Anyone have any info on this aid pro? "camhook"

Was looking at some camhook placements, and came across this chaps channel.

Our man hong slemin seems to be doing demo videos of these aid pieces. He demonstrates them against clumsy or ill-sized c4 placements, and proceeds to "aid" on them with the safety of a toprope. I have not seen them placed or used outside of near-maximum range, but it is hard to tell.



They DO look interesting, has anyone any experience or knowledge of these things?

video:

youtube.com/watch?v=FE5SyAT…

What's up with C4 no.4, that only piece on his rack? Sketchy

That's definitely not a camhook. It looks like some kind of cam minus the logarithmic spiral. Prior iterations of the spiral-less cams have been ideas for extended-range cams that ultimately failed. This one looks better designed, with an added benefit of narrower head width. Proceed with caution

Always have to question when they are sitting there on top rope placing gear???

That isn't a cam hook. I don't know what you call it but it looks like half a cam.

A cam hook is...

Haha, yeah I am straight on camhooks.

Is there any chance that the knurled teeth all around the knobs at the end of those beasts actually do represent the logarithmic spiral we are accustomed to trusting?

ninja edit, is there a reason that the c4s et al. are so wide at their larger sizes? He may be on to something with the narrow spacing in-between lobes.

We all shoot for narrow heads on smaller pieces, but that seems to go out the window with the larger ones. Jumbo axles all around.

windexxx wrote:Haha, yeah I am straight on camhooks. Is there any chance that the knurled teeth all around the knobs at the end of those beasts actually do represent the logarithmic spiral we are accustomed to trusting? ninja edit, is there a reason that the c4s et al. are so wide at their larger sizes? He may be on to something with the narrow spacing in-between lobes. We all shoot for narrow heads on smaller pieces, but that seems to go out the window with the larger ones. Jumbo axles all around.

The double axles allow the lobes to flex a bit laterally and this is horribly exaggerated on larger cams. I'd imagine the larger axle helps mitigate this unwanted movement, so that would be my guess on the jumbo axles and maybe also why they leave more space between lobes. OTOH, cracks so shallow that head width matters tend to be much more narrow so head width isn't a huge consideration for large cams. Obviously in placements like the ones in the video it does matter but that isn't quite what cams were designed for.

Kong calls the Gipsy a FRICTIONAL ANCHOR DEVICE. Not exactly the same like the one in the video but it looks a lot more stable than the on in the video

Ahhh double gypsy settles it then. Would rather have one of those.

Our pal hong slemin sticks it into some strange placements.

Nothing you would not be able to hook through.. but it seems to have some versatility.

Most of his placements look like they would be better suited to a more traditional piece you would already have on your rack.

Reminds me of those mickey-mouse jacks that come with small cars these days.

It looks like the "effective camming angle" would vary tremendously depending on how extended the unit is, with most of the range beyond well beyond the bounds of what we see with SLCDs.