Rock Climbing Gear Part 3
Tricam placed in camming mode.
Next up in the series are tricams. These pieces of protection get their name from their three points of contact, the point (obvious in the image) and the two rails which aren’t as easy to see in the above. The sling goes in between the two rails. The great thing about tricams is they can be used as either passive or active pro. Passive you’ll remember is like the nut from a few days back. Active pro has some force actively trying to keep it in the crevice you placed it in. In this case the tricam when weighted on the sling will try and rotate about the pin on the top. Because it is off center it creates a considerable force on the walls of the crack, thus arresting the climber’s fall. While it may look a little precarious it is actually quite stable.
Tricam placed in passive mode.
Bonus image today! In the above I’ve placed the tricam in passive mode where it acts like a nut. The constriction of the rock creates the force required to oppose the falling climber.