A tricam is a type of

climbing protection Climbing protection is any of a variety of devices employed to reduce risk and protect others while climbing rock and ice. It includes such items as nylon webbing and metal nuts, cams, bolts, and pitons. Different forms of climbing draw on va ...

equipment. A versatile nut/cam hybrid, the Tricam was invented by

Greg Lowe Greg Lowe (born in Pittsburgh) is a noted mountain climber, photographer, Academy Award nominated cinematographer, and co-founder of Lowe Alpine, along with his brothers Jeff and Mike Lowe. Lowe invented the internal frame backpack. He establi ...

in 1973, and came to market in 1981. They are currently manufactured by C.A.M.P. of Premana Italy.

Design

The Tricam is a passive camming device consisting of a carefully shaped

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in AmE, American and CanE, Canadian English) is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately o ...

-alloy cam attached to a length of

webbing red, blue and black woven as a flat strip or tube of varying width and fibre">auto racing harnesses Webbing is a strong Textile">fabric weaving">woven as a flat strip or tube of varying width and fibres, often used in place of rope. It is a ve ...

tape. Most sizes are produced as a solid

forged Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which ...

unit, but the larger sizes are made from

rivet A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched ...

ed sheet metal. The device is inserted into a crack so that pulling on the tape makes the piece cam outward against the sides of the crack, gripping the rock tighter. Camming action is achieved by the position of the pointed fulcrum or pivot of the cam relative to the attachment of the tape. As the webbing is pulled, the downward force is pivoted onto the point, which can bite into soft rock or ice and increases the holding power of the tricam.
CAMP product manual, retrieved 2008-07-04

Benefits

Tricams are not as easy to place or remove as

spring-loaded camming device A spring-loaded camming device (also SLCD, cam or friend) is a piece of rock climbing or mountaineering protection equipment. It consists of two, three, or four cams mounted on a common axle or two adjacent axles, so that pulling on the ax ...

s (SLCDs) but are cheaper and lighter. Some cracks and pods too shallow to protect with SLCDs are easily protected with tricams. They have no moving parts to freeze, making them an excellent choice for a mountaineer's rack. They can also be used as

nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...

Drawbacks

Placing a Tricam takes practice to achieve proficiency. Care must be taken so the Tricam does not loosen while climbing above it due to rope drag. Typically, this additional safety is provided by clipping a longer sling to the tricam. Tricams can "weld" into the placement after being subjected to a hard fall, making them hard to clean and likely to be left behind.

Specifications

Tricams are available in a range of sizes to suit cracks from 10–140 mm wide. They are especially useful in horizontal cracks,

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

drill holes, and

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

pockets, where they may be the only type of protection that works. The smallest size can also work well in old

piton A piton (; also called ''pin'' or ''peg'') in climbing is a metal spike (usually steel) that is driven into a crack or seam in the climbing surface using a climbing hammer, and which acts as an anchor for protecting the climber against the ...

scars. As manufactured they come in size numbers 0.125 to 7, with strength 2–22 kN, width 10–140 mm, and weight 9–264 g.

Gallery

File:Climbing gear - Lowe tricams - 03.jpg, Typical placement of no. 0.5 Tricam File:Climbing gear - Lowe tricams - 04.jpg, No. 1.5 Tricam in a placement where few other pieces would work File:Tricam 7 placed.jpg, A no. 7 Tricam placed in a wide crack File:Tricams.side.JPG, Set of Tricams

References

External links

Tricams manual from CAMP
{{Climbing navbox Climbing equipment Mountaineering equipment