C4 vs. DMM Dragons vs. Totem

This discussion has taken an interesting turn. Being an OP, I'll have to say that I do have a full set of nuts (I actually bought 13-piece set but the smallest three pieces are useless unless you aid-climb which I do not). I've played around placing them and like it a lot. Oh and I need to go order that famous pink tricam, it's so much fun to place!

Leliko Mana wrote: This discussion has taken an interesting turn. 

Welcome to MP, 30% gold, 30% shit post, 40% crazies.

Get and place the gear the rock takes, seems you’ve had a good thought process and good research. Generally, if a nut is more bomber and makes sense with the route then you place the nut. If you’re better of with a cam, use the cam. 
Totems are great in small sizes due to smaller head size and lobe design, don’t think you can go wrong here but also don’t get false security that it’s super glue. Haven’t tried the larger orange admittedly but it seems that it would rarely give a must have advantage. 
Place early, place often, at least two pieces to keep you off the ground (you probably know this already).

Chris Owen wrote:

I miss my green monster.   Someday I’ll get a series 2 to tinker with. 

physnchips wrote:

Welcome to MP, 30% gold, 30% shit post, 40% crazies.

I'll take good crazy any day. Life is so boring without it!

Winter has descended upon us at such a wrong time. I was just starting to get excited about trad climbing but if a Canadian like Marco is freezing his ass off in the USA, imagine what would happen to this girl who moved to California for warmth (turns out it's not really warm here during the Winter anyway but it's still better than the northern East Coast)!
Thanks for all the gear talk too!

physnchips wrote:

Welcome to MP, 30% gold, 30% shit post, 40% crazies.

Wait, so the rest of the interwebs are good? An accurate, if not generous, assessment.  :)

Leliko Mana wrote: This discussion has taken an interesting turn. Being an OP, I'll have to say that I do have a full set of nuts (I actually bought 13-piece set but the smallest three pieces are useless unless you aid-climb which I do not). I've played around placing them and like it a lot. Oh and I need to go order that famous pink tricam, it's so much fun to place!

Micronuts are not just for aid climbing, they can be used free climbing, although I wouldn't reccomend that beginners start hucking whips on them. I took a solid 10' fall onto a #3 stopper and it caught me. Rough estimate it was a FF .25 so not too bad. However, they MUST be placed with a level of skill and precision that most beginners haven't yet acquired. 

Learning nut craft is essential IMO to becoming a good trad leader but don't get stuck in a rut where you are always looking for a good nut placement.  This is especially important on long routes where time can be waisted over several placements over several pitches.   I normally bring 6-8 smaller nuts and the rest are all cams.  I have one climbing partner who almost always insists on placing nuts and his pitches are super slow and inevitably a few of his nut placements are wedged tight requiring fiddling around trying to retrieve them.   Place a cam and go is much easier than trying to get the perfect nut placement.