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I recently purchased a set of .5-3.0 Tri-Cams because I was planning on taking a trip with my brother to the Gunks in May. To make a long story short, I'm not longer going to the Gunks, but I would still like to put my Tri-Cams to use.

I'm new to trad climbing, and I'm also not the kind of person to just hop on a route without knowing what the hell they are doing. Once I figure out how to properly place Tri-Cams, will I have any luck with them at the Red on some beginner routes? Or should I say "screw it" and purchase more gear?

Just start climbing with them. They work great.

I hope you have something besides just tricams. They work but you will want some cams.

Doesn't The Arrowhead at Pebble Beach have some horizontal placements?

Oh, and if you don't know how to place something as simple as a tri-cam you may want to kick the dust off of one the traddies and take them climbing with you.

"Motha" @ roadside. Easy face climbing w/good gear in certain spots, lots of horiz. placement, there is a pocket near the top that takes a pink tri-cam perfectly.

Thanks for the responses. After looking through the message board, I've concluded that I definitely need more gear, but I appreciate the tips nonetheless!

They're cool gear, just take a couple tries to get manipulated into one hand for placement. Practice with a PENIS long enough and it's second nature, though man. They make good nuts besides the cam option.

Tri cams tend to be a love em or hate em relationship....in the red you can find placements for em about anywhere. The arrowhead was my first trad lead and I used all my tri cams on that route (I have pink through blue) but I also used TCU's and of course the good ol' bolt at the beginning. Bedtime for Bonzo has a couple of good tri-cam placements too.

The only problem with them that I have...(and the reason I usually leave em for belays or at home) is that like woodchuck said...you gotta fiddle with them sometimes to get them to fit and when the pump clock is tickin that SUCKS. But otherwise, great addition to the trad rack!

Good luck!

I use the 2 smallest tri-cams very often. The others, not so much. There are whole websites devoted to the pink tricam.

Never pass up an opportunity to promote Charles' Pink Tri-cam Appreciation Page...
http://www.swarpa.net/~danforth/climb/sinkthepink.html