In my experience using a nut tool to manually pull the lobes in has worked pretty well. It especially works well for bigger cams. The procedure is simple: 1. hold one hand on the trigger mechanism and keep pulling the cam out 2. use the nut tool with the other hand and use the pockets in the lobes to manually pull the lobes as inward as possible. This procedure unweighs at least one of the lobes from outward pressure it is putting on the rock and the cam moves slightly outward with each iteration. The procedure can be repeated as many times as needed until the cam is finally out.

@howtoclimb

2 ай бұрын

I think the way you’re using the nut tool is fine. However folks start banging on the cam and that starts to deform the lobes and smash them in there.

I’d like your opinion: 6 days ago a climber posted on a Facebook group about a stuck cam, offering a 6 pack as reward. Yesterday I found a belay, went out to the line and found the cam wedged so far back into this flaring crack that I couldn’t see it except when looking in deliberately. It was so far in that I couldn’t clip it, and when trying to retrieve it I lost a lot of skin over the course of half an hour trundling chockstones and finagling the lobes. I thought it might be impossible to retrieve and couldn’t imagine how it got so far back. Now I’m wondering whether to be a Good Samaritan and let him know I got the cam out, or keep it as my prize for sending the route and rubbing my hands raw to snag it. There was no sob story or anything, and I’m broke and unemployed. Surely this married guy from the city can afford it? And I’ve been losing so much more expensive gear lately, don’t I deserve some positive karma back? I know the unofficial rules of booty state it’s now mine. But I did go hunting for this cam based solely off the Facebook plea. Thanks for your input!

@howtoclimb

23 күн бұрын

Haha, well I guess in the end it is up to you. The reasons I give stuff back is I would rather folks leave gear than get in trouble and me or others have to head out and rescue them. I also think it is fairly easy to find the owners in today’s social media world. I also don’t like using gear that I have found as I don’t know the history. This is especially true for guides or anyone working in a professional setting. So with all this said I just post and hope to find the owners. Maybe I’ll get some good karma down the road as well!

You could do a whole series on this.

@howtoclimb

8 ай бұрын

I’ve had a couple folks ask! Maybe I will!

If some goobus got oil all over a climb in the Gunks trying to get a cam out, I can assure you they would have faced a much harsher penalty than in at Looking Glass.

@howtoclimb

8 ай бұрын

Hopefully that penalty would be full of constructive education!

Funky! I've never done the slamming thing. Do you think that works better on larger cams since the axels are further from the stem compared to something tiny?

@howtoclimb

8 ай бұрын

I’ve used this on all the sizes! Seems to work fairly well!

@annaalewine8299

8 ай бұрын

@howtoclimb 👍

Nice work. Did you take the cam home yourself?

@howtoclimb

8 ай бұрын

@BlackPantherClimbing I always try to give gear back to the owners! This one I knew who’s it was so it was easy!

Getting gear back to the owners is a great way to build up the community!

@howtoclimb

8 ай бұрын

Definitely 💯!

Filling the crack with oil to retrieve a stuck cam? What the fark were they thinking!?

@howtoclimb

8 ай бұрын

lol, yea i think they were getting desperate.

@flynryan3053

5 ай бұрын

so oil is part of their kit? lol

What climb is this?

@howtoclimb

4 ай бұрын

It’s Dum Dee Dum Dumb at Looking Glass!