#5 Cam Usage

For those who own one a #5, How often do you REALLY use it? Trying to justify the $120 price tag...

Mostly want to hear from "normal" climbers, who aren't climbing OW every day.

I have a #5 and it's only been placed twice lol

I have two fives and a six because when it comes to climbing gear I need professional help/an intervention. 

I used a five on a couple single pitch chimney climbs. Took one up Sunnyside Bench on my first trad multipitch, which in retrospect is pretty funny.

So uh, I think that's a solid three times, but only two where it was really necessary? I've found a lot of climbs where you could place a five, but the section of fives is so short that you might as well just climb another two to four feet and get back to twos or threes or whatever. Curious to hear other's input but for me personally I very rarely use mine. 

Off the top of my head, mine has been necessary for two routes. I have placed it on a couple other routes but probably didn’t need it. 

It’s pretty clutch on the rostrum.  The Cruise.  Maybe Vision Quest?  You don’t really need it until you really, really need it.  

I don’t look for OW but occasionally need the 5, I figure about once or twice a year. Grab a used one for $60 and call it good 

I’ve placed mine twice. Hell I barely place my #4

I suppose it depends on where you climb. And what kind of routes you like to climb.  I use mine semi-regularly at Red Rock. It only gets carried when the description calls for it. Plenty of days, plenty of places, I won’t even pack the #4. 

Without a #5, you will just never figure out the magic that happens in the OW paradise.

There is bouldering. There is bolt clipping. There is trad climbing. There is crack climbing. And then ... there is OW. Why would you not want to progress beyond standard trad climbing?

I use it a good bit even though I try hard to avoid cracks that size. If I was better at #5 size cracks, I wouldn't need it! But it does come in handy because I suck at that size. Just don't buy a new one, get one here on the FS forums for like 70 or 80. 

I use my 5s/6s all the time but I happily seek out routes with those sizes. I like a good knee lock and hand fist stack. My advice would be, wait til you have a climb you want to do that needs that size. Know why you need the gear before you get it. Otherwise you’ll be one of those people selling their 5 in a few years with, “never been placed” in the FS description.

Placed mine once, but needed it.  Never took the tag off the 6....

I place #4 quite often, can’t imagine not owning one as a generalist cragger… 

#5 only a few times that I can remember, and I’ve never owned one, I relied on a gear-head partner who owned literally EVERYTHING.

I bought a #6 for a specific placement on an El Cap aid route, and never placed it again. Sold it 5 years later for half of what I paid. Still way worth it. That was a $60 move. Period.

Moral of the story, don’t buy a 5 or 6 thinking that you’ll need it someday, wait until you need it and then buy it without remorse…

Edit: Even for routes that people routinely climb with 5’s or 6’s, there are often alternatives. Smaller cams for n the back of the flaring crack, horizontals outside the wide feature, etc… The HUGE cam is not always the only game in town.

Just to add another to the pile, I've had my 5 for a few years now and I've only placed it a handfull of times, and that is even with it being useful in my local crag's warmup route. There have also been a few times I've wanted it but didn't have it. I'm not sure if it makes it worse knowing I could've brought it in those cases or if it'd be worse not owning it at all

I also have a 6 that I have used on a total of two routes. I have also wanted it and not brought it with me a few times too.

As others have said, wait till you have a route to climb that needs it, then either buy or borrow it. For general cragging it is definitely not an essential item.

We placed my #5 twice a couple of weeks ago on Mexican Breakfast Crack in the Sandia Mountians (NM).

I didn’t take it to Red Rock on a recent trip and beta suggested taking it on a couple routes I wanted to climb so it’ll be in my pack next visit. 

Seems like it really depends on where you climb! I got a used 5 as part of my first rack and use it fairly often.. but I was learning in Vedauwoo. Have you been limited so far without it? Do you often encounter offwidth pods or sections where it's needed? Then maybe it's worthwhile. That being said, you rarely need 2 of them so if its a rare occasion and you climb with people who have a #5, you may not ever need one yourself. 

I agree that the utility of a #5 depends much on the climbing areas you frequent. 

If you regularly belay off your girth-hitched shoes wedged in a crack at the top of some bald, granite beachball at Joshua Tree, it's worth the 120$ upgrade.

It might be worth 120$ to be able to climb The Fox without having to think about how far away your #4 is below you. https://www.mountainproject.com/route/105732254/the-fox

Sometimes at crowded crags, having a #5 allows you to climb something that no one else is climbing because they don't have #5s. (Or are not willing to be seen in public with a #5, which is a problem that can be fixed by wearing sunglasses and arguing plausible deniability at your senate confirmation hearing...)

But really, the reason to own your first #5 is to then own a second #5 and then maybe a 3rd etc. so you can scoot up things like: https://www.mountainproject.com/route/106022852/good-times, mountainproject.com/route/1…, or https://www.mountainproject.com/route/106259916/death-crack 

My ex girlfriend used my 5 and 6 more than I did.

I use a 5 maybe 1 out of every 3 times I go climbing I do tend to stear towards wider stuff but there are plenty of not wide route I have used it on. 

A number 6 is really where it becomes very rare to use, I will be getting doubles of both but only for some very specific thrutching I have planned. 

Rarely. The main problem for me is deciding whether or not to pack it. I usually look at it and decide it's not worth the effort to bring. I got mine with the idea of climbing Kor's flake, but I haven't got to it yet. 

James Frost wrote:

For those who own one a #5, How often do you REALLY use it? Trying to justify the $120 price tag...

Mostly want to hear from "normal" climbers, who aren't climbing OW every day.

A five can sometimes be crucial, I keep one in my bag at all times, by the time you’re in six territory you can probably fit your body in.

I used to carry two fives in my bag but rarely used both as you can usually bump the 5 as you go.