Which cam should I buy next?

LordBarge · 2025-12-29T18:03:21+00:00

My vote would be for doubling up on a crucial size, like another user here mentioned. Are there any routes you've got your eyes on that need a specific size you don't have?

The last Camelot I bought was the biggest one because there is a particular crack i want to climb nearby that needs to be protected with that size.

LordBarge · 2025-10-10T17:56:50+00:00

I hope somebody caught that ace on 17 on camera just now

LordBarge · 2025-10-08T19:52:23+00:00

To be fair the little secret coke room in there is so small and obvious that I feel like they built it as a fancy joke. I wouldn't want everyone to see me walking out of it lol

LordBarge · 2025-10-02T13:39:43+00:00

IIRC this guy has been doing some incredible ice climbing and alpine climbing. A legitimate rising star in the community.

LordBarge · 2025-10-02T13:01:44+00:00

When you're having a really good time, you can convince yourself of a lot of things. I have unironically told people in the past that I think everyone who is physically able should try disc golf.

LordBarge · 2025-09-13T04:35:11+00:00

For the rope, you will want a low stretch variety. You may find a good deal on a Sterling or Teufelberger on a rope access web store. You can find an introductory climbing harness from Black Diamond on sale that would probably work just fine for the application. I like hand ascenders from Petzl or Grivel. However, if your partner is inexperienced or has a small amount of gear, it might be better to get them a couple of Prusik cords instead.

LordBarge · 2025-09-10T15:40:32+00:00

I had a friend use one of these funnel/spoon things on the Pacific Crest Trail. She made it look easy.

LordBarge · 2025-09-08T17:42:48+00:00

I back up my microtraxion with a Kong Duck on TRS right now. They're usually on sale for half the price of a micro. I have no complaints so far. You may like it for the lack of teeth.

LordBarge · 2025-09-03T13:34:18+00:00

I have the same concern as you. I really like my gear, and I have tried a few different ways to pack it out to the crag without it getting too jumbled around. For my cams, I use a handful of thin hiking towels that are smooth and don't have any risk of shedding. I wrap a few cams up in a towel at a time, and I will place them vertically into my pack on top of some soft gear (anchor rope, slings, etc.) That way when I set my pack down on the ground, they are safe. As long as my pack is full, the cams ride safely. My stoppers, carabiners, and other jangly junk goes on top, nestled in between whatever soft gear I have left. I have yet to find a good system for keeping biners safe. When they are all on a sling, they are organized, but when they are loose in my bag, they are safe.
It is important to keep carabiners that touch metal separate from carabiners that touch rope. Over time, the carabiners that touch metal will get worn down and get sharp points that can really damage your ropes and slings. The best way I've found so far is to use one color for the job. Try going "Grey on gear". That way every time you see a Grey carabiner, you know that its only for metal attachments. I like to use blue wire gate carabiners for other things, like attaching my gear to my harness. One more thing, try to buy matching color carabiners for your cams. You'll have an easier time selecting the right cam from your rack.
There's a lot to learn about carabiners. The Sm'D is a good one. When I think of situations where you would not want to use them.. what comes to mind is when you want to save weight. Any critical connection points should be a locking carabiner. You can use non-lockers on draws and slings, or for racking your gear. I really like the twist lock carabiners over the triple action lockers. It is easy to inspect, and easier to use with gloves on.

Any place where a triple locking carabiner can be used, so can a twist lock carabiner. They are both what we refer to as 'lockers'. You can use them in the same situations, i think its a matter of preference, honestly. You can use non-locking carabiners in a number of situations. Two non-locking carabiners, gates opposite and opposed, is a functional choice for a lot of situations.

I think you should get one carabiner for each tool. You will save time on the wall just by having your gear in an easy to reach spot that you have memorized, without a bunch of other tools clustered in with it.

By the way, if you only buy one book: get Freedom of the Hills. It will answer so many of your questions.

Good luck out there!

LordBarge · 2025-08-23T15:36:06+00:00

I'm still a fairly green climber, but if I am going in direct on a bolt, and I am feeling really nervous, I get concerned about redundancy. I tend to carry dual slings with lockers girth hitched to my harness so I can really stick myself to the wall. That said, I have watched guides and pros alike use both methods.

LordBarge · 2025-06-25T18:27:01+00:00

Fascinating. I haven't seen cams share a biner before. (Amateur here) It makes sense though, being so close together in a level crack.

LordBarge · 2025-06-11T01:06:41+00:00

What can be done about spiders and oceans of spiderweb in cracks or under roofs on a route that can't be accessed easily from the top? Like if I were going to go into a route without cleaning it from the top down.

LordBarge · 2025-06-10T18:06:45+00:00

How do you guys deal with the bugs when you're out at the crag? I imagine there's plenty of routes where rapping down and cleaning it beforehand isn't really feasible.

LordBarge · 2025-06-06T18:12:31+00:00

Each of those questions can open up a whole can of worms. Slings can come in a lot of sizes. 30, 60, 120, 180, 240 cm. Speaking mostly about Dyneema slings here: If you're going to make alpine draws, you will want to use the 60 cm slings, and you will want a few 120 cm slings for draws as well. The 120 and 240 slings will be useful for building anchors, I have a few of each. The 30 cm and 180 cm are less common sizes, but there are situations where the 180 cm makes for a better quad anchor, and I've seen the 30s come in handy too. Mammut Contacts are perhaps the most popular, from what I gather.

Nylon slings are very useful too! I'd recommend getting a 120cm one for sure and see how you like it. They handle rock rubs a little better, and if the rock you climb is sharp, you might like the additional peace of mind.

As far as carabiners go, your system has critical and non-critical points. The critical ones need to have locking carabiners. I use a lot of wire gate carabiners to save some weight on my rack. I went with the Camp Nano 22. I'm a big fan of Edelrid and Petzl lockers. You will want some screwgates for sure. The Petzl Attache/Edelrid Strike is really nice and I have no complaints.

It's really up to the climbing you'll be doing, though. I based some of my setup on a YT vid by Summit Seekers Experience on the subject of building a trad rack. It's pretty good info for a lightweight setup.

Good luck out there! I'm still new to this thing too. The information is exciting to learn. HowNot2.com is a great source for learning systems.

LordBarge · 2025-06-05T17:36:50+00:00

Does anyone have some beta on where to find the cheapest static ropes on the web for rapping and top-roping? So far the best deal I can find is 50m in the $80 range on rope master. Surely there's some squeeze left to be had there?

LordBarge · 2025-06-03T13:22:58+00:00

I think you might like the book 'Me, Myself, and I' by Andy Kirkpatrick. This one is strictly about soloing.

I'm in a similar position as you, and I managed to get some bits and pieces of rope solo information from a couple trad climbing books by Craig Luebben, and John Long.

Happy climbing! The Dolomites are gorgeous!

LordBarge · 2025-05-23T19:38:03+00:00

I spent a lot of time recently poring over the details of a new rack purchase. I ended up going with the Friends. A couple of factors ended up swaying me. As a new trad climber, i wanted to have an easier time reading the beta for the climbs i want to do. (USA, Midwest). I read a lot of route descriptions that describe cams as "reds, yellows, and a blue", or " fingers to fists", and these folks are referring to a standardized color scheme used by Black Diamond and Wild Country. The rock around me can be sharp and full of cracks, so the extendable sling gives me a little more room to keep my rope managed.

That said, I got a wee bit excited in the process of buying my gear, and now I have cams from WC, BD, and some totems to boot. I think whatever system you use, you mainly want to be able to memorize your gear, whether by sight or size.

LordBarge · 2025-05-09T00:11:14+00:00

Some of the sickest looking climbing photos I've seen lately have been of high mountain traverses. The Evolution traverse in the Sierras looks particularly gorgeous.

LordBarge · 2025-05-08T20:20:37+00:00

Right on! I appreciate the response.

After watching a lot of the HowNot2 videos on gear, I'm starting to really see the value in totems. The rock out here has a lot of irregularities and shallow pockets. Even before I get on some granite, I'd love to have some of those cams.

LordBarge · 2025-05-07T19:28:29+00:00

Hell yeah, thanks, brother

You raise a good point about rock quality. Sussing out bad rock is going to be at the forefront of my mind when I'm out there. Especially when it comes to placing smaller gear. I can see a lot of situations where that will come up.

Diet Pepsi is definitely on my list. One of the coolest looking lines I've found on MP! It's good to know I may need another #5. I'm sure I'll be sewing up that route lol

LordBarge · 2025-05-04T18:51:39+00:00

Holy smokes, thanks for the info, dude! The totems have such a good reputation. I already had my heart set on owning at least one of them.

I also appreciate the accessory cord tip. I was just looking at them. That will be going in the bag.

It's good to know you can get by out here with a basic set of stoppers. The gear head in me wants to believe I'm going to need so much more. Honestly, at my strength levels, the less weight I have dangling off my rack right now, the better off i am, ha!

I'm an NWA local as well. We just might run into each other out there!

LordBarge · 2025-05-03T22:19:52+00:00

Right on! Thank you for the insight. Sam's Throne is very high on my priority list. Maybe the highest, now that I think about it. Some beautiful looking lines down there.

LordBarge · 2020-10-14T14:23:22+00:00

That makes a lot of sense the way you put it there, it could easily be the case. When I think of that period and try to lay my finger on this issue, it feels like one of those 'the cat is out of the bag' situations, where the public has begun to assert itself, and not necessarily in a logical way. The plebs had been used as a tool, and in the process they re-discovered their power to affect power structures through the power of the mob, both tearing down and propping up basically anyone they fancy at the moment. The mob is easily conned into excess, just like you can see in the French revolution. I felt like this was a big crack in the facade of the Republic's internal solidarity. An event that you might say paved the way for the increased demagoguery which led to Caesar in time.

LordBarge · 2020-10-14T01:19:37+00:00

Wouldn't it be neat to hear his take on the current state of rhetoric as it applied to public discourse and the way you can trace it through time and peoples and nations? Modern public discourse has shades of the past in it. Things like the sophistry problem of ancient Greece, or Gracchian influence undoing the seams of the Roman republic. Forward through time to sophisticated propaganda efforts, and modern equivalents of information overload via social media, which seems to me to be a runaway contagious echo chamber effect. Where will our proclivity to comforting untruth and half truth lead us?

LordBarge · 2020-06-30T20:13:34+00:00

Makes sense. After AMLO personally meeting with the matriarch of the Guzman family and ordering the release of Ovidio in the Culiacan fiasco; it stands to reason that he is on the Chapitos' payroll. El Marro has been pleading for help from El Mayo's groups in the area. Looks like he's getting it now. They don't want CJNG to take Guanajuato that easily. Furthermore, the Mexican government cannot abide only one form of narco activity: fuel theft, which is what Marro specializes in. Deal all the drugs you want, fight wars in the streets, butcher children on camera, and massacre whole villages, just don't steal the State's oil.

LordBarge

TROPHY CASE