UKC

Hello, I have a bit of a quandary, and there might well be no definitive answer, but interested to hear people's opinion.

At the mo I have the standard set of 6 (small grey to big blue) WC cams (thanks to staff discount) and have a set of 3 DMM Demons in the smaller sizes to double rack the three smaller sizes.

I have the chance to get a set of 3 WC zero friends for a good deal, but can't afford to buy them without sacrificing (selling) something.

So would you:

a) keep the current set up (standard 6 sizes, double racked in the smaller 3 sizes)?

b) sell the doubles and have a set of micro cams and a hence a wider range of sizes but no double racking?

Climbing mainly in Scotland, up to around HVS-ish.

Option 3) sell your body down the local pig and whistle pub and have your cake and eat it.

Sell the doubles, buy the micros, and save up for a set of abalaks as doubles.

He’ll be eating more than just cake. 

I think the doubles are more useful up to about e2ish then above that micros can be very useful. It does depend on the rock type though 

When I designed the double axle WC cams, my intention had been to have only micros up to and including the purple. Unfortunately I was outvoted. Micros are better in every way... bar maybe durability, but it's not much different.

You already have a set of WC cams a d double up on the smaller ones, you climb up to HVS.

Will I get downvotes if I suggest you buy/use some nuts instead? 

Why would you get down voted? They are a totally different type of protection with their own advantages and disadvantages...

Makes sense, cheers

Hehe, I do have a full rack of nuts and a couple of hexes too!

Thanks, interesting that that was never adopted as the standard!

Would love to see some combined micro/dual axle bundles, it'd be a cool option to have!

Dont forget slings .  

My cam rack for mountain crags goes metolius ultra light into dragons into old style friends by choice.

Sell them all and buy totems.

If you can find me a rack of totems for the roughly £270 the nine cams are worth I will have your children

Selling gear is generally a bad idea as whatever you're buying will likely cost significantly more than what you're selling. So unless you have never ending access to discount gear, and can readily buy the doubles again, then keep hold of what you have and just save up for a little while then buy the micros?

Well… have you thusfar needed the doubled ?

if so, you might to have Access to them… but If you are also noticing that you really need/want those micros…. Sell the doubles to yer mate you climb with and buy the micros…and from there on, only climb with mates that can provide you the doubles needed… win win 

I'd go for the wider range. I don't double up on anything and rarely I've needed 2 of the same size cams. On the rare occasion I have had a crack that needed a row of cams a similar size, I've teamed up with another climber with a rack I can pinch from. Usually I find cracks are never perfectly uniform, other gear will generally go in.

I can remember doing a long traverse on a route in Pembrokeshire, Inner Space (HVS 4c) I had a couple of cams and feared a big swing if I slipped but half way through I happened to find a yellow WC cam which saved me.

Fair point! I guess it's just a case of deciding which I'd rather have for the near future

I do often to use the doubles. But the number of times I've been glad to have two purple cams probably equals the number of times I've wished for something just a wee bit smaller than anything I have!

Selling to a mate could work, but they are all probably as skint as me!

Hehe, HVS 4c is a grade that would make me definitely think twice!

Yeah, I guess it's unlikely you'll need need two of the same size, but it's often convenient, especially on 40m+ pitches 

I'm too punter to have a real opinion, but I'd say that unless you find yourself regularly wishing you had something that you don't currently own, I'd keep the doubles if you mostly climb on cam-friendly rock (granite, grit but obviously not in Scotland, etc). You might not need doubles to protect the route, but slotting a bomber cam in is significantly quicker than placing a nut, even if you're gifted with a textbook nut placement.

If you climb on, say, limestone, I'd probably lean towards acquiring the micros.