UKC

Lets say that you have a starting five set of cams (e.g C4's 0.5-3), a set of nuts (1-11), some quickdraws (of varying length), slings, a few screwgates (some for anchors, some for belay) and your belay plate.

What might be the next piece of protection that it's worth it to start looking for in the sales? Smaller stoppers? Offsets? Small Cams (expensive!)? Hexes/Torque nuts?

For climbing in Wales and occasionally in the peaks; finding that I use all of these in roughly equal measure and, of my friends rack, nothing stands out as being super important, it just all gets used.

In reply to neuromancer:

By wales and the peaks, I probably climb most at Tremadog or that area, followed by mixed bits up in snowdonia (quarries, crags in the pass e.t.c).

In reply to neuromancer: smaller nuts or doubles of some of the sizes you think you place most often?

In reply to neuromancer:

If you're not feeling like something is missing I'd stick the money in my piggy bank for a rainy day... Then next time it rains treat yourself to some Offsets

jk

In reply to neuromancer: If you like cracks, I'd go for a bigger cam. Not one of the daddies, say a 3.5 or a 4. If you don't, offsets are probably the way to go.

I've got a set of hexes and the equivalent sized cams, and only ever use the hexes for setting up top-rope anchors. So from personal experience, I'd say you could live without. Unless you have an urge to sound like a Swiss cow.

Or of course, you could get anywhere between 10-20 pints.

In reply to neuromancer: dmm offsets from 1 to 8.

In reply to neuromancer:

Get the biggest cam you can find. No question.

In reply to neuromancer: maybe it's just me, but I find my C4 0.4 gets a hell of a lot of use, so I'd get that for starters. Then I'd probably get a few smaller nuts and double up on nuts 1-5.

And - slightly OT - if you do get some smaller nuts and double up on 1-5, and decide to split them onto two krabs on your harness, I'd thoroughly recommend staggering the splt. So have one krab with tinies, 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,5 and the other with 4,5,6...11. Much better chance of having the right one available when you grab that krab.

In reply to ablackett:
Would that be for placing pro in the mouth of anyone who doubts the necessity of such an enormous cam?

In reply to Jamie Wakeham:

That's even with a 0.5 sitting right there?

In reply to ablackett:

Definitely the best advice on here yet...

In reply to neuromancer:

Yep - there's a fair difference between 0.4 and 0.5, much more than the numerical names would suggest. I probably wouldn't bother with 0.3 and below, though; again, maybe it's just me but I pretty much never use them. For some reason, though, my 0.4 seems to get used more than any other cam I carry. Maybe that's to do with the routes I pick, or how I look for gear placements, though?

In reply to neuromancer:

2,3,4,5 wires or offsets.

In reply to Nick Russell:

No it's not. It all depends. If the OP is climbing lots of wide grit crags and finds his existing set is not up to the job then yes, perhaps, but if he is climbing lots of routes in N.Wales and on limestone faces he would be bteer off doubling up on his current set of nuts.

In reply to neuromancer:

Depends really, if you don't think you need anything, just stick with what you've got. However if it were me, I'd get a second set of nuts, DMM Offsets would be my choice.

In reply to GridNorth:


Can someone send out a SAR team for the humour that was lost here?

In reply to neuromancer:
I'd get a second set of nuts if I was you.

Micros - for you're current grade You'll only need a couple as they overlap your other nuts, for the BD swedgies I carry size 2 and 3 only.

As for hexes I really like them, if you do great buy some torques but if you don't just get more cams as and when you feel the need. I'm pretty sure theres plenty of cracks out there with your current rack that you'd feel very limited gear wise on as you only have 3 cams that would fit cracks bigger than a number 11 nut at present.

In reply to Derry: Yuo will have to explain that one to me.

In reply to GridNorth:

I picked the most absurd response (they were a little lacking on this thread compared to the norm) and affirmed it as sound advice, in a(n admittedly poor) attempt at humour. Given that this is the "starting out" forum, I checked that the OP had understood that it was not a serious response ("Would that be for placing pro in the mouth of anyone who doubts the necessity of such an enormous cam?") before doing so

In reply to Nick Russell: I'm still not getting it. I was responding seriously to someone suggesting that the OP should get the biggest cam he could and someone else saying it was the best advice yet. Ithought that both these answers were serious answers. Perhaps I've missed something although I did get what you were saying. This is all gettng too complicated.

In reply to Nick Russell:

exactly!

In reply to neuromancer: Yes all very amusing buy why did you direct it at me and not just make it a general response? Are you implying that I have no sense of humour?

In reply to Derry:

Quit thinking about it. Just buy a big cam and hang it on the back of your rack and wave it around, everyone will think you are mega cool and that you climb fat cracks.

2 rules of climbing.

1 - Look good
2 - don't die

If you are happy you have satisfied rule 1, then concentrate on rule 2 and buy some sensible pro, some of them offset thingies or small cams or something like that.

In reply to GridNorth:

as you appear to be new i'll be nice and simply say 'no comment'

In reply to Derry: Wit, sarcasm and a kind nature. Is there no end to your talents

In reply to nniff:

Does that mean double up my size 2,3,4,5 wallnuts or changing brand for those sizes? Wouldn't switching brands confuse me re: different sizing for each colour (I get pretty simple minded half way up a route).

The offsets people are suggesting, would they be in similar sizes to my current 1-11 wallnuts (e.g. the 2345 above) or micro's like peenuts or brass offsets?

ATM if I buy more cams it'd have to be in a US sale. But two cams, even at US prices (£30 a camalot) would pay for a load of nuts. What sizes would you go for, +1 either side?

I'm looking to start leading easier E1's and harder HVS's (in particular I want the Plum @ Tremadog under my belt), if that makes any difference, and by the time I move off E1 I should know enough not to need to ask!

Sorry for wall of text.

In reply to neuromancer: I'm tripled up on my lower size nuts (1-5) and I have double those baove that. I have amongst that one full set of Black Diamond nuts and one full set of wallnuts. I much prefer the Wallnuts but I am glad to have the two different shapes because sometimes one fits better. That's what suits me on Lower wye valley limestone and I would imagine would suit me in other none grit climbing situations. In Grit stone terms I really rate my tri-cams, particularly black red and pink sizes.

In reply to neuromancer:

I agree buy more nuts and consider hexes another cam. I'd look at 0.4 or 0.3 c4s and 4 if you get on a lot of grit (esp brimham!). The bigger C3s are pretty goos as well as they overlap small C4 and have small heads.

w.c rocks and wallnuts are colour coded the same (and offsets)

alloy offsets people are suggesting correspond to size 4..8 in normal wallnuts and are colour coded the same

brass offsets/micros etc are sometimes very useful but expensive but can pick em up along the way

In reply to neuromancer:

I'd go for alloy offsets, imps and maybe smaller cams such as zeros or metolius.

In reply to neuromancer:

Worth getting a smaller cam than a 0.5 c4 in the "big cams" range or just going straight and saving for a set of smaller cams e.g. mastercams, x4's when they come out or just c3's?

In reply to neuromancer:

up to you - what you like and dont, the mastercams are very popular and liked, the zeros have their fans. I like the Camalittles C3. Have a play with them all. Whats your climbing partner got, can you double up to cover the range ?

In reply to lithos:

he has dragons 0-BIG MOTHER, and little 3cu's down to quite small but not miniscule and overlapping the lower end of dragons, two sets of rocks, copious slings and bits and bobs.

In reply to neuromancer:

sounds like worth climbing on his gear

see what you lik/use from his, but my first call as others have said would be more rocks/wires (and enough QDs to place em all!)

Maybe a cam for xmas (its for life....)

In reply to lithos:

http://www.theoutdoorshop.com/showPart.asp?part=PN19101

In reply to neuromancer:

My vote would be first a set of torque nuts, closely followed by a second set of nuts, either wild country rocks or DMM alloy offsets.

Dom.

PS. The one time I recently climbed at tremadog I was using torque nuts and sling draws all over the place - great kit.

In reply to neuromancer:

Double up or go big before going small?