School me on Totem Cams

I just picked up a set of Totem Cams.

I read the instructions, from which I gather that I'm not supposed to clip into the webbing "shelf" or the stems, etc.  

Anything else I should know?  Are they pretty much used like a Camalot or any other cam?   Any situations where they work better or worse than other cams?  

2/10

1/5

4/20

5/25

6/66

10/10 totems are mega bomb 

Have you ever had a bad placement? It’s a good placement now. /thread

I recommend hexes

I'm super disappointed.  

Now that I have joined the Totem Cam cult, I figured that I would get all the secret Totem Cam beta from other cultists.  Instead, all I get is indecipherable coded numerical messages.  

I have heard that these cams have magical properties, but so far, they appear to be very much like regular cams.  

Hoping that at some point, you guys will deem me worthy and teach me the secret handshake and induct me into the deeper Totem mysteries.   

They're nowhere near as good as a blue offset nut

Okay, the real story is that each of the lobes is loaded directly instead of being mediated by a stem/cam head. What this effectively means is that 2 lobe and 3 lobe placements become much more effective, and marginal placements, where the lobe pairs are loaded unevenly, are now much better. The heads are narrow, and can fit into pockets much better. Blind placements feel much more secure.

On top of that, the camming angle is different and arguably, better. This angle seems to bite into the rock better. However, for that same reason, I sort of suspect that the small ones could explode the edges of soft (Wingate, etc.) sandstone cracks. Hasn't happened to me yet, though.

Kai Larson wrote:

I'm super disappointed.  

Now that I have joined the Totem Cam cult, I figured that I would get all the secret Totem Cam beta from other cultists.  Instead, all I get is indecipherable coded numerical messages.  

I have heard that these cams have magical properties, but so far, they appear to be very much like regular cams.  

Hoping that at some point, you guys will deem me worthy and teach me the secret handshake and induct me into the deeper Totem mysteries.   

I think their point it that everything about Totem has already been discuss ad nauseam on this forum...

Are they great? Yes. 

Will they automatically make you a better climber? No. 

Are they bomber? Yes.

But do they make your shitty placements bomber? No.

Are they super flexible and fun to wiggle around? Yes.

Will your wallet be happy with your purchase? No.

Direct loading means that totems perform slightly better in downward flares than standard cams. They also do a bit better w/ off axis loading, which can make very shallow placements that prevent ideal direction of load a bit better. Totem's internal testing has shown that they're a bit stronger tipped out than other single axle cams. Interestingly, they don't have a constant camming angle like most cams on the market. Instead, the camming angle is near 12.5 for most of its range but gets up to around 15 when more open. They can hold weight with just 2 or 3 lobes engaged, but this is for aid only.

In clean splitter cracks Totems are just another (very good) cam. In irregular or slick cracks Totems are the best non-offset cams on the market.  

In Joshua tree the higher price tag is easily justified. In Tahquitz or Squamish the advantages are minor. It depends where you climb. The funkier the cracks the more Totems shine. 

20%

=========

Though I will say this - when you have totems, and you look at them, you feel all fuzzy inside. So that's a plus. What's great too is that the fuzziness features works year-round - it's the dead of winter here, but just getting them on the kitchen table bring out the same fuzziness as it does when racking up for a climb.

=========

Okay for real, real though:

* They just work their ways into placements much smoother than other cams I have (C4, Powercams, WC Friends, Alien Fixe). I need to fiddle a lot less in irregular rocks to get the lobes in a position that I know won't walk. I'm guessing the radically different structure gives them that different behavior, the lobes behave more independently than other designs. Doesn't matter in Indian Creek, but may in other rocks.

* They tend to walk less in general. 

* If I had to fall on a cam in an horizontal placement, they'd be my first choice. Other designs are decent, but really lots of relatively thin wires & textile without really any non-deformable parts is though to beat. It's not just a matter of safety of that placement - it's also that I'm not worried my stem will be permanently bent to a side after such a fall, because there's not stem. Similarly, if I had to fall on a cam placed at 90 to the direction of pull (e.g. marginal placement du to rock configuration), they'd also be my choice, because they' really bendy, and the chances that this makes them walk out of their placement feels less likely than a more rigid, single stem.

* If I HAD to put a cam on 2 or 3 lobes and fall on it, again that'd be my first choice. Not that I'd ever want to do that...

* Amongst the narrower head widths for comparable sizes out there. Again, don't matter much in perfect splitters, but if you climb more irregular crack/features, there's a number of times when I could fit the head of a Totem, but not that of a C4 of the same size.

* Subjective point, but I like the ergonomics of it. I also like that of the Camalots that being said. Not a fan of the Powercams.

So really it's about the non-ideal placements & rock types. If you're making a career out of climbing perfect splitter, no need to bother.

Fabien M wrote:

I think their point it that everything about Totem has already been discuss ad nauseam on this forum...

NO

The totems can never be discussed enough. You nausea is treason.

Franck Vee wrote:

NO

The totems can never be discussed enough. You nausea is treason.

Jason Zevenbergen wrote:

They can hold weight with just 2 or 3 lobes engaged, but this is for aid only.

nitpicking but two lobes (perpendicular to the wall) is for aid, clipped into the stem nearest to the cliff. three lobes can get you a full rated fall provided that the outermost lobe is making good contact. see the instructions or video. 

https://www.totemmt.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/TotemCam_LoadingTwoLobes_En.pdf