first cams?

ive got a question for the collective world of knowledge.

ive already started building my rack of cams...i have from tips to fists....one of each. what are good sizes to double up on or if i were just starting to build what ranges are best to start with?

If you don't own some already, for the price of two more cams you can buy a set of nuts and offset nuts and maybe a few tricams and a twelve pack. You will have a rack to to do an amazing amount of routes other than splitter cracks. DMM walnuts (nuts) and DMM Peanuts (offsets nuts) are great.

I'd double up on fingers and hands.

I really like having doubles of blue through orange tcu's in the wasatch and then doubles of 1's through 3's in the bd size.

I would have to say the cams to double up on depend on what you climb. If it's cracks, get the bigger hand size cams, if it is more face or slab climbing probably the smaller sizes would be better. What I do on a unknown climb (non-crack) is take a full set of nuts and cams (TCU's 1-4, C4's .75-2 or 3), the cam sizes I think I might need doubles of and usually the .5-3 tricams so I have at least two active and passive options in most sizes yet am only carrying about 30 pieces. If money is your concern I'd recommend a set of tricams before a second set of cams. I assume you have them, but yeah, nuts are a must.

After seeing your rack in your info, I'd say Tricams, .5-2 and then two or three cams for the next sizes above that

Thoughts......

Unless a cam gets outright unusable, never ditch a cam. I have first generation Camalots that are in remarkably good condition. While I have pretty much relegated them to my museum of sorts, they would still come in very handy if I had to quadruple on a particular size.

Cams that I seem to have a penchant for are the Camalot #.75 and the #4. I have doubles of every size, with some triples, but those are what I first looked for because those are size cracks I felt most comfortable on.

While some folks shy away from it, I have bought many forged friends and HB Quad cams on EBay. Watch the shipping and the newish items like C4s, but many a good deal can be found here to double up on cams. Two examples of the aforementioned: 2 #3.5 Forged Friends for $38 delivered. Had new slings sewn on for 6 bux and there you go! Got a 3 pack of the quadcams for 50 bux delivered. Slings in perfect shape.

Anyway, many ways to do it, so have fun!

Ditto what has been said about some stoppers and passive gear. The recommendations you will get vary depending on type of climbing, style of climbing, location, and personal preference.

I have doubles of BD equivalent sizes .5-3, a double set of nuts, the 3 biggest c3's, and BD #4. I am fairly content with my rack until next time I hit up the gear shop.

One thing to consider is that even in equivalent sizes, some brands perform better in specific situations. For example, I have the BD c4's in the smallest sizes, but also the equivalent sizes in metolius TCU's. I find that that they compliment each other nicely and add more versatility that having doubles of the same exact cam.

I find the above to be especially true in the smaller sizes. In the BD#2 and up, I am partial to the black diamonds and only carry BD.

Just my 2 cents

thanks guys! ive got a full set of BD stoppers #4-13...the smallest ones are kinda pointless for leading anyways...and im thinking about hexes. about hexes though...i cant bring myself to buy them cuz they just seem like over-sized nuts and i dont know how much im gonna use them. any thoughts on which ones to get if and when i decide to get them? i like the slings of the WC rockcentrics but i also like the shape of the metolius curve hexes...ideas on those? with regards to what type of climbing i like...i LOVE cracks...mainly tight fingers and mid sized hands...but i unfortunatly live in minnesota and dont have much of a choice so im forced to climb anything i can actually find.

My logic would be to double up on the smaller ones first because they have a small range that they can fit in. Usually if you use a larger one the one size up/down would have a better chance of fitting then if that happens with the smaller ones.

I wouldn't say the small stoppers are pointless. I've placed a #4 BD micro stopper on lead before. The #4 has a 6kN rating, the #1 Wild Country (my main set of stoppers) has a 7kN rating so I would trust both as long as I wasn't too far above it.

get some tri cams! love them and they can be set "active" or passive! i have doubled (even tripled) up on some of the smaller sizes from .5 to 2. now they have the .25!! I used to use those & hexes and some nuts and the occasional cam in the gunks and NH. Now I use them and my cams most of the time.

Learning to use nuts and hexes is an art, and a lot cooler than just placing cams. (I think, ufnortunately, a dying one in some areas.) I have seen people lead with all cams on their racks. Their preference and their leading. Plus there is nothing cooler than hearing the clang of nuts and hexes on your rack!

As far as doubling up. It depends on where you will be leading. What sizes does the area call for that you may need doubles on? I built my rack back east mostly climbing in NY and NH. When I moved to COlorado I needed to get some bigger sized cams.

Unless there are a lot of horizontals or weird pockets where you climb, skip the tricams. Unless you want to waste money on something you'll stop using after you get more cams, skip the hexes.

If I were you I'd get the following:

1. Nuts. Preferably a different brand from whatever your main partner has, for variety. They all work, it's mostly personal preference. That said, with sets of Stoppers, Walnuts, Rocks, and Offsets in the gear pile, what usually gets racked for me is the small through med Walnuts with the #6-#10 offsets and some RPs added.

2. The most placed pieces on my rack are easily the 0.5, 0.75, 1 camalots and a 3/4" piece (0.4 camalot/yellow alien/yellow tcu). I'd double in those first. By coincidence (or not) the .5 and .75 are some tough sizes where you'll typically want more gear anyway. In a 2 camalot size, it's pretty hard to fall out of and you're likely to run it out more and need less in this size. In the smaller sizes you're likely to be able to get nuts in.

i have used my tri cams on just about everything. Horizontal, veritcal, pockets, whatever. And from coast to coast. Not a waste of money,you just have to know how to set them, like other gear. My buddy didn't like them at first and now has a set for himself. (If choose do not get the ones made with dyneema if they still make them. Nylon is best as it is a little stiffer making them a little easier to place.

I take them on every climb I do. Occasionally on ice as well. They are a versatile piece of gear to add to your rack. Like everything on this website it is a matter of opinion, and one's personal taste and experience.

I started by doubling up on the sizes i used most, i climb alot of routes that have the same size cracks, nothing like Indian Creek but you see where im going...sometimes i wish i had the money to double or more with all my cams i could get alot more routes but where i live not ness.

Instead of doubling the same cams, you might want to buy a similar size in a different cam...Cam geometry can be different between brands and give you different options for every type of crack.

For example:
00 - 2 in C3s
purple - yellow in TCUs

.4 - .75 in C4s
yellow - red in TCUs

Hope that helps a bit,
Doug

i started off with a set of DMM 4CUs, #1 to #4, that i found used. i was shopping price and weight, primarily, and i've been really happy with the cams. 9 pieces, covers from like .75" to about 3" (they're the same size as WC Friends). they've been awesome and i can't say that i like them any less/better than the couple mastercams and C4s that i've acquired and used. i like the u-stem style, so that's a pretty important thing to figure out before you buy cams. i have a friend who bought a bunch of powercams only to find out he hated them, so now he has like 7 cams sitting around gathering dust. also, i hate wild country friends. they're wicked floppy and unpleasant to work with since they don't have the nice thumb loop that BD and Metolius have on their single-stems.