Cam sizes

Hi folks,

I currently have two sets of cams (DMM Dragons & DMM 4CU's) covering 0.4" to 2", this more than covers my bases here in the UK but how does this sound for climbing in NC & South East in general? I'll mainly be climbing at Linville, Looking Glass, Pilot and a few trips a year to NRG, climbing in the 5.10ish range (give or take a grade).

I'm not a fan of the wide or relentless splitters, more so techy face climbing and slabs.

I'm about ready to pull the trigger (ha!) on some Master Cams, probably 1, 0 & 00 but figured it might be good to check if they're really going to be of any use before I lay down the cash.

Thanks!

I would pick up some gear smaller than .4; Master Cams would be my cam of choice in this size. I think I would go with bigger sizes though, I have a yellow and blue that are great around here (Chattanooga) but the smaller sizes just are not that practical. In that size I am always placing a nut, running it out or you are definitely not on 5.10. I haven't climbed SE granite but I imagine it is like NW granite and gobbles nuts.

I consider purple Metolius almost as crucial as blue and yellow in the SE. 00, in my experience, is definately useful on the 'techy face and slabs' mentioned. Crucial? Maybe not so much on your everyday pitches.

The granite in Western NC actually does not tend to take stoppers as much as other granite areas. With typically flaring cracks, the big domes tend to eat up small cams through orange Metolius....and tricams...if you're into that sort of thing.

Linville, other Northern NC areas, most sandstone areas, etc. generally take loads of stoppers, on the other hand.

:P

NorCalNomad wrote: :P

Haha. Totems did cross my mind, I can get the Master Cams for almost half the price though so it's kinda hard to justify really. Maybe one day when I start doubling up on the smaller stuff I'll think about it.

Daniel Parkerson wrote:I think the red (not shown), orange, and yellow HB Wales Quadcams are great for deep flaring horizontals at at LG. mountainproject.com/images/… But, you can't beat small tcu's for NC slab! Some people swear by tricams, especially the pink and black.

Thanks but the HB stuff is LONG out of production isn't it? I'll look in to the Tricams, thanks.

BirminghamBen wrote:I consider purple Metolius almost as crucial as blue and yellow in the SE. 00, in my experience, is definately useful on the 'techy face and slabs' mentioned. Crucial? Maybe not so much on your everyday pitches. The granite in Western NC actually does not tend to take stoppers as much as other granite areas. With typically flaring cracks, the big domes tend to eat up small cams through orange Metolius....and tricams...if you're into that sort of thing. Linville, other Northern NC areas, most sandstone areas, etc. generally take loads of stoppers, on the other hand.

Awesome, thanks. I'm leaning toward just getting the 0 & 1 Master Cams for now in that case. The Dragon 0 (0.4) covers the next size up, or is it really worth having doubles in that size at my grade range?

Cheers!

Rob, Your gonna LOVE NC climbing. All I will say is you would be making a big mistake to limit yourself to those crags. Linville is great and the Glass is great but I wouldn't be to stoked on Pilot if I were you. The beauty of NC is the variety all around the state! Also check out Shiprock, Rumbling Bald and Moores Wall as well as Cedar and others.

As far as the gear goes, I'm kinda in the same boat (shopping for small Cams). Ive got one of each purp,green, and red C3s and a .3, and two .4 C4s for my small cams and that doesn't seem to be quite enough for some routes id like to do. This state lends itself to small gear quite often. I lived in Colorado a while and I had plenty gear for that rock generally but out here is a different story. I would start and get singles down to a purple c3 and then add to that when you get a better idea of what the state is like. I'm most likely going to get another red c3 and blue C4 or equivalent. There are some long pitches that require lots of small gear.

I'll add that for some reason, i find the metolius cams to "feel" more secure than the corresponding C3's here in the SE...

i never leave the ground without 2 blue tcu' sizes unless i know i'm not going to need them. I can think of a few climbs where all i used where grey, purple, blue, and yellow tcu's....the techy faces tend to not be nut conducive, and tricams can be a pain to place when your pumping out on face climbs.

If you arent so stoked on investing large cash then the TCU's are standard rack here...i own master cams personally in the small ranges and have some doubles in offsets...which you should consider as well in my opinion.

The blue master cam is dynamite. Yellow and orange are great as well. I don't climb with anything smaller but do sometimes wish I had the purple MC or the green C3. I have managed to avoid getting in particularly deep shit without them, though.

Get the pink and red tricams for sure if you plan on climbing at the glass.

NorCalNomad, I literally lol'd.

I'm surprised that no one has said NO, DON'T BUY ANYTHING ELSE IN THE UK! If you are headed to the US soon, you really should wait until you get there to purchase gear (unless you have a hookup in the UK). It is much cheaper in the US (most of the time).

TCU's or Mastercams are great small cams for NC. Personally I find that I use TCUs more in the southeastern sandstone and granite, while I use Mastercams more when climbing out west in Utah or California. In the UK, I use TCUs more - and I use stoppers here more than I do anywhere in the US.

But like some other people have said, you tend to use a lot of small cams in the southeast, while hardly ever placing anything larger than hand size. You're going to end up w/ doubles in every size, so it really doesn't matter what you buy first. But FWIW I don't know many southeastern climbers who don't have any TCUs (or a pink tricam for that matter).

You're gonna love NC. Your experience climbing in the UK (wandering routes, hidden pro, mandatory runouts) will give you the fast track on climbing in NC. It's not all that different - except NC has no bird shit covered sea cliffs where you have to watch out for rogue tidal waves.

Ryan Williams wrote:I'm surprised that no one has said NO, DON'T BUY ANYTHING ELSE IN THE UK! If you are headed to the US soon, you really should wait until you get there to purchase gear (unless you have a hookup in the UK). It is much cheaper in the US (most of the time). TCU's or Mastercams are great small cams for NC. Personally I find that I use TCUs more in the southeastern sandstone and granite, while I use Mastercams more when climbing out west in Utah or California. In the UK, I use TCUs more - and I use stoppers here more than I do anywhere in the US. But like some other people have said, you tend to use a lot of small cams in the southeast, while hardly ever placing anything larger than hand size. You're going to end up w/ doubles in every size, so it really doesn't matter what you buy first. But FWIW I don't know many southeastern climbers who don't have any TCUs (or a pink tricam for that matter). You're gonna love NC. Your experience climbing in the UK (wandering routes, hidden pro, mandatory runouts) will give you the fast track on climbing in NC. It's not all that different - except NC has no bird shit covered sea cliffs where you have to watch out for rogue tidal waves.

Awesome, thanks Ryan! I can't wait to get my ass back over to NC (come on US Embassy!). I will miss Gogarth... and Snowdonia... maybe even the grit, argh. But the climbing in NC does look promising indeed.

I'd skip pilot. its a small circus. so much awesome climbing around other places.

Brandon H - SC wrote:I'd skip pilot. its a small circus. so much awesome climbing around other places.

Yeah, Pilot is the only place I've actually climbed at in NC before as it's basically on my doorstep and a lot of friends go there regularly, certainly won't be my no.1 choice but hard to envisage avoiding it entirely.

All C3's and .3 to 4 (black diamond), you will want doubles of mid sized cams for the long trad lines around the state (.5-2BD). This is what I carry and will suffice anywhere in NC, from Laurel Knob, Whitesides and Linville, to Shiprock and the Glass. Of course bring stoppers, also, old school tricams will come in handy but aren't necessary. Have fun and welcome to the best "unknown" climbing state in the US!

rock_fencer wrote:I'll add that for some reason, i find the metolius cams to "feel" more secure than the corresponding C3's here in the SE...

And everywhere else for that matter.