large nuts because they’re lighter and more versatile.

CAMP has got to find a way to up the strength rating of the smallest sizes though. 

Sam Oudekerk wrote:

I would probably pick up white, blue, and maybe purple if they made them as EVOs. I usually rack my EVOs in place of large nuts because they’re lighter and more versatile.

CAMP has got to find a way to up the strength rating of the smallest sizes though. 

I wonder where the smaller ones fail? It would be interesting to pull test a few. 

So I had an old pink that I modified back before the black came out. It was in the closet since the sling had gotten really old. After sending it and an old red to Mountain tools for new slings, i took a second look at these between sizes. I made the fulcrum like Evo on the pink and then went to work on the the old red. The red is now halfway between the pink and red Evo. Finally an old standard brown is much smaller than the brown Evo so I have been carrying that as well. I am a huge fan of these devices. They are so versatile. 

Awesome, Tim.   What a great idea.     

The thing is, placing these things so that they come out easily, and are bomber, has everything to do with the size of the piece relative to the feature you are placing it in.   So more sizes= more utility.   Many times for me, the black is too small, but the pink is too big.   If you use the bigger one, it will work but could easily get stuck.  You need wiggle room for the follower to pry it out.

Russ Keane wrote:

Awesome, Tim.   What a great idea.     

The thing is, placing these things so that they come out easily, and are bomber, has everything to do with the size of the piece relative to the feature you are placing it in.   So more sizes= more utility.   Many times for me, the black is too small, but the pink is too big.   If you use the bigger one, it will work but could easily get stuck.  You need wiggle room for the follower to pry it out.

That is the reason I quit using them. The only place they really make sense to place is at a belay(not hanging). Unless you are standing at a pretty solid hands free stance, they are very difficult to remove in most cases, since you almost always need two hands to remove them.  Where I climb nuts and cams work much better, and are easier for the second to remove. 

Buck Rio wrote:

That is the reason I quit using them. The only place they really make sense to place is at a belay(not hanging). Unless you are standing at a pretty solid hands free stance, they are very difficult to remove in most cases, since you almost always need two hands to remove them.  Where I climb nuts and cams work much better, and are easier for the second to remove. 

In the past few weeks alone I've definitely made handfuls of hanging tricam belays. Every piece cleaned without incident. I share this piece of anecdotal evidence only to say: if placed correctly, tricams can be bomber, fully weighted, and still pretty easy to clean. Does a cam clean easier? I think that goes without saying. But I suspect that tricams have the hard-to-clean reputation mostly because individuals think they gotta be slammed in there. Especially useful are small divots for the fulcrum. But yeah... it can be a two-handed endeavor if your homie cranks it into an awkward slot. 

Buck Rio wrote:

Unless you are standing at a pretty solid hands free stance, they are very difficult to remove in most cases

This must be area specific because I usually place at least one tricam per pitch and none of my followers have ever had significant trouble removing them. When I climb solo I second my pitches and remove gear and I can usually get my tricams out one handed. 

chris p wrote:

This must be area specific because I usually place at least one tricam per pitch and none of my followers have ever had significant trouble removing them. When I climb solo I second my pitches and remove gear and I can usually get my tricams out one handed. 

If you are looking for Tricam placements, you'll find them. I look for secure, speedy placements, and that almost always means a cam or nut.  Still useful apparently in CT, but out west not many people even rack them much less use them, except maybe to aid climb.  I do agree they fit in some places where nothing else will, but I haven't racked one since 2010, and haven't even noticed they were gone. Climb in MN North Shore, Devils Lake, Black Hills, Devils Tower, Eldo, Lumpy, RMNP, CoR, LCC, CCC, RRG, BoCan, JTree, Yosemite, All over AZ...you get the picture. Just not out east where most of the Tricam love seems to come from. 

Love tricam discussions.  I fall in and out of love with them.  They're good light cheap gear, but I find them to be clunky on harder routes.  I still have my pink and black taped to make them stiff and actually find that to be a bit better than the evos I have. 

I haven't placed a tricam in the gunks in years, but last year I did in NC. 

I carry the black, pink, red and brown tri cams on alpine routes and use them for anchors. I like their versatility and light weight.

You don't have to like tricams, but don't compare them to hexes or suggest they're some forgotten relic any more than you do with nuts. 

Here they are by weight

Here they are just by expansion. 

They're lighter than single axles with about as much range, and they're between a third and half the cost of any SLCD, with fewer moving parts and which fit in pods and horizontals *like a dream*. 

The type of cracks they fit are the type of cracks that cams fit in. 

You don't have to love them, but they are an incredibly useful innovation, valuable on any rack, and we'd be blessed to have more variety. 

Are we arguing about tricams again? I placed one today, bomber as always. Fight me.