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Topic Date User

Cam failure discussion 21-Apr-2015 At 2:10:13 PM patto

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The notion that cams can pull out of slick rock shouldn't be news to anybody. Cams rely on friction, if there isn't enough they will pull.

On 21/04/2015 Wendy wrote:
>Do people really "set" cams? I place, assess and run most of the time.
>Unlike wires, where setting actually has some purpose of preventing them
>getting lifted or knocked out, "setting" a cam seem like a waste of energy
>- it will function exactly the same way after setting as before and will
>walk, twist or lift in whatever manner is not managed through appropriate
>placement and ropework. And you could still kick them on the way past.
>"Setting" cams seems more like a nervous habit then a useful thing to do.

Absolutely you should give a cam a quick tug. Waste of energy? Ha! It is a quick tug and you are on your way. It is a good test of a cam.

My habit of doing this saved me the other day on the watchtower faces. I had a great 0.3 C4 in a bomber seam. I tugged it and the whole face opened up! It turned out to be a barely attached flake, yet on observation by myself and my partner it didn't appear to be a flake. My partner ended up removing the large block and hauling it up in his backpack. (Trundling was not an option.)