Are totems really worth all the hype?

So… I’ve been using Black Diamond C4’s since I started climbing. I can’t say I don’t love them and trust them completely. That being said, I haven’t tried much else. Over the years I’ve been able to accumulate quite a collection of C4’s. I’m curious to hear people’s thoughts on if it’s really worth it to pay the large price for Totems, as opposed to just sticking with Black Diamond.
I don’t do much aid climbing, but I do climb rope-solo often so weight is a factor. I’ve heard that totems thrive in pin scars, which I haven’t encountered much.
Just curious to hear your experiences and if it’s worth paying double the price cam for cam.
Thanks!

Abandoned Moderation, that is very helpful. I typically climb with a rack of X4’s to .5, then C4’s. I have played with Metolius TCU’s some, but I’m already accustomed to the color-to-size-match with Black Diamond. 

I’m a 5.10 trad dad, Friends work great for me, augmented with a set of C3s and some 00,0 WC.  Add pink & black Tricam and nuts… No issues on anything yet.   I’d love to try some totems but not climbing 5.hard anymore.  

I have a franken rack out of C4, WC Friends, Alien Revolutions, Z4, Ultralight C4 and Totems. The Totems are the best. Not that I dont trust the others, but Totems are the best. 

Totem pluses: narrow head size, their range compliments C4s since they are slightly different in size, When you compress the trigger the stem stiffens for placement then flexes after placement, making them great for tight placements, the sling design allows for two options,  this has been useful when a carabiner is cross loaded over a rock edge

Totem negatives: price, the many parts of the stem seem less durable(time will tell), need to be sent overseas for resling service (I think that will change with time), they are bulky when racked 

A few other things, I sometimes find them more secure in the smaller sizes than some other options,  they are more secure in flaring cracks than c4s, they are great in pockets, but so are tricams, you can color match your biners to comparable c4 sizes if it helps you, my plan is to replace my x4s with similar sized totems(currently I have black,  blue and yellow), you can pick them up at oliunid.com in the low $70 range shipped. 

It kind of depends on where you climb.

Yes

I think they’re pretty useful in the southeast US, especially in granite eyebrows, which can be flaring and irregularly shaped. Probably not worth it at Indian creek. 

Wictor Dahlström wrote:

The Totems are the best. Not that I dont trust the others, but Totems are the best. 

Could you explain why the totems are the best? Specifically, are they the best for free climbing? Smaller placements? Flaring cracks I assume, but anything else?

I only bring them for specific routes where I know there is a flared placement or something.  Not worth bringing on most of my climbing days.  Too bulky for me to have a bunch of totems on my harness.

I think they are the most versatile and forgiving cam for desperate placements. I started by getting the blue and yellow since I needed a supplement at that size and began to really love them. I've added the black and purple and now they've swapped out a set of C4's whenever I need doubles for a route. And for the (very) few trad routes I've projected they were the pieces I've felt most comfortable whipping on. If your budget supports it, go and get some, but if not then I'm sure it will become increasingly likely your partners will have some and then just have fun placing theirs. 

I do think the larger sizes get a bit 'floppy' due to the weight of the head and the flexible nature of the stem. So I personally don't like the sizes larger than the purple but most of my partners who have them like all sizes. The black is magic tho,... If you only get one get the black. 

I use a mixed rack of Totems and DMM Dragon Cams.

I find that the Totems will work better in some instances than the Dragon Cams (and visa versa)  whereas traditional cams tend to be pretty much the same (Dragon Cams and Camalots are pretty much interchangeable.)  

I have a full rack. I don't place the larger sizes very often, but I absolutely adore the black and the blue totem. They're solid in marginal placements with irregularities that would make other micros questionable. 

I got a black totem just to see what I thought.  I think it fits some cracks slightly better than BD Z4.  It expands faster than the DB cams which can be nice.  

The real drawback that others have mentions above is the slinging on totems is massively bulky and stops me from thinking I should change over to totems.  I really like the Z4 which have a very narrow head, almost as narrow as the totem.  The room it takes up on the rack and in the pack is significantly more than BD cams of the same size.

I rack Totems, BD, and Mastercams. Whenever there is a funky placement (flared, irregular, etc) I always reach for the Totems first. If you're romping easy-moderate trad with straightforward placements, they're not worth it. For cruxy climbing with less than ideal small placements, they're gold.

Gumby King wrote:

It kind of depends on where you climb.

Seconding this. Unless you are climbing places with a lot of flares or frequent funky geometries, they aren’t worth the extra dough. 

imo, its not a simple as the weight, bulk or how different totems are to place as opposed to c4s. how a cam functions and also how efficiently placing it, should be practiced prior to launching into the unknown. the unknown demands versatility. at least for me it does. and if it becomes too heavy or bulky, then perhaps sacrificing another item or smaller portions of food in order to go lighter? or better yet, more fit / stronger / practiced. 

i'm all about going as light as possible, but totems have their place either aiding or in the alpine.

There are plenty of accomplished climbers out there using them in all disciplines.

jcs

IMO totems really shine in the smaller sizes (black, blue, yellow), where the margin for error/irregularity is much smaller. Because of the separately loading lobe pairs they feel super solid even when the crack is slightly flared from side to side and a standard cam placement would be marginal.

The stems are bulkier, though, which often keeps me from also slotting them behind a constriction (which is how I prefer to place small cams). 

As a few others have said, they shine in the black through yellow sizes.  If you are going to get any get those sizes first.   I’ve been climbing with Totems since they first came out as my standard double rack and use C4 and Master Cams to supplement when needed.   As for bulk?   It is really a non issue and whatever extra weight they have is negligible, it’s definitely not an good argument not to get them over the benefit they provide.  

Sometimes when I’m super pumped I find it difficult to pull the trigger and insert the head of totems with precision. The head is flexible and if it’s a tight placement and you don’t line up the head precisely with the crack then it can flop 90 degrees right or left. Not really an issue for easy climbing or aiding when you have more time and composure, but I’ve definitely paid dearly in forearm lactic acid trying to place totems on pumpy pitches near my limit. I much prefer C3 or Z4s. When the Z4s were revealed by BD I think I saw some marketing where they said their athlete team requested a new came that had the “surgical precision” of the C3. That perfectly describes what you want when you are hanging on a bad lock and whip a cam off your harness, you want it to glide into the crack like a hot knife through butter. Totems just don’t do that for me. Yes they fit in some spots where nothing else would but they have drawbacks for sure.

Tanner Dayley wrote:

So… I’m curious to hear people’s thoughts on if it’s really worth it to pay the large price for Totems...

After initial investment, it costs approx $100/year for a full rack of brand new totems. How this has not occurred to people (or they think it's too expensive???) is beyond me. Climbing is not cheap. $100/yr is peanuts, especially amortized across 100's (1000's?) of pitches of climbing.

Also... "they're too bulky" LOLOLOL. If you have a harness with gear loops made for ants, i guess. Derek Zoolander will help design you a harness.