In reply to UKC Articles:
I feel a bit nervous telling CW anything about gear, however......
The cam stems in the video are I would suggest too close to horizontal, and he pulls them outwards from the rock, not down as they would be in a lead fall. As I'm sure CW knows, cams hold due to the force that is at a normal to the axle. Placed as they are, in a fall they would try and rotate. I'm not sure this goes well with the opening comment, that to most people placing gear is obvious. With cams it is possibly less so than one might suspect, and if you are going to play at testing gear, it is best to test it in a realistic direction.
Charlie Woodburn gives us his top beginner's trad tips and in this video tells us the importance of building up confidence in gear.