Anyone hanging with cams?

[Doftya]

Having a selection of cams available does add some weight. As well, cams do walk. As mentioned nuts and wedges can be more solid but also have a limited range of sizes per piece for placement. Another option with a larger range of placements are hex nuts, which offer up to 5 different sizes of cracks that they can be placed in. If you know the area that you are visiting, a pair of hexes can offer all the options needed, foregoing the need for carrying a small pile of gear.

[Rushthezeppelin]

So those hex nuts can hold someone pretty well if placed right? Anywhere that has guides on placement?

[warbonnetguy]

doyfta, cams walk when there is movement to the stem while the piece is un-weighted, like if you don't use a long runner and short clip it instead and then movement of the rope lifts the stem up and down causing it to walk into the crack. i don't see how this could happen by hanging a hammock from one with a constant weight and no movement to the stem.

i see something like this as a guess. you're not going to carry a standard rack along with you to ensure you have something for every size, but you could carry a few small pieces in case you come across somewhere to use them(just don't expect to rely on it). i wouldn't carry anything bigger than an inch due to the weight. (maybe the smallest link cam due to the extended range). cams will be the easiest to place and remove, especially for a non-climber. they can also be placed in parallel sided cracks, hexes can be too but require more tinkering and won't be as easy for a non-climber to place in this fashion. nuts need a constriction so you likely won't be able to get them in where you would want them to be so i wouldn't even bother with them.

[dblhmmck]

...you're not going to carry a standard rack along with you to ensure you have something for every size, but you could carry a few small pieces in case you come across somewhere to use them(just don't expect to rely on it).

Right. That pretty much what I was thinking too. Just in case a potential campsites have useful cracks but not as an my primary means of setting it up.

i wouldn't carry anything bigger than an inch due to the weight. (maybe the smallest link cam due to the extended range). cams will be the easiest to place and remove, especially for a non-climber. they can also be placed in parallel sided cracks, hexes can be too but require more tinkering and won't be as easy for a non-climber to place in this fashion. nuts need a constriction so you likely won't be able to get them in where you would want them to be so i wouldn't even bother with them.

Ok, cool. Thanks for the suggestion of the link cam. I don't have any experience with nuts and hexes, although I had been looking at getting a few curve nuts. Im going to rethink that, since you say I'm not likely to easily find the right consriction (in sandstone formations of the SouthWest). Maybe I'll start with a couple of the smallest link cams, and a hex or two.

Thanks everybody for your insights.

[miisterwright]

warrbonnetguy is spot on with how "walking" happens. I don't carry much climbing gear if I'm just camping, but I usually do bring my hammock when I go climbing. I haven't needed to hang from rock yet, but I think you could probably find a small rock or something to place in a crack with a piece of rope or webbing behind it. You'd just have to be careful about abrasion on that cord.

[ringtail-THFKAfood]

OK, cams work, BUT.......

You need to use very good judgment in your selection of cracks. It helps to have a working knowledge of geology. Never trust Dox Sandstone!!!!!

The technique of placing webbing over the top of a boulder and using the cam to anchor the webbing in a crack on the backside is better than a direct anchor.

Put some webbing inside the cam trigger so that it can be released if it walks into the crack.

Small trees can be used to hang if you put webbing through a V in one tree then anchor the webbing near the ground on another tree.

I can generally find a place to hang ONE hammock in a place like the Grand Canyon, but multiple hammocks would be a problem.

I carry two 30 foot pieces of 1" webbing with tri-glides and a #5 &#7 cam. I think I will use only the #5 in the future since I have never needed both cams.