Totem Watch thread 2018

Even the devil's advocate admits to having Totems!

Those who state here that everyone knows about Totems couldn't be further from the truth. I mentor dozens of new trad climbers each year and literally everyone of them shows up with a brand new rack of bd cams, and looks completely blank when I ask if they have heard of Totem cams. And this is almost 2019! The Totem patent was filed in 2002! There is definitely a conspiracy to keep them unknown, no doubt the work of an industry where everyone pats each other on the back. I don't own a tv or large screen but my work has several, and I see it all the time in the commercials.....why are there tons of commercials for new cars?....because no one returns their new car. The new trad leaders that I mentor all look crestfallen when they learn of the conspiracy, they all have the same story of endless '25% if you buy a whole set,' slogans, and they almost all say they will wait to buy Totems until the next year, once they decide how much they like it.

Is that fucking sad or what - beginners could be 200 - 300% safer but Alex, Tommy, Jimmy and the gang are like 'uh, never heard of those......check out this sweet pic of me in the new bd calendar. oh shit they're having a huge cam sale right now.....'

Trust me, I live and work where the cam was invented. This is huge! A new fucking badass cam angle that makes cams way safer, easier to use, and more fun?
 
The suggestion that huge exposure, being 'gear of the year,' putting Mikel on the cover of Climbing, RnI, etc. wouldn't lead to Totems being more available is equally short sighted. For sure Mikel would be more likely to want to license his technology, and he would no doubt have a more open attitude, if he was embraced for the genius that he has brought to our sport.  

Woot Woot!
Erik Sloan, owner, Yosemitebigwall.com RockclimbYosemite.com

You see tons of commercials for new cars because car manufacturers pay, literally, BILLIONS of dollars in marketing and advertising.

If Totem wants to be bigger, more successful in sales, it's not rocket science how to promote products and brands. 

You're suggesting that the innovators also have to be brilliant business people. Is that the way the world has worked? And that climber safety, and the safety of new climbers taking up trad climbing, is not more important than someone making a buck......even at the 'news,' or magazine, level. You vote for Trump? Kinda sounds like that rhetoric - 'oh the forest is fucked up and there are awful fires, well if you had just managed it better.....' bullshit. This is rich white people staying rich and it stinks, plain and simple.

Like I said, people should be so excited that after all these copies of the original cam angle, that something revolutionary has actually been achieved. I was skeptical and had my mind totally blown by Totems on a one-day ascent of Leaning Tower in 2014 - I couldn't believe how much better they were, and actually starting putting the wrong sizes in to see if I could get one to come out, and I couldn't. Totems are totally ninja!

Erik Sloan wrote: 

Those who state here that everyone knows about Totems couldn't be further from the truth.

Sadly, I have to agree. I am that new climber who opened another thread asking regarding BD vs DMM Dragons vs Totems and it was very interesting to me to see what people replied with. As a result of that thread, I've decided to buy totems and am now waiting for several of them to complete my first rack of seven totems and 2 DMM dragons. (it's a small rack I know but I haven't even climbed my first trad route yet so give me some slack). But the point is, the guys I climb with have never ever used, and some have never even heard about, Totems. I'm looking forward to introducing them to Totems through sharing my rack. And after reading this particular thread I feel even happier than before that I'm at that stage in my life where I can afford buying Totems without going bankrupt. Safety above all!!!

Erik Sloan wrote: You're suggesting that the innovators also have to be brilliant business people. Is that the way the world has worked? And that climber safety, and the safety of new climbers taking up trad climbing, is not more important than someone making a buck......even at the 'news,' or magazine, level. You vote for Trump? Kinda sounds like that rhetoric - 'oh the forest is fucked up and there are awful fires, well if you had just managed it better.....' bullshit. This is rich white people staying rich and it stinks, plain and simple.

No, dude, YOU'RE the weirdo suggesting that Totem HAS to be a bigger company than it already is. I'm totally okay if Totem wants to remain an awesome, boutique manufacturer of great cams. Are you suggesting that the world OWES it to Totem to do their marketing and promotion for them? That other companies with their own viable designs and products should STOP their own marketing and promotion of legit product and, what, just roll over? You're really the first and only person I've ever heard make an argument that Totems are "300% safer" than other cams. Show us some stats on that, okay? Because as much as I like my Totems, I just can't see that holding water. 

And how dare you say that because I think Totem isn't the target of some global conspiracy that I'm a Trump supporter. I suddenly see why you're the target of so much dislike in Yosemite.

Erik Sloan wrote: You're suggesting that the innovators also have to be brilliant business people. Is that the way the world has worked? And that climber safety, and the safety of new climbers taking up trad climbing, is not more important than someone making a buck......even at the 'news,' or magazine, level. You vote for Trump? Kinda sounds like that rhetoric - 'oh the forest is fucked up and there are awful fires, well if you had just managed it better.....' bullshit. This is rich white people staying rich and it stinks, plain and simple.

Like I said, people should be so excited that after all these copies of the original cam angle, that something revolutionary has actually been achieved. I was skeptical and had my mind totally blown by Totems on a one-day ascent of Leaning Tower in 2014 - I couldn't believe how much better they were, and actually starting putting the wrong sizes in to see if I could get one to come out, and I couldn't. Totems are totally ninja!

I wonder how much sales have dropped now that Sloan is on here spraying about Totems...I'm guessing around 300%...

Tapawingo Markey wrote:

I wonder how much sales have dropped now that Sloan is on here spraying about Totems...I'm guessing around 300%...

LOL. He's part of the Deep Climber State Conspiracy to suppress Totem sales!

But guys, he's "Erik Sloan, owner, Yosemitebigwall.com RockclimbYosemite.com"

Seriously, that's all I've taken away from this thread today. I get it, Erik owns Yosemite Big Wall. I also get that Totems kick ass. It's the year 2018. I'm sure they know exactly who they want to be as a company and are living that out. They're not that hard to get if you want them. I appreciate that they're sticking to their standards. I'd hate to see this go mega commercial and then suddenly every Totem that we're carrying now are the vintage good ones, and the current production is crap. 

I mean, I agree that what we need are neutral, climber-centric publications and organizations that can spread the word about revolutionary, new, vastly safer products in our sport. We can't rely on business.....it's like what we need is a pure climber organization, say like the Access Fund, or the American Alpine Club, to pay for studies to show us which gear is the safest........oh wait, THOSE are the people emailing you the endless 25% off if you buy a full set of cams emails?....oh man, yeah, this shit stinks for sure

I've mostly aid climbed the face of El Capitan 103 times, meaning I have stood on tons, and tons, and tons of trad placements. I"m telling that Totems are 200 - 300% more effective, and safer, than every other cam. Free climbers think the placement was good; us aid climbers test each one, so we really know the truth.

Russ Walling wrote: I’m getting w00t fatigue...

yeah but I've barely started on my popcorn, so suck it up, Russ!  ;) 

(disclaimer: I sold about 275 totems this summer and I think they're 27.8 times better than C4's... but I'm a runner, not a climber, so wtf do I know?
anecdotally, I was told that *not falling* is even better than totems, but that's just a rumor. Can anyone confirm?)

Wo0t! w0oT! W00t! w00t! woot! WOOT!

Jaren Watson wrote: Backcountry sells Totems EVERY NOW AND THEN. How much more mainstream can it get?

Correct ^.

Ironically, the only time I ever saw totems on Backcountry they were on sale, and I bought two for something like $65 each. 

So all the beginner trad climbers I meet in Yosemite have other cams, and have never heard of Totems. So would you agree that we, as a climbing community, do not care about the safety of new climbers? If Totem cams are 200 - 300% better and safer than the other cams, wouldn't we have a responsibility to make this info available to new climbers.

It's such a joke - there's a thread right now called 'new bd cam,'....wonder if they work with only two lobes in the rock? (insanely that is not even the biggest innovation in Totems, which is the cam angle that makes them vastly superior).....and the American Alpine Club is holding gala dinners to give 35 yr olds 'lifetime achievement awards,' but no one even knows the name of the guy that invented Totems, a product that literally reinvented the most iconic rock climbing device.

Weather's clearing in the Valley, bet Parkline will be tshirt weather in a couple hours. Woot Woot!
Erik Sloan, owner, Yosemitebigwall.com RockclimbYosemite.com

Erik Sloan wrote: So all the beginner trad climbers I meet in Yosemite have other cams, and have never heard of Totems. So would you agree that we, as a climbing community, do not care about the safety of new climbers? If Totem cams are 200 - 300% better and safer than the other cams, wouldn't we have a responsibility to make this info available to new climbers.

So many hypotheticals in this, Erik. So few empirical facts. POOT POOT.

Erik Sloan wrote: If Totem cams are 200 - 300% better and safer than the other cams, wouldn't we have a responsibility to make this info available to new climbers.

Keep in mind they are also 200 - 300% more expensive than other cams.  It's usually hard enough for people getting into trad to drop $300 or for a set of cams, let alone $600-$700. What's safer, six C4s on your rack or three totems? (Which I think just goes to show that saying they are 200% safer is a meaningless statement).

All I wanted was to know when Totems were stocked! See ya...

I wish Sloan was 200-300% quieter.

Erik Sloan wroteIt's such a joke - there's a thread right now called 'new bd cam,'....

I think there's also a thread called "Totem Watch thread," and it might even be longer.....

200%-300% better is a joke. There are no numbers or anything to back any of this up. That statement doesn't mean anything...

We could say that because the force is applied directly in line with the cam lobes, that they walk significantly less than the standard style of cam and are less likely to move in flaring or uneven placements.

We could also say that 99% of the time this isn't important because you should be able to learn to place your gear correctly. I do a fair bit of aid climbing, and there have been times when I have been real happy to use my totems because they were more solid in very irregular, less-than-ideal placements. That said, regular cams are what I reach for, most of the time because... they work and it doesn't matter 99% of the time!
(because we're talking about numbers that mean something, I get that 99% based on my guess that maybe 1 in every 100 of my cam placements were in locations where a totem could have potentially been better. Honestly, it's probably less than that in sandstone and quartzite where more even cracks are the norm.)

My typical solution is to just place gear so that I'm not afraid of it walking into a crap spot or maybe avoiding flaring locations for gear. I've only ever had one cam blow and that was because I placed it between a wall and a detached block and a totem cam wouldn't have done crap to stop that.

But I dunno, I'm probably going to die because sometimes I would rather reach for my ultralight mastercams and camalots than my totems...

_________________________

Additional ranting:

Most businesses spend around half of their revenue creating some product and around half of their revenue on advertising, marketing, shipping and all the other logistics that are necessary for a business to run. Totem is a small company and it sounds like they don't have the capital, resources (or maybe desire?) to expand so quickly.

Someone mentioned here, that they just invested in a new manufacturing facility. I'm also starting to see them sponsor more athletes and create more media content around their products. It takes a ton on time and energy to reorganize your company and reprioritize your expenses.

I wish them the best because they have a good product and it'll be cool to see them with more R&D money. Maybe they'll figure out ways to make the totem design "ultralight"? Maybe they'll figure out different manufacturing processes to make them cheaper? Cool things could happen.