Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
| Messages 1 - 58 of total 58 in this topic |
Ashrogers
Gym climber
Arizona
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 16, 2018 - 06:53am PT
|
What useless gear did you buy?
We all have some useless stuff to complain about
|
|
Moof
Big Wall climber
Orygun
|
|
|
Jul 16, 2018 - 07:08am PT
|
Paid way to much for some Colorado Nutco I-beam chocks to look pretty on my shelf.
|
|
Scole
Trad climber
Zapopan
|
|
|
Jul 16, 2018 - 08:36am PT
|
I bought a Tri Cam years ago after being told that "You cannot climb Magic Mushroom without one". I climbed the route with Nadim Melkonian and we never even saw where you could place one, much less need one. Its been in my collection of useless gear (like figure 8s) for thirty years, and I have still never found a need for it.
|
|
couchmaster
climber
|
|
|
Jul 16, 2018 - 09:25am PT
|
I once bought a "Buddie". It was worthless as pro, and too big for a keychain. (borrowed great pic off Stephan)
2 lobes BAD, 4 lobes GOOD....
|
|
Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
|
|
|
Jul 16, 2018 - 09:27am PT
|
1) In 1975/1976 purchased a Peck “Cracker”, I believe it was called, a perfectly cylindrical nut from Britain with a knurled surface and a very stiff cable. Mostly it just fell out of placements.
2) Next up, 1977, bought a Forrest Titon, anodized green which indicated its size, about like a #6 or #7 hex. Used it as an up-slot for a belay on the Thunderbird wall in the Palisades, in shattered rock where it fit right in, and that was probably the last time I placed it.
3) Found one of those SMC Cam Locks, 1978, sized like a #9 hex, carried it on my rack for a while until a buddy placed it in a climb called Super Roof at JT, where the rope got stuck behind it and the rope had to be cut. Later on, just for a little salt in the wound, Lechlinski handed me the yellow Mammut rope shard and the nut after he cleaned it.
4) Also wound up with one of those gold anodized Saddle Wedges, about like a #6 stopper, which was designed mostly to get stuck as far as I could tell.
5) Didn't actually strap in to my Whillans ball buster harness very long either … switched to a 2" tubular swami after about a year or so, in 1978, and last used it on The Nose in 1979. Did however, take probably my longest fall in it!
6) The Snowdon Curver ice ax, bought in 1979, used from a buddy who'd moved on, a tool which lots of alpinists used in the late 70s, had such a radical droop that it was most notable for its propensity to plate the ice when removed. We called it the "plate maker". (Perhaps, as a neophyte, I was over placing it.) It did have a pretty cool innovation at the bottom of the orange fiberglass shaft: a bulbous area which somewhat marginally prefigured those pinky finger catches on modern leashless tools. Actually saw that innovation on a much earlier wooden tool on display in a Chamonix climbing museum.
7) A sleeping bag by a company called “Wiggies”, I believe, with synthetic fill and no baffles. Cold from the get go and the fill quickly became displaced.
8) Had a Trailwise "Fitzroy" tent, with a somewhat innovative freestanding A-frame design. Was on the heavy side, and though generally a decent offering, something to do with the flame retardant treatment on the fabric prompted the thing to rot out rather early in its life span.
9) Jansport frame pack: Rather than being welded, the frame used aluminum fittings at the junctures, with nylon sleeves where the fittings mated with the frame components, and secured with aircraft nuts. It squeaked while walking down the trail. Put quite a few miles on it, and it squeaked annoyingly the entire time. Shoulder strap foam was soft open cell rather than firm closed cell, and more suited to feeling comfy in the gear shop than carrying heavy loads. Should have purchased a Kelty. Regardless, the soft pack revolution eclipsed both.
10) But the worst by far were the molded EBs with bulbous front toes. All you had to do was lift your heel when pointing toes straight in on edges and you were off! I have no idea what I did with them. Probably went straight into the trash.
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
|
|
|
Jul 16, 2018 - 12:17pm PT
|
Those SMC cams were bogus, not that I paid for them. Still have a couple like new.
I never went anywhere without a #1 and 2 Titon. Liked the bigger ones better than Hexes.
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
Jul 16, 2018 - 12:55pm PT
|
Geez...it takes two rolls to do the work of my regular tp, i’m going broke!
|
|
Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
|
|
|
Jul 16, 2018 - 04:01pm PT
|
straight off of Mountain Reject?
The Buddy!(I've got 1)
thats got to be a clear notch above useless
compared to hexs
& Teetons, both of which I fell on while climbing 5.10-11
|
|
johntp
Trad climber
Little Rock and Loving It
|
|
|
Jul 16, 2018 - 05:04pm PT
|
A few Titons bitd.Placed one maybe once.
Roger that. Stupid things didn't stick worth a damn. Tube chocks were better. Which ain't saying much.
|
|
hooblie
climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
|
|
|
Jul 16, 2018 - 05:15pm PT
|
the weight of 16 plastic grocery bags ... negligible. filling them with snow and burying them
doubled up as deadmen to secure a tent fly seemed trivial and worked wonderfully.
digging them out after the disturbed snow set up was no mean feat.
ignore the tip, don't do it ... i'll hunt you down if you fail
|
|
Gunkie
Trad climber
Valles Marineris
|
|
|
Jul 17, 2018 - 06:01am PT
|
...where do I start?
|
|
justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
|
|
|
Jul 17, 2018 - 08:25am PT
|
I didn't actually buy it but Dirtineye (RIP) did. He called it "the most expensive key-chain ornament he ever bought"
I call it the Barbie-cam.- it hangs on my keys now. A crack with the exact specifications that will actually hold this piece does not exist anywhere in nature BTW.
PS: i have actually climbed a few things where a tricam was a pretty awesome piece to have. We keep a pink and black. The rest are useless.
|
|
go1dens4
Trad climber
Melbourne, FL
|
|
|
Jul 17, 2018 - 11:18am PT
|
I <3 tricams, so useful in horizontal flares... pink, red, brown & blue... Anyway useless - #2 bigbro...
|
|
johntp
Trad climber
Little Rock and Loving It
|
|
|
Jul 17, 2018 - 11:28am PT
|
What about the old teradactyls (as I remember they were nicknamed "knucklebusters")? And the Forrest/Lowe tube picks?
|
|
AP
Trad climber
Calgary
|
|
|
Jul 17, 2018 - 11:30am PT
|
Pterodactyls were pretty useless for waterfalls but made a decent 2nd tool for big alpine climbs. You could really wail on pins.
|
|
Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
|
|
|
Jul 17, 2018 - 05:21pm PT
|
Big bros and hexes
Although some would disagree
Lol
|
|
Rexi
climber
|
|
|
Jul 17, 2018 - 05:32pm PT
|
This sucker. Absolutely useless piece of gear. Hassle to open and so forth. Or i´m just not smart enough to get along with it. Anyway, haven´t found any advantage of this design over a traditional locked biner.
|
|
johntp
Trad climber
Little Rock and Loving It
|
|
|
Jul 17, 2018 - 06:24pm PT
|
This sucker.
Is that for reelz or a photo-shop? Looks ridiculous.
|
|
Trashman
Trad climber
SLC
|
|
|
Jul 17, 2018 - 06:38pm PT
|
Tricams. Wish I could find the photo of all the booty ones I’ve cut up over the years.
No I won’t give them to you, you’ll just get the damn things stuck in the fingerlocks I cleaned them out of in the first place(after blowing my send). Something tells me I’ll be saying the same about totems soon enough(finicky bullshit that people who can’t place gear claim is indispensable).
Edit to add: Harumpf!(guess I’ve hit that point)
|
|
Off White
climber
Tenino, WA
|
|
|
Jul 17, 2018 - 06:41pm PT
|
I had a Ny-Chock way back in the day. Black cylinder with tapered ends and a through slot with webbing in it, sort of a plastic version of a Peck Cracker. I think it only came in one size. Wasn't exactly worthless, there was a perfect place for it on The Stairs at Mission Gorge, pretty much everyone's first 5.3 lead at the scruffy local San Diego crag. Long gone the way of the zephyr, it's the thing in the top of this picture pilfered from teh internets.
|
|
Da-Veed
Big Wall climber
Bigfork
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2018 - 10:19am PT
|
Yep, #7 Tricam!
Thought it would back up my "big cams" and at the time much cheaper, I think I place it a few time as a novelty. I guess if you found the right placement it would be bomber as passive. I used to use the pink through blue a lot and always loved getting the perfect placement with the smaller versions. This thing though is better used for a wind chime or a weapon!
|
|
justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2018 - 12:37pm PT
|
@ Daveed:
Although I've never used it climbing... Krull here makes an excellent home defense weapon.
Didn't pay for this either BTW... it was Bridwell's... so for sentimental reasons we keep it around to bludgeon any unfortunate intruders.
@ExCon: Steve haston swears by the one on the right
Does he by any chance have 6 fingers on his right hand?
|
|
Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2018 - 01:04pm PT
|
Little tiny brass nuts. Very specialized. Used one once and unnecessarily on Freak Bros. Dome, JT.
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2018 - 01:28pm PT
|
Pterodactyls were pretty useless for waterfalls
Maybe if yer a knuckle dragger! What else was there at the time?
|
|
Cragar
climber
MSLA - MT
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2018 - 01:34pm PT
|
slider nuts
wall hammock
bod harness
|
|
Da-Veed
Big Wall climber
Bigfork
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2018 - 01:49pm PT
|
Nice justthemaid! I would keep that too.
Another item I have carried in mountaineering and big wall climbing and never used is the tri bloc...
Good for crevasse self rescue and dropped ascenders. I never complained about having these little guys on my harness!
Also a nice addition to the wind chimes!
|
|
perswig
climber
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2018 - 05:12pm PT
|
Wookey Shovel Pack.
Construction is beautiful and it's rugged kit, but it's just ... weird.
Sits too high when you're skinning, rubs the back of your neck and kinda crowds the pole push (maybe mine is just sized too large).
If packed light, you might as well go with a lumbar pack; if packed heavy, it throws off your balance on the down and given the design you can't alter where it sits at all.
I keep trying to come up with a way to use it. Best I can come up with would be letting an 11C hump mortar rounds and the tube.
Or maybe bricks up a set of stairs.
Dale
|
|
JMC
climber
the land of milk and honey
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2018 - 09:12pm PT
|
More than I can recall. Ebay was a good source for both b uying and selling sh*t that proved to be useless or at teh very least, not worth using or carrying around. Some winners(losers). By the early 2000s, I got a little wiser, so most useless crap I experienced was 20 years ago:
- a 5-in-1 or 6-in-1 fleece/nylon hood/balaclava. Bought at sport chalet in the early 90s, was on sale for a good reason. Too heavy, to hot, too bulky for So Cal winters. Maybe if I was a sled dog in the Yukon.
- most tricams. WTF was I thinking. Some propaganda about them fitting in pockets at Courtright. I only climbed at Courtright on one trip, so why the hell did I need these things? Saw a pink stuck at the start of the Whitney East Face Route, a good place to abandon one.
- Koflach Arctis Vario(?) boots. Neither skied nor climbed well. Just about every plastic boot for that matter. Thank god for the leather boot revolution.
- sliding nuts. In the late 90s. Totally unnecessary.
- boxes of condoms. After the first couple of times, neither of su would want to use them, so they would silently dessicate. I don't have any bastards or vermin in my jizz, so maybe all were useless?
- Nuts on cord. floppy, bulky. looked good, but other than that, sell them to some gear whore.
- TNF himalayan jacket for Sierra winters. It seems that the Palisades and Lee Vining inteh winter do not get cold enough. on to eBay.
There is more I am sure, that I have blocked from my memory in shame of havig bought it in the first place.
|
|
Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
|
|
|
Jul 18, 2018 - 09:18pm PT
|
Many of the items mentioned are specialized gear. Tricams, Ball Nuts, Sliders, small hexes...
Often such devices will be solid when no other gear is. The rest of the time they're junk.
|
|
justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2018 - 05:21am PT
|
OK- just remember one that was NOT a specialized piece of gear that I did pony up for and was totally disappointed.
Misty Mountain's Gorge Pack.
https://mistymountain.com/shop/climbing/climbing-packs/gorge-pack/
LOVE Misty Mountain harnesses, - I won't buy anything else so I was trying to support them, but that pack was the weirdest, most useless uncomfortable thing I've ever purchased in my life. It's a one-size deal so you need to be right size. The draw-string would never close correctly. It was top load only and a total PIA to get stuff in and out. Straps were sewn on in a way that made it unbalanced. I could go on.
Lesson learned- don't but without trying on in person. Sold it cheap to a noob after a few months.
To their credit- I see they have redesigned it with a zipper (it was top-load only before) added some gear loops and pocket. They also expanded their pack selection.
|
|
Gunkie
Trad climber
Valles Marineris
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2018 - 05:53am PT
|
One example of many: 1st generation Fire' climbing shoes, circa summer of 1983. Bought them really really tight; gave them away a few months later after they stretched out about 4 sizes (well, it felt that way). Was wearing heavy wool socks at the end just to keep them on my feet.
|
|
Mark Force
Trad climber
Ashland, Oregon
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2018 - 06:35am PT
|
Big Bros and hexes
Big bros work well once you left the feel of them. Hexes are a particularly elegant and nuanced tool - not so good for Indian Creek - otherwise a wonderful tool for the trained hand and eye. Like a fine axe, a pleasure to use.
|
|
Moof
Big Wall climber
Orygun
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2018 - 10:33am PT
|
My Big Bros have been placed about a half dozen times total, mostly contrived placements.
Hexes are region specific, crappy in parallel cracks, great in funky v-slots and erratic cracks. I often racked the three biggest WC ones, which bailed me out a few times. The start of Double Cross in Jtree is a great example. You can get an iffy cam in the runnel, a shitty nut below that, or you can slot a slammer hex vertically (sling sticking straight out of the wall). Just slot your fist as a meat stopper above that and you can pull the opening move to slot a great cam above with no fear of ground fall.
|
|
phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2018 - 01:26pm PT
|
I bought one of those gear slings with all the extra plastic loops on it. Theoretically it seemed like a good idea. In practice, I hated using the thing and stopped using it pretty quickly.
|
|
Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2018 - 01:51pm PT
|
Gunkie added:
One example of many: 1st generation Fire' climbing shoes, circa summer of 1983. Bought them really really tight; gave them away a few months later after they stretched out about 4 sizes (well, it felt that way). Was wearing heavy wool socks at the end just to keep them on my feet. Sacrilege! Ha ha!
They ushered in the sticky rubber revolution fer cryin' out loud!
My first pair were a size too big: so I put chunks of closed cell foam (think ensolite pad) behind my heels to shove my toes forward into the toe box.
They didn't edge very well, but were still a vast improvement over EBs.
And yes, they were un-lined, so the leather stretched ...
|
|
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Social climber
Wilds of New Mexico
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2018 - 02:51pm PT
|
I bought a set of these thinking they would be the bees knees. Alas, they never seemed to work for me. Maybe in some other part of the world...
I actually have used the #7 tri-cam frequently derided on this thread! Back in the day it was a poor man's substitute for big cams for me. Looking up at some 5.10+ offwidth most of us would rather have a sketchy 7 than nuthin!
|
|
Concerned citizen
Big Wall climber
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2018 - 06:37pm PT
|
I wish to defend Tricams; I understand that many people found them difficult to place, relegating them to "useless" status, but I want to offer my defense within a personal historical record that might be of broader interest on this forum. I started climbing in 1969, relying on pitons, and then went to university in England where I fumbled with nuts.
Clean climbing with nuts had taken hold in the US when I returned, and for many years I did my modest free climbing using nuts that were mostly wishful thinking. The idea of hanging from a nut was unthinkable, and I doubt that many of my placements could have held. Certainly there were experts active from the start of that era, but there were (and still are) many in our community whose passive placements do not provide serious protection. I am not proud to confess that ineptness, but I did not know better and I failed to do better for many years.
My long-time climbing partner had committed to Tricams and developed extraordinary skill in their placements. The experience when we next climbed together (in Yosemite and Tuolomne) was an epiphany. I was in awe of his passive placements. For the first time in my life I would look at a placement (one of his, not one of mine!) and say "you could hang a Volkswagen from this piece and there is no way that nut will move." It changed my outlook as a climber, and it was centered on the sublime placements that were possible, in his hands, with Tricams. (Of course, pink Tricams had already demonstrated their perfect fit for horizontal cracks in my home area, the Gunks.)
While my life-changing experience centered on Tricams, a few years later I learned that the greatest divide between "wishful-thinking" placements and "you-can-stake-your-life on it" placements is big-wall aid climbing with bounce testing. My 12-year old son and I signed up for the five-day YMS aid climbing course culminating in an ascent of the Washington Column. We were indoctrinated in the necessity of weighting placements and bounce testing them before moving our daisy. This was the second time (after the Tricam experience) that we felt, physically, that these were passive placements that were not going to move or drop or rattle around or pull out. It was a revelation, and became the basis for our subsequent big wall ascents and the standard we apply to protection for free climbing.
I mention this because a portion of our climbing population remain uncertain over their placements, both with passive pieces and with cams. People who have never tested their placements are groping their way blindly, as did I before the Tricam experience and the revelation of bounce testing.
|
|
Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2018 - 06:57pm PT
|
In my experience, using a tri-cam where a regular nut will do is the situation wherein they get stuck.
It's the horizontal placement scenario where they excel.
|
|
DanaB
climber
CO
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2018 - 08:00pm PT
|
Hexecentrics.
I had some the firs few years when I started, but in the last 45 years, climbing in seven countries and can't remember how many states, east west, south and so on, I never once said - if only I had hex. right now. Never.
|
|
Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
|
|
|
Jul 19, 2018 - 08:19pm PT
|
X, As you pointed out - my mid-evil looking Tri-cams useful life expired before the recall for me,
but
I used them, and any thing that I could get my hands on; railroad spikes, "Carriage Bolts" & my favorite, flat iron(?) hooks, originally used in opposed pairs, to hang lights off I-beams over the school stage.(1975-9)
theses blunt "J" shaped hooks had a series of holes in the flat 4inch -upper part, that allowed cord to be tied thru - the hook & 1st inch were burly.
I banged them in, placed them, in all manner of cracks & in their original paired configuration acting like opposed, or scissored sides that when pulled down on, drawing the 2 together, closing the hooks by the weight applied in a downward direction. (I'll look for pix...I am not going "bin diving", when I do, I'll take some pictures)
|
|
Da-Veed
Big Wall climber
Bigfork
|
|
|
Jul 20, 2018 - 07:34am PT
|
Even though I posted the Yellow Tricam as a useless piece of gear, I do love them through blue! They just get clunky and hard to place in the bigger sizes.
My first lead fall was on Gandalf's Grip up at Broughton Bluffs in the Portland area, just before the mantle I placed a red tricam in a diagonal crack, got onto the mantle and took a swan dive backwards, the old reliable red held the fall and since then they have a place on my rack.
That wide little bit under his cam holds a blue Tricam perfectly! Thats Moonshine Dihedral at Smith Rock.
|
|
Trashman
Trad climber
SLC
|
|
|
Jul 20, 2018 - 09:34am PT
|
^ classic example of what drives me nuts about the tricams proselytizers. You know what else fits perfectly there? An slcd that isn’t fiddley, takes less time to place and clean, and is less likely to get stuck.
I get it, sometimes unique climbs take unique pro. I’ve been tempted grab a tube chock or the smallest bro for climbs like Flying Buttress at vedauwoo, much less likely to get pushed into the crack at the lip than an slcd. Doesn’t mean either are a better choice on the rack than a #4 C4, just that I can think of a rare example where they would be desirable, kinda like most tricam justifications.
Edit to add, no specific knock on Da Veed intended, just a convenient example of the “conventional wisdom” re tricams that drives me nuts.
|
|
Cragar
climber
MSLA - MT
|
|
|
Jul 20, 2018 - 10:04am PT
|
I made fun of tri-cams until that pink placement getting to the Kor roof and even after that I took 'em off my rack for the Sierra. After climbing in Blodgett I realized a pink and red were quite handy and I ate crow again but this time with a side of choss and bottomed out horizontals.
|
|
bchains
Trad climber
Bay Area, CA
|
|
|
Jul 20, 2018 - 10:23am PT
|
Tricams ---- when you need one it's already there waiting for you.
|
|
Cragar
climber
MSLA - MT
|
|
|
Jul 20, 2018 - 10:30am PT
|
^^^^^hehehe one of the more popular fixed pieces out there, at least in the 90's...
|
|
Da-Veed
Big Wall climber
Bigfork
|
|
|
Jul 20, 2018 - 10:45am PT
|
Yeah I get it, its more of a novelty placement. I would place them when I had a chance. Although I remember a solid placement on Skull Queen in that upper crux pitch that took the red perfectly, better than a cam. Its one of those things that if your are hauling around with you, you might as well use them!
|
|
klaus
Ice climber
6th and Mission
|
|
|
Jul 20, 2018 - 02:17pm PT
|
Silent Partner
|
|
Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
|
|
|
Jul 20, 2018 - 02:46pm PT
|
ok, went to the bins, it had been a few years. Its 90 degrees out, in the attic? who knows, I wasn't staying long. . . .
I could lay a hand on a single SMC Cam Lock, where would I have left those??
So many real good pieces of gear were made obsolete by the mid-90s.
But I never bought into kirks cams? those round wired nuts?
and while I had the 1st sliders nuts that ran in a fixed groove, they were no match for Quikies? then, rock n rollers & eventually ball nuts, when you needed that thin gear, mostly, you were not falling!
A string of springs and things,after a pitch was sent, looked good, seemed like it might have held a fall, not many folks I know tried to find out.
Tri-cams are good for what they are good for,1st, particularly speaking form my experience in the Gunks, horizontal placements, They worked great in vertical pods for sure & between ice & rock. I fixed them on routes next to tatt and rust on purpose, my wifes key fob is a .5
The #7 is not that big. & the#5, which is not big at all, the same size as an #11 hex,got used a lot. I had 2 or 3 #11s,And 14 pieces on the rack, kinda still do. I had 4 racks good to go if you include the bigger tri cams. If you led 10s in the 70s, the big stuff would stay on the ground.
but The sound of COW BELL, replaced the pure ring of hammer & pin.
it is clear from the wear I used the #7 Tri-cam , the #6? looks fresh.
|
|
healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
|
|
|
Jul 20, 2018 - 03:28pm PT
|
Well, I can't say anything bad about Peck Crackers because a #2 saved my life in Eldo one time.
I carried an #7 Titon sewn on a shoulder sling and used it all the time, but really ever carried any of the other sizes.
Only cared for Tricams back East and then only modded to stiffen the sling.
SMC Camlocks - worse than worthless.
Kirk's Kams on a swivel - we called them "Swivel 'O Death"
Possibly the very worst however were Trinuts - utterly and hopelessly useless.
|
|
justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
|
|
|
Jul 21, 2018 - 07:50am PT
|
Concerened Citizen: I wish to defend Tricams...
OK.. I'll admit I have a weird fondness for them too. One of my mentors swore by them. I actually found them pretty useful climbing back east where there are horizontals and pods with mini- pods inside. They work well at J-Tree in those weird cracks that sort of have "lips" on the front. I've used (some East-coaster's) titons with that style of crack as well.
Somewhere around here I have pics of Mr.E and I doing all-tricam ascents of the cracks at Dairy Queen just for shit's and giggles one day.
Living here on the Eastside they just don't work for this type of climbing... (full set of every size over the pink is up for sale if anyone needs any of them) - and now there's a new set of Totems in the house... so pretty much every piece of gear we own feels useless by comparison.
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 chiselling 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 "Pinky" Danforth
Edit @ Dingus... Damn....
|
|
Ashrogers
Gym climber
Arizona
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 16, 2018 - 12:43am PT
|
Many of the items mentioned above: tricams, ball nuts, sliders, never used a wall hammock too, but might be a good thing tho.
|
|
Don Paul
Social climber
Washington DC
|
|
|
Aug 16, 2018 - 06:14am PT
|
Nothing better than tri cams, hard to remove sometimes they work so well. I bought a weird square camming device for wide cracks that's stored away and too hard to explain. The tetons are too heavy and made of steel, but not really a bad design imo
|
|
NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
|
|
|
Aug 16, 2018 - 10:31am PT
|
Gear I bought and never used: a fifi hook, plastic REI pulleys designed to go over carabiners for light-weight hauling. Screamers.
I've actually carried the screamers with me on a few climbs but never actually used them. And I never prioritized time to get into aid climbing so have had minimal use of my aiders and jugs. I haven't oiled my hammer and inserted the little wedge yet to actually make use of it- the few times I've used a hammer it was someone else's.
I think I will use the hammer in the future, as well as the bolt drilling kit that Mucci was awesome enough to give me a few years back.
edit: Just remembered- actual protection-wise, the worst thing I ever bought was the smallest sized hexes. They are pretty much like nuts, because the steel cable makes them too finicky and requiring an absolutely perfect crack shape and size to use them with actual camming action. So I just never really used them.
|
|
Moof
Big Wall climber
Orygun
|
|
|
Aug 16, 2018 - 03:06pm PT
|
BD Nforce ascenders, awful bits of junk that work excellent under the most ideal circumstances and fail miserably everywhere else.
Tibloc, used once.
Chalk ball, give me loose chalk any day.
Kong Blockroll, too heavy for a paper weight, or any other use really.
Folding helmet, cool idea if your head is wider than it is long.
Heavy weight hiking boots, what was I thinking?!
|
|
NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
|
|
|
Aug 16, 2018 - 04:58pm PT
|
Heavy weight hiking boots, what was I thinking?!
+1 this was most expensive of the things that were most unuseful even for their intended purpose.
|
|
Trashman
Trad climber
SLC
|
|
|
Aug 16, 2018 - 05:10pm PT
|
Hah Moof, I’m a frequent BD defender, but those nForce’s were terrible. As you alluded to, they actually work great on a free hanging fixed line, but terribly/dangerously on anything else.
Interestingly, the only other products/projects of theirs that I can compare ended up advancing the industry in the end. The Pitbull tele binding had fatal design flaws, but was later copied as the Hammerhead and had a great life while the subsport was popular.
The other was a Woodward ultralight ledge w input from Deuce that never made it to market(and shouldn’t have). IIRC there was something like the curved corners that eventually made it into the D4(though much inferior). The initial implementation tacoed easily and the cam buckles tended to slip as one attempted to sleep with a creeping sense of unease.
|
|
| Messages 1 - 58 of total 58 in this topic |
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!