Nevermore/Raven Rock

Post by **jrathfon** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 3:10 pm

Haha, saw a yellow #2 c3 blow out of cruising lane on a fall, it shear it's cam stops when it hit a constriction after popping from it's normal placement.

I LOVE c3's for granite and shawangunks conglomerate, they take the R and PG13 out of many gunks routes, so much so that this will probably be reflected in the next edition of the guidebook. They will fit in placements no other cam (or nut) will fit/work in. In soft rock (e.g. RRG corbin sandstone), they are marginal at best. I would place them if it's the only thing that would fit, but you'd be rest assured that my first choice would be a blue alien. I've fallen on the red c3, #1, here at the red, and have placed the 0 (green), but would not rely on that as a real piece. Those are the only two I carry in my car down to the red, most days they stay in my pack. I've taken about 4 falls on the blue alien, and while it holds, I would consider that a dire placement as well. The majority of the rock is just too soft down here to take that kind of pressure from the cam lobes. That said, I've had some good black and blue alien placements. But I would trust a #4 BD nut before a blue alien anyday (and again the green #0 c3 is worthless).

Post by **jrathfon** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 3:11 pm

oh, p.s. 4 lobe cams give you redundancy, i've landed on half a blue alien a few times. think about kicking out a tripod leg and that shows you the redundancy of a c3

Post by **ynp1** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 3:29 pm

I have taken big falls on black and blue aliens. I love those things!!!

Post by **jrathfon** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 3:37 pm

Same here. I love those tiny aliens! I've fallen on the blue so many times I had to buy a new one and relegate the old one to aid.

I should have clarified. I've fallen on the blue 4 or 5 times at the red and would trust it, but a good nut is oooooh so great, especially in softer rock.

Post by **cliftongifford** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 5:49 pm

jrathfon wrote: ....and again the green #0 c3 is worthless....

How do you feel about the 00? I've taken a few whippers on it here, and it held just fine.

Post by **jrathfon** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 6:01 pm

cliftongifford wrote:
jrathfon wrote: ....and again the green #0 c3 is worthless....
How do you feel about the 00? I've taken a few whippers on it here, and it held just fine.

um, it's smaller..... (that's what she said (fun route, btw))

don't get me wrong there is SOME bulletproof sandstone in parts of the red, but the consistency varies, and much of it is that kinda soft, wierd crumbly stuff. unless you are looking at a hard petina'd bulletproof crack, i wouldn't trust the 00 or the 0 c3 blindly in the red. there's a story of i think JR, doing a 5.11 FA recently and ripping like 2 c3's and a micronut out on a fall, they were all "head pieces" and backed up by a solid 0.4 or 0.5 c4 and the pieces in question were in a slight flare, but still they consecutively ripped.

obviously a piece of gear is better than no gear, but if i had the choice of fitting in a 4 lobe cam versus a c3, i will definitely reach for the 4 lober (alien, WC zero, microcamalot, 0.3 c4, etc, etc.).

Post by **Clevis Hitch** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 1:44 am

O.k. so do they still make four lobed Bd Microcams?

Post by **Clevis Hitch** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 1:44 am

O.k. so do they still make four lobed Bd Microcams?

Post by **cliftongifford** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 11:40 am

Clevis Hitch wrote:O.k. so do they still make four lobed Bd Microcams?

nope, but you can find them on ebay pretty often... they're the best, imo.

Post by **Clevis Hitch** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:25 am

If they were so great, why did they stop making them?