How to Climb

CAMP Tricam Review

REVAMPED CAMP TRICAMS

$20, $20.50, $21.75 and $23.75 for sizes 0.5—2.0, respectively

Jesse and I couldn’t contain ourselves. Gunning to link Eldo’s Great Zot (5.8) with Rewritten (5.7+), a five pitch loose, discontinuous crack line, we had brought a rack of 36 CAMP Tricams and 10 draws. No nuts, no cams … nothing but a gluttonous array of these funky, pointed devices that, in their largest sizes, resemble medieval weaponry.

The purpose of such madness was to revisit an often overlooked but essential trad piece, and to test the first four sizes—0.5 through 2.0, or, pink, red, brown and purple—which CAMP has recently pimped out with anodized heads and Dyneema slings, yielding a lighter and stronger set of the four most popular, and useful, sizes. Normally differentiated by the color of their respective slings, the new Tricams now have the same-color slings (a blue and white plait), with the Tricam head anodized a certain color according to its size.

Swinging leads up this tottering Eldo link-up, Jesse and I quickly realized that Tricams, a quizzical half-breed of active and passive protection, could be frigged in almost anywhere—specifically, splitters, horizontals and shallow pods—with a little creativity. The four smallest Tricams, which sell for a package deal of $69.95, can easily be placed with one hand (the larger sizes, however, required both hands). The sling still offers two clip-in options: one at the sling’s bottom, the other halfway up (a nice option for aid climbing). Some climbers complain that Tricams tend to get stuck. However, if you understand how to “un-cam” the Tricam, by twisting/torqueing the pin side of the head toward the opposite side of the crack, removing them is not so difficult. We topped out the Redgarden Wall with a complete rack and ear-to-ear grins. CAMP USA: camp-usa.com.

—ANDREW BISHARAT