Tricams?

If you climb in a place with lots of horizontals, very textured uneven cracks (such as congamorite rock), or where the rock has small pockets, tricams excel and can be some of the best pro you can get.  Outside of those situations, their usefulness drops significantly.  I'm very pro-tricam because of where I climb.

Bill Lundeen wrote: I'd love to know the age of the folks here commenting that don't like tricams… I would bet they tend to be younger.  My first serious fall on gear (serious because it would have been bad news to my anatomy) was  on a pink Tricam that was the only piece I could get in this terribly flared crack on Mt Lemmon in S. Arizona. Tried a camming unit--no. Tried a nut--no. Pink Tricam went in AND it was my first and only piece.  I stepped up and fell.  It held.  I was thankful.  I became a believer.  They are still on my rack.  

I'll bet an offset cam would have gone in. Sure, they are specialty pieces, but I'd happily pay for the convenience of a camming unit.

Bill Lundeen wrote: I'd love to know the age of the folks here commenting that don't like tricams… I would bet they tend to be younger.  My first serious fall on gear (serious because it would have been bad news to my anatomy) was  on a pink Tricam that was the only piece I could get in this terribly flared crack on Mt Lemmon in S. Arizona. Tried a camming unit--no. Tried a nut--no. Pink Tricam went in AND it was my first and only piece.  I stepped up and fell.  It held.  I was thankful.  I became a believer.  They are still on my rack.  

Hey Bill, glad to hear your first Tricam fall was not injurious....how easy was it to get out afterward?

I'm 53, and my old rack had pink/red/brown Tricams. I owned but never carried the two blue ones.

As I got better at leading, I found myself using Tricams less and less because I got better at spotting other places to put pro. I don't own any now.

Getting the damn things out was always the problem in my eyes. I am good at placing and removing, because I practiced placing on the ground. But most people suck at it, especially if they are climbing at their limit. Cams/nuts are easy by comparison for the uninitiated.

They are at times useful in horizontals at the Gunks:

Buck Rio wrote: 
As I got better at leading, I found myself using Tricams less and less because I got better at spotting other places to put pro. I don't own any now.

This is my experience as well.  The gunks is supposed to be the best place for them and the only time in the last two years I placed one was with someone else's rack at an anchor.  When I was first leading in the gunks I placed them all the time, but as the grades got harder and I got better at understanding gunks-gear, I stopped even thinking about needing them.  

True, TriCams can be a bitch to get out...ESPECIALLY if your second doen't know how.  (a short "show and tell" before climbing can save much aggravation later !  )

BUT, for the leader...it's simple, they can be placed where nothing else can, or where anything else placed is nothing more than "psychological protection". By far and away the Pink seems most useful, followed by the red.  By the time you get to brown and black, usually a cam or nut will do. (but not always, especially in "solution pocket holes" where tricams "shine".)

Would I buy 'em before a rack of nuts ..probably not, but I think I'd buy the pink, and maybe the red, along with a rack of cams. Both will cost you less than 1 cam.

Malcolm Daly wrote: Any piece that has its own ode it’s weight in Tricams:

Ode To A Pink Tricam
Oh Pink's the one I love to place
when I'm alone way up in space
on some exposed and airy face.

They sink where other gear won't go.
When all you've got is manky pro,
This tricam saves your butt from woe.

But it's often hard to get them out;
They make your second moan and shout
And wave his nut tool 'round about

But that's why you're the one on lead
Your problems are a different breed
As long as someone does the deed...

"Oh quit your whimpering," you rumble,
"And get it out or there'll be trouble"
"Get to work now, on the double!"

Although it sometimes takes a while,
They do come out with vim and guile,
(or chiseling and curses vile.)

Pink will do what all the rest.
Won't do when they're put to the test.
Oh pink tricams are just the best!

-- Charles Danforth

Thanks for this. I laughed hot coffee out my nose

Bill Lundeen wrote: I'd love to know the age of the folks here commenting that don't like tricams… I would bet they tend to be younger.  My first serious fall on gear (serious because it would have been bad news to my anatomy) was  on a pink Tricam that was the only piece I could get in this terribly flared crack on Mt Lemmon in S. Arizona. Tried a camming unit--no. Tried a nut--no. Pink Tricam went in AND it was my first and only piece.  I stepped up and fell.  It held.  I was thankful.  I became a believer.  They are still on my rack.  

I'd love to know what grade is being climbed by the folks who love tricams... I would bet they tend to be easier.  Also would bet the average pitch takes longer to lead and follow.

nathanael wrote:

I'd love to know what grade is being climbed by the folks who love tricams... I would bet they tend to be easier.  Also would bet the average pitch takes longer to lead and follow.

I'm a bit fuzzy on my present conversions, but personally am definitely consistently climbing British E3 (which should work out to 5.10+/5.11- when a safe lead, or 5.10- when R/X rated).  

I'm not going to pretend that they are consistently quicker and easier to place (or especially clean) than cams. Like any gear, there can be quick and easy placements just as there can be shit stuck placements. However, I will confidently say that there are times when they produce much better placements than anything else, and sometimes the only possible placement.This has saved me from some pretty horrifying runouts before on a multitude of rock types, and I am sure it will again (though I can't specifically speak to their use in Traprock, since I've never climbed in CT).

And, as someone who remembers very carefully budgeting my gear purchases as I assembled a rack, they are definitely very cheap for their utility, particularly compared to doubling up on cams or getting much more specialty pieces like offset cams (which I will confess to having not yet ponied up the cash to acquire). On multi pitch routes with gear anchors, or routes requiring multiple of the cam placements, I've generally found my 5 tricams (and 4 hexes) to very well complement a single set of cams for getting the job done cheaper and lighter than a whole other set of cams.

I guess where I do 75% of my climbing is either straight in cracks or slightly flared crack, and a cam or a nut will work better that a Tricam for that. I have Torque nuts as well, but they are too loud to carry on a lead   unless you need to scare bears.

I do agree that there is that ONE time that you couldn't make anything else work and a Tricam saved the day. Well, I guess I haven't had that day yet.

As many will say, they work in places where nothing else will. They are very useful in anchors, too. Since the smaller ones are light and take up little space, I often carry them instead of a second set of nuts. And that adds versatility, which I like.

Buck Rio wrote: I guess where I do 75% of my climbing is either straight in cracks or slightly flared crack, and a cam or a nut will work better that a Tricam for that.

That's definitely fair, I mostly care about having my tricams on face climbs which, naturally, are very unpredictable in their gear needs.  They've definitely been really nice for limestone pockets and shallow horizontal breaks in the Avon Gorge in England.

A pink tricam and black totem will allow you to lead any route. Even bolted only routes. 

Matt N wrote: A pink tricam and black totem will allow you to lead any route. Even bolted only routes. 

Truth!

The beauty of t'cams is threefold: fit placements where nothing else fits, lightweight and abuse the daylights out of 'em and they're condition remains like Day 1. Wickedly torque a cam or fray/crease nut cables and it remains tweeked. Though not always part of the everyday rack, tricams have their place, esp in the backcountry and alpine where they ride for miles in a pack.

nathanael wrote:

I'd love to know what grade is being climbed by the folks who love tricams... I would bet they tend to be easier.  Also would bet the average pitch takes longer to lead and follow.

My crowd mostly tops-out in the mid-11 to mid-12 range, about half of whom own tricams. As for speedy pitches - situational dependent. Could take awhile to lead a pitch if looking at a flyer or thumping because one doesn't have just the right gear...but would make for quick following without having to pause for cleaning!

I think it was said upthread, but +1 for bringing tricams for anchors in multi-pitch situations. If you want to conserve your cams for the lead and don't want your follower to hate you on account of having to clean tricams while pumping out, just use them for anchors. It's also worth saying that if I ever have to construct an anchor i'm leaving gear behind, I'd be hoping that I had tricams on my rack---they work in parallel and slightly flared cracks and are so much cheaper than cams. 

During my first season leading on my own rack (single set of cams) tricams came with me always and got used a fair bit.  Now with a double rack of cams they don’t always get carried and are used a lot less, but definitely still come with me on multi-pitch and alpine stuff.  They are cheap (relatively) and light (ish) and certainly have their benefits.  

Tri-cams rule! I would carry these with cams and leave the Hexes at home (oh, and of course some nuts too!).
And I agree - a well placed Tri-cam is a religious experience - and I would trust on a fall any day.

Look at this as a value proposition: You can currently buy old generation C4 cams for something like $35 when all is said and done. Tricams are about $20-$25 each.

Most days I'd much rather have one good C4 than two tricams. Not to disparage tricams, they have their place, but you've only got 6 cams. Put your investment there. 

They work. I've placed them, no falls. And seen them stuck REAL good!