trad cams in smaller sizes

3 things

- a 3 lobe unit, the c3 in particular ... can fit where no other cam can ... in weird pods sometimes a 3 lobe is the ONLY thing that fits (tricam might fit too)

- a 4 lobe flexible unit will find placements there a more rigid unit will be very questionable ... these include downward or perpendicular placements ... aliens, totems (standards) and zeros are the masters of these type of placements having a smaller or no metal head sheave

-a passively rated unit can save your azz in the small sizes ... the zeros, baby dragons, small C4s, some x4s ... sure every placement should be absolutely perfect yada yada yada ... in the real world sometimes we are forced to place off laybacks, the rock can pulverize slightly, the cracks flare internally, and newbies make mistakes ... also the passively rated cams tend to be a bit more durable, they wont umbrella ... the baby c4s and dragons in particular you can whip all day on at a crux and itll laugh right back at you

there is currently NO cam on the market that checks all 3 of the above ...

notice how i mentioned the characteristics of the cams rather than recommending the actual cams themselves

oh and one more point ... but from a manufacturer or retailer with a great warranty ... small cams cam blow apart literally ... theres a few pics and post about em (and i dont mean umbrella either), ones where the axle bent or came apart ... not to mention the usual fixe alien issues

;)

A cam that works passive should be called a nut..if this situation arises,,use a wire. just like to have bigger expansion range,,you gotta give up something

Biggest load of BULL since the cordalette

john strand wrote:A cam that works passive should be called a nut..if this situation arises,,use a wire. just like to have bigger expansion range,,you gotta give up something Biggest load of BULL since the cordalette

Disagree. Bearbreeder's earlier comment is spot on. Passive strength in a cam can save your butt. True, it really never happens that you would intentionally place a cam passively; you'd use a nut there. But sometimes (many times) you screw up: you place the cam blindly and it is tipped out, or the cam walks and tips out. If this happens in a cam without passive strength, it will umbrella/invert and rip out. If the cam is passive rated, it cam jam in passively and stay in. Not something you want to count on., but it is an extra big of a margin of error when things go awry.

JCM, yes I climb trad at Eldo a lot. Still find TCUs very useful pretty well everywhere I go. I don't climb at the areas you mentioned, but close to you, have climbed at Squamish and found TCUs useful.

As for the blue Totem basic, I use it often.

Like with other such 4 cam/3 cam comparison, the blue basic places somewhat differently than the purple TCU. Same difference as green alien/blue TCU or yellow alien/yellow TCU etc. I like the 4 cams for more splitter or slot like placements, TCUs for more pockety placements.

Marc801 wrote:The title of this thread......I just can't resist: Are there such things as sport cams? ;-)

Any you take to the creek?

Woah- A cam designed to hold passively in the event of walking/umbrella? Which ones? This is new to me. Very nice safety feature.

Uh...heard of a Camalot C4? :p

Are there any cams out there that aren't "trad cams"?

Cam Newton.

Ryan Hex wrote:Cam Newton.

I don't think you're allowed to comment on cam threads Ryan HEX!

Bill Kirby wrote:

Without it you'd be hard pressed to get there.

Are powercams and supercams rated for passive? Checked the user manual and didn't see anything so I'm guessing they're not.

Russ Keane wrote:Woah- A cam designed to hold passively in the event of walking/umbrella? Which ones? This is new to me. Very nice safety feature.

I believe that any double axle cam has this "feature", regardless of whether the manufacturer supplies a "passive" rating. Some of the larger single axle cams with beefy cam-stops might be able to hold when umbrella'ed as well. That said, many people, myself included, have sheared cam-stops off of smaller cams when they've umbrella'ed

Russ Keane wrote:Woah- A cam designed to hold passively in the event of walking/umbrella? Which ones? This is new to me. Very nice safety feature.

Any cam with a double axle, WC Zeros, larger WC tech friends and heliums, larger powercams. Maybe some of the larger mastercams.

Totem cams, any form of aliens, and most small cams other than WC zeros aren't passively rated.

Alex Ghiggeri: I read quite a few of people's replies to your post and didn't read anything about the newer UL master cams. I bought a full set and love the way they pair with my C4s.Gaps eliminated. Everyone I've climbed with lately has stopped to play around with them and thinks they are vastly improved upon from the old mastercams. Paired with trango phase mega rack pack biners. Every color is matched perfectly. Goodluck!