Cam sizes - best to stagger with BD?

Thanks Andy W, good idea w/ the Fat Cams

Another shoutout to Metolius Fat Cams!

They are AWESOME and very confidence inspiring in desert cracks!

mountainhick wrote:

Depends on the route. For me, maybe 80% no big deal, 15% where I'd feel pretty desperate at points without in between sizes, and 5% where a few C4s might better help complement a bunch of other brands' in between sizes. Those two ranges: baggy greens where you can't get a #1, and baggy #3s where you can't get a #4 feel most insecure without those mid sizes for me.

That's good to know before I plan a trip there. Thanks!

Señor Arroz wrote:

That's good to know before I plan a trip there. Thanks!

Despite starting this thread, I'll add that I've climbed at Indian Creek for years and have gotten by fine without in-between sizes above orange Metolius/red Alien. It's definitely only a necessity for a small number of routes, and a luxury for the rest. I just happened upon a couple climbs on this trip where I would have been stoked on some tweener cams. Coyne Crack, for example. More necessary than luxury for finger cracks though. Tipped out .3 BD in sandstone is not rad.

Orange and Black Metolius for sure.

Yellow and Red Metolius cams are useful if your BD cams are x4 (tighter springs than c4).  But if your BD cams are c4, I believe the ranges of Yellow and Red Metolius are (head width considerations aside) entirely subsets of the ranges of .4 and .75 c4, respectively.