What do you know about the first Wild Country 1/2 Friend??

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Acer

Big Wall climber
AZ
Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 28, 2010 - 03:43am PT
Looking for info on the Wild Country 1/2 Friends



ß Î Ø T Ç H

climber
Dec 28, 2010 - 04:44am PT
The one on the left looks a bit sketch.
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
Dec 28, 2010 - 08:11am PT
Never saw one before. Was that a prototype that never made it out of england,commercially?
Gunkie

Trad climber
East Coast US
Dec 28, 2010 - 09:51am PT
1/2 Friend protects certain Gunks routes quite nicely. I know that it works great on Disney Point in the Near Trapps. The 1/2 Friend I have is some Russian copy which would probably fail under a stiff breeze anyway. Fortunately, I've never fallen on it.
Rokrover

Trad climber
SB, CA
Dec 28, 2010 - 10:05am PT
Had one like the the lefty above. Titanium stem as I recall.
FRUMY

Trad climber
SHERMAN OAKS,CA
Dec 28, 2010 - 11:00am PT
california special made in the early 80's
groundup

Trad climber
hard sayin' not knowin'
Dec 28, 2010 - 01:18pm PT
DMT- classic! easy come easy go indeed.

I seem to recall cams like the one above would pivot on the stem right where it got bigger. You had to place it so shallow that the stem would likely break if you fell on it.
There's one of them fixed on a climb at Seneca Rocks, somewhere over by "climb and punishment"
Seamstress

Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
Dec 28, 2010 - 01:21pm PT
My husband removed one after 45 minutes of work and promptly threw it into the woods. Stuckkkkkk and love to get stuck.
Happy Idiot

Trad climber
Santa Fe
Dec 28, 2010 - 09:31pm PT
Huh. I have two of them, just like in the OP's pix. (Not on purpose; they came with bulk-purchases of other peoples' used racks).
Never placed them; they look obviously sketch to begin with. They sit on the "Shelf of Misfit Gear."
I had always assumed the stems were Al. Now that I compare them to the stems on my other Friends of similar vintage, the metal's color and patina is indeed different, so maybe they are Ti?....

Please tell me they're rare and valuable??
FRUMY

Trad climber
SHERMAN OAKS,CA
Dec 28, 2010 - 09:38pm PT
I used that home made cam for over ten years never stuck it, never walked out of anything. like all things if you use them when they should be & not when they should not be used.
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
Dec 28, 2010 - 09:40pm PT
A long term partner has a rigid one that size, though it is not WC- it's stamped "Made in Mexico." Seriously. We always joked about it but used it all the time!
groundup

Trad climber
hard sayin' not knowin'
Dec 28, 2010 - 09:44pm PT
Frumy-
That thing was homemade? nice! Some company made similar looking stems for their units. Anyone know who? I had 3 of them, all smaller sizes, and they were notorious among my regular climbing partners. Hard to get use to I guess.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
Dec 29, 2010 - 12:01am PT
The Wild Country 1/2 Friend had a titanium shaft and came out in 1986.
There were thin and thick shaft versions.
See Stephane's post on the last page of this thread:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/809995/Two-Walt-Shipley-made-cams-on-ebay

which also describes other similar small devices made by Rob Oravetz and HB.

[Edit to add:] Marty, the 1986 date and thin/thick is quoting from Stephane's post - I don't have an independent source on that.
martygarrison

Trad climber
Washington DC
Dec 29, 2010 - 12:31am PT
Clint you sure about the 86 date? I thought I got one in the uk in 79 or 80? May be wrong but seems I had one well before 86.
illusiondweller

Trad climber
San Diego, CA
Dec 29, 2010 - 12:35am PT
Remember "Korean Friends"?

I owned a couple.
mucci

Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
Dec 29, 2010 - 12:45am PT
Of Note:

The original prototypes made by Ray and given to friends all had a small diameter trigger bar.

That and most were enscribed with initials and or a name of the owner.


The OP's pic shows the small trigger bar on the left cam.

Was that a coincidence? Did WC copy the original design?

Mucci
martygarrison

Trad climber
Washington DC
Dec 29, 2010 - 01:03am PT
I had the titanium stem one
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Dec 29, 2010 - 01:52pm PT
The thin retractor bars were in production for at least a couple of years under WC and were abandoned about the time that the larger half sizes showed up.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Dec 29, 2010 - 02:17pm PT
Another good cams thread.

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=855501&msg=856565#msg856565
nutstory

climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France.
Dec 30, 2010 - 08:49am PT
Clint: here is what I believe to be the first advertisement for the Wild Country ½ Friend. The first of the two that were marketed in 1986 is the one with the thick titanium stem. The one with the thin stem came later. In 1987, Wild Country marketed the Technical Friends in size #0, #½, #1 and #1½


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