Totems

Are they worth it if so why. Thinking about getting some but want to justify the price over other cams

Totems good

Generally speaking I’ve found that cams have incredible longevity if you take good care of them. I’m still using many if the first cams I bought in 2008, and will occasionally rotate in cams I inherited from the 90’s if I need triples/quads of a size. The point is, even if a particular cam brand is only marginally better than a competitor, I think it’s a worthwhile investment. 

0.4 Black Diamond C4  costs $85 new on backcountry.com. The BD z4 is $89. A blue Totem is $95.

Yes. It’s worth the ten dollars. 

They work as offsets. People used to commonly climb walls in Yosemite with a rack of offset cams. Now with totems you have a rack of offset cams and normal cams in one. Also they don't really come out when you put them in, even the tiny black totem.  They're badass. 

Look, people climbed bad ass shit long before cams were even invented. Get yer self a set of nuts if price is an issue. Then train hard and you'll be fine. Or a set of metolius cams and you're gold. We're pampered spoiled fucks, why not spend the $cratch on overpriced Totem cams and enjoy yourself before the asswipe politicians get us into a nuclear war (coming soon) and we all suffer greatly? They (Totems) are fucking amazing, so buy or not buy: your choice - they're heavier and more costly than lots of other cams. Take up more room on the rack. I have a set and a half. Love em. Love my Metolius too. Love my Camalots too. 

It's all good, and most of it is unnecessary. 

Jeff Youngwrote:

Totems good

this too:-)

I love how solid totems feel when they’re placed. I’ll personally take a totem placement every day of the week over any other gear at a crux move. The black, blue, yellow and purple sizes are always on my harness. 

We have bounce tested the biggest one in a 30 degree downward flare. It held. Nothing else would even stay there.

Count me as yet another Totem cam fan. Some don’t like the price or how they rack, but I have come to accept both. I will second what someone above said, that they are worth the price premium (IMHO). As to racking, if carrying doubles, I don’t clip both to a gear loop, I clip one to the gear loop and the second on to the carabiner of the first Totem of the same size. When doing the bolted climbs around here that may require a cam here and there, I usually carry 6-7 Totems split between two carabiners on the gear loop—doesn’t take up that much space. They seem to go in weird places, pockets, and flares where my BD cams won’t, and they seem “stickier” than other cams. 

I have used nearly every major model of cam since the original solid stem friends hit the shops in late 1978. All modern cams from major manufacturers are excellent. I currently use Totems as my main cams. I've owned Totems for more than 10 years, using them on roughly 500 routes or perhaps 1000 pitches.

Totem's pros and cons are very well-rehearsed here and elsewhere. I've aided on them in slippy Yosemite granite peg scars and taken decent lobs onto them in awkward limestone pockets that are otherwise hard to protect. They really do stick better than the alternatives. This matters hugely in funky UK trad. climbing, it may be less important if you're only using them on perfect granite or sandstone splitters.

You do need to be aware of the lack of cam stops especially plugging them blindly into pockets or cracks that are deeper on the inside. If you are racking 20+ cams for a single pitch they are slightly bulkier on a harness.

Are they worth paying the extra $ over C4s or alternatives? This is a classic cost-effectiveness (or possibly cost-utility) analysis. I can say they are better for my uses but only you can say it they are better for you and whether this much better is worth their extra cost. This depends on how much you value 15%* extra grip, minus how much their slightly clunky ergonomics devalues them, multiplied by much use you will get from them, compared with how much of your income is allocated to climbing. In my case the answers are respectively "(Critically important and trumps any disadvantages)" x "100 pitches a year", compared with "£ enough". 

If I lost all my gear tomorrow the decision to buy Totems again would be a no-brainer for me. You might feel differently. 

*a made-up number obviously

I know that a lot of people swear by them but I'm on the other side of the fence with Totems and am not a fan. My main gripe with them is that with no rigid stem, I find them a pain to remove from placements especially if the placement is a little over cammed. This it probably because they end up getting used in places that nothing else would work. Also not a fan of how much room they take on my harness. I've got some other gripes with them but these are the main ones...

The black and the blue sizes are the only ones that I might consider buying

Jeff Youngwrote:

Totems good

Until you have to mail them to Spain for new slings.

Cams use a constant log spiral. Metolius uses an angle that optimizes holding power at a sacrifice of some range. BD uses an angle that does the reverse. Wild Country is in between. You pick which you want to emphasize.

Except Totems, which do not use the axle within the spiral. Their wire attachment at the back of the cam gives better holding power (meaning outward force in a fall) than Metolius, and about the same range as a Camalot.

So if I fall and a Camalot pops out, will I be happy that I saved ten bucks, or wish I used a Totem that might have stayed put?

Yes, they're awesome. However they're definitely not absolutely necessary for most people when other cams will get the job done too. 

If you have the budget, I don't think you'll regret having them. 

Paul Piratuswrote:

Until you have to mail them to Spain for new slings.

Move to Spain. Problem solved. (Wink, wink.)

; )

I really like yellow, blue, and black. The larger sizes are a bit floppy for my liking. 

Paul Piratuswrote:

Until you have to mail them to Spain for new slings.

It turned out to be a breeze. The service was outstanding, cost was what you pay for one dinner out. Worth every penny. 

Paul Piratuswrote:

Until you have to mail them to Spain for new slings.

Beyond the hassle of international shipping, the bigger problem is that none(?) of the third party resling services do totems anymore, so if totem has a backlog you’re up a creek.

The larger sizes of Totems are only floppy if you fail to retract the cams before placing.