Favorite Cams

Tyler Newcomb wrote: Where can these mythical pieces be found?

This site called Mountain Project. It can pretty helpful as a pseudo guide for many climbing areas, but be leery of the forums. While some pretty killer deals can be found, many dangers await. Trolls, egomaniacs, less than qualified experts, and scammers await. If you do stumble upon one of the elusive treasures mentioned above, you may feel the need to find more. Before you know it, you’ve got 7 or so cams on your rack you are not sure you should whip on. Not to mention the tremendous time suck you could find yourself trapped in by reading the ridiculously long threads about nothing. You should definitely check it out, but beware! 

New WC friends.

I own C4s and metolius TCUs but got to climb on a friends rack. They took all the best features of Dragons and C4s and mashed them together, and they're lighter than either by a surprising margin. we measured a .75 and it was 30g lighter than either the c4 or dragon

1. non anodized lobes with the fancy sharp edge thing (like dragons)
2. extending dyneema sling (like dragons)
3. thumb loop (like C4)
4. matching color scheme of C4s & dragons

overall i was pretty impressed...

Steve Marshall wrote: New WC friends.

I own C4s and metolius TCUs but got to climb on a friends rack. They took all the best features of Dragons and C4s and mashed them together, and they're lighter than either by a surprising margin. we measured a .75 and it was 30g lighter than either the c4 or dragon

1. non anodized lobes with the fancy sharp edge thing (like dragons)
2. extending dyneema sling (like dragons)
3. thumb loop (like C4)
4. matching color scheme of C4s & dragons

overall i was pretty impressed...

I work at a gear shop and had someone come in mentioning that he had heard of the thumb loop wire on the friends kinking during a hard fall with extended slings. 

Has anyone heard anything about that?

Tyler Newcomb wrote:

I work at a gear shop and had someone come in mentioning that he had heard of the thumb loop wire on the friends kinking during a hard fall with extended slings. 

Has anyone heard anything about that?

That was the reason BD gave for not having extendable slings

​https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/qc-labreslinging-camalots-and-c3s.html​​​

http://cam-parison.com/

Tyler Hagen wrote:

That was the reason BD gave for not having extendable slings

https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/qc-labreslinging-camalots-and-c3s.html

Real world though, has anyone encountered that?

bruno-cx wrote: Black Totems & Pink Tricams.

and a silent partner ;)

I think its a good idea to mix it up a bit,having doubles of differing brands of cams, giving one versatility and variety.
the spice of life.
I also think that you run the risk of handicapping yourself, by only being ABLE TO USE A SINGLE TYPE OF GEAR WITH FULL CONFIDENCE.
i THINK IT BETTER TO BE WELL VERSED IN AS MANY TYPES OF PRO. AS POSSIBLE.(Sorry for the caps lock)

 have one rack of matching everything? for me I'm just not that OCD
MeH...too. it speaks to personality flaws though,  I also never log my ticks or follow all the over analyzing that goes on.
 All that mental masturbation breaks the ability to focus, it works against my lead head. . .after, say,  more than 2pgs
(I do make sure to read every Rgld post though. . .B+D)
 

Steve Marshall wrote: New WC friends.

I own C4s and metolius TCUs but got to climb on a friends rack. They took all the best features of Dragons and C4s and mashed them together, and they're lighter than either by a surprising margin. we measured a .75 and it was 30g lighter than either the c4 or dragon

1. non anodized lobes with the fancy sharp edge thing (like dragons)
2. extending dyneema sling (like dragons)
3. thumb loop (like C4)
4. matching color scheme of C4s & dragons

overall i was pretty impressed...

For what its worth, Even the WC  early generation frnds are comparably  light.  About 3-4 years ago they really stepped it up. . . .I don't remember? Master Cams?

Tyler Newcomb wrote:

I'm not exactly a beginner, I've got quite a few trad pitches under my belt and I feel comfortable on trad. But I've only climbed with other's gear and it's always been C4s. I was wondering if any are more highly recommended.

There certainly isn't anything wrong with C4's. I own the .4 to the #4, doubles from Red to Blue

I also really, really like the DMM Dragon II...mostly because of the sling, I have the Blue and Silver Dragon II.

Small cams I use Metolius TCU's....usually leave them in the pack and just bring small offset nuts.

But my all time favorite cam is the Blue Camalot (#3). I think I placed that on every climb I did for about 12 years. It finally went away to SLDC heaven.

John Wilder wrote: Go handle as many different brands as you can and buy the ones that you like the feel of best.

No brand is really better than the next in terms of normal use on most climbs. There are a few specialty pieces like the black Totem, but generally any cam will do for most placements on most routes.

Imho, if you buy anything but the one you like the feel of best, you're just wasting money because you're going to end up buying the ones you like sooner or later and the first set is going to gather dust or be sold at a dirty discount.

I think part of my issue is trying out too many. Like I said I work at a gear shop, so I can try practically every cam on the market, and there are a few that I really like the feel of.

Maybe I'll just sink in and go with a half rack of the C4s for now, then pick up some dragons later.

Tyler Newcomb wrote:

I think part of my issue is trying out too many. Like I said I work at a gear shop, so I can try practically every cam on the market, and there are a few that I really like the feel of.

Maybe I'll just sink in and go with a half rack of the C4s for now, then pick up some dragons later.

You are experiencing the dreaded analysis paralysis. Overwhelmed by so many choices; afraid you'll make the wrong one.  

You're right - just pull the trigger and buy some. Asking the Internet is going to add to the uncertainty because everyone has their preferences. Eventually, you'll have a preference, too.

I only have a few Totems, but they're always on the 1st line when I climb. I like the non-anodized lobes with texture added in (sure you can remove the paint... but still a mystery to me why a manufacturer would anodized lobes when doing so is obviously not going to help provide friction...). The camming action feels consistant & uniform throughout the range - I also have master cams and they sometimes feel like they resist you caming them at first, and then they get super easy to cam further. Not a bit deal but I prefer smooth & uniform. The wires on the totems would be a pain to replace though, but then you also can just plug it in with 2 lobes barely touching the rock and they'll still hold (kidding). They feel a bit bulkier though.

Totem by far. See my post mid page 4: https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/112939616/totem-cam-basic-cam-nuco-and-nuts?page=4

Tyler Newcomb wrote:

I work at a gear shop and had someone come in mentioning that he had heard of the thumb loop wire on the friends kinking during a hard fall with extended slings. 

Has anyone heard anything about that?

I havn't had any issues yet, but I'll report in as I continue to fall on shit.

Dragon 2s.   Wider lobes for the weight, better bite, nicest triggers and I love the extendable sling which cuts down on walking without carrying as many draws.  

Nick B wrote: Dragon 2s.   Wider lobes for the weight, better bite, nicest triggers and I love the extendable sling which cuts down on walking without carrying as many draws.  

Only thing I would add is just the build quality of these cams... as with anything dmm. 

Different cams are better in different sizes.  Sweet spots for me are as follows:

Totem basics 0.2-0.5 (so light and so good)
Totems 0.2-1.0 (good for funkier/offset placements, #2 is floppy)
C4 Ultralights in #2-#3 (weight savings really kick in at this size)
New WC friends in #0.75-1 (as doubles, better than C4 and Dragon alternatives)

Not for everyone, but I saved up and made Totems the backbone of my rack. Durable enough, and bomber in the PNW granite I climb on. I double up finger sizes with aliens and hands/fists with c4. Different strokes for different folks but that's what feels best for me.

For those curious, I found a rack of 15 C4 cams here for a ridiculous price, went all in at 3 am, and haven't regretted them.

I love the thumb loops because they make a higher point to clip on the rare occasion that I aid, and they have held whips so they're doing their jobs well.

Will update if they cease to hold whips. Or not depending on the whip ;)

I was previously racking aliens and dragons (.75-3) and my double rack was X4s/C4s.  Being a newer leader I often took double racks on Gunks climbs I didn't know, of course I ended up with a full rack on my waist at most belay ledges but I had the peace of mind knowing Id have what I needed.  Climbing it the next time around I would know what I could leave on the ground.

I had the opportunity to get a full set of totems for a good deal and jumped on it.  This past weekend I had the first opportunity to decide what to leave on the ground (or in the car).  I ended up racking aliens/dragons and then my totems with a green C3 and blue C4 to round them out.  I LOVE the small totems, but honestly don't love the red and orange size (correspond closely to red/gold C4).  Not entirely sure why, it seems to be a range thing maybe, maybe it was the placements of I ran into on the handful of climbs I was on.

Can anyone put words to what I experienced? Have a similar experience?  Why were the small totems so confidence inspiring and the bigger ones mediocre?  (note, I wasnt scared to fall on them, they just didn't seem BETTER).