Adam do I hear an offer to sponsor an episode? You are a kind soul, and the whole community will benefit from your generosity. If you watch the slowmo segments you'll see the test is only good( consistent)till the rock yealdsthe first-time ( cams are opening the crack by lifting/spreading multiple ton granite builders . It is more obviouswhen the cams fail and the crack snaps shut)
I'm no trad climber, back back of the napkin physics calculations suggests that if you put a 14kn force on your cam you may well be dead weather or not it pops
There is a reason why it's forbidden to use metal protection in sandstone at least in Czech Republic. Don't do it, breaking the top layer will speed up the erosion
To me this reels in a bit of the hype around these cams. On Ontario limestone, fanatics say use these or die and think they're the magic bullet. In reality a bad placement is a bad placement, I've seen black totems rip and camalots hold 30 footers in polished limestone. 2kn vs 1kn isn't going to make a big difference when you meatbomb the talus on your 2-lobe loaded cam. Maybe I'm just a contrarian, and these seem to be great aid cams, but in a good placement these don't really seem worth the bulk/weight/price over metolius/camalots/aliens/etc, especially when free climbing.
@@OffWidthCrack I know absolutely nothing about climbing, like I watch things like this just so I can understand more about the world, I read that and I immediately knew exactly what that means (but assumed it was some sort of climber slang)
I know you've done videos on the KNs of falls but it would be worth referencing an "average fall" in KNs (qualified as necessary) to get a context of these results. Maybe an "I'd whip on that" scale? As an aside It'd be interesting to see the check sandstone knots tested?
@@mikelarin8037 yeah I know, but it would be useful to reference it because my puny brain can't recall the size of the forces at play. It's be nice to have a human scale for reference. E.g. this cam would have broke / popped with the force produced by a 60kg average joe falling Xm straight down with a hard catch?
As I have told you I love all your videos. I will continue to pass them on to all my caving friends because all the rigging stuff is so interesting and fun. Thanks for all you do
Thanks Ryan Jenks! I love this video: I now understand why Totem advises against "clipping both slings" but it is ok to "clip the shelf" (if that makes sense). The reason is that "clipping both slings", with the kind of destruction at 6:22 of your video, the carabiner would be out of the system! But "clipping the shelf" gives it a chance to catch on one side... Makes sense? AGAIN: Big value in your videos! Thanks!
Never had one inthe hand but i guess that if u are hanging just in two lobs it also makes sense to be clipped to the loop so u wont have tension at one sling
Great video!! It would be exciting to see how they do over an edge. For example, a horizontal crack where you pull down vertically. Greetings from italy
Good idea. Bobby may have found a better test area. It’s hard to find a good crack at a good size in a good rock at eye level within a 1/4 mile from the road (testing gear is heavy).... that no one will complain I’m hurting the rock 😂
I would like to see which is stronger in a extreme shallow crack, 4 lobes engaged but not in direction of pull or 3 our of 4 lobes loaded in the direction of pull.
Hey man! I appreciate your content, love the bolting bible, have donated and will probably be donating again. A little request for type of content: after so many break tests, it's getting hard to remember overall lessons/ divergence from conventional wisdom from them. It would be nice if you did videos where you condense the conclusions from all those breaktests (kind of like the "conclusions" part of a research article, which is what most people read instead of going over every single result): Given all the slings you've broken in all sorts of configurations, how does it change what choices you would make when, e.g. building an anchor at a multipitch? You could divide it into categories like "anchors I'd choose", "knots I'd choose" etc based on your breaktests. In my mind there's two main motivations for watching this type of channel: One is the mythbusters "I wanna see shit explode for fun" motivation. the other is the educational one: "How the f should I build my anchors? Should I trust a dyneema quad anchor?". Thought the two can sometimes go together, the current set up of breaktests tends to satisfy the mythbuster more than the geeky climber who wants to build better anchors. Again, appreciate your work a lot!!
@@PeregrineBF That's great. Thank you so much. Actually, what i would want to see is not so much getting destroyed (i trust the manufacturers MBS indications) but what placements fail and what placements will hold a fall. Very hard to test that in real life with real climbers lives on the line.
Totemly Awesome video! Looked like the rock gave way when they pulled out.... not really a cam failure imo. Being a rigger by trade im fascinated by the data you provide. Keep up the good work and keep that data coming and where can i get my hands on it?
that sucks I cannot afford much and buy 1 piece at a time with long breaks before I get new stuff and it would take at least a year for me to get 4 or 5 of those and you just break them DAMN !! but I am glad you are doing this so we know for sure what the results are so thanks and kiss my ass haha for real THANKS guys for what you are doing it makes newbies like me feel safer
You gonna break the rest? Are you going to show what that Metolius breaks at. I ha e both Metolius and Totem, so im super intrigued about this!!! Been looking forward to this one!!!
This was awesome! One idea would be to do an episode on the history of cams from a technical perspective. They really changed the sport of climbing for the better and they are clearly not as strong as bolts. Placed well they are strong enough. My 2 cents
Love my Totems, Love my Metolius mastercams. I have one alien, and it sits on my wall. So sad to see these totems busted, but so happy to know I trust them more.
The metolius cams at the end should be used in a smaller crack. The cams are engaged in the yellow zone. Should ideally be in the green. The fact that the cam didn't break means it wasn't a great placement.
I’m not on the totem train yet, but they seem decent. I never like seeing brand new gear broken, but it’s good to see that my old stuff still stacks up against the brand new gear ( in terms of strength)
I know this is called, “Hownottohighline” but I am stoked on these climbing related videos. Would you guys ever do break tests on different kinds of daisies...Metolius quick adjust, petzl evolv adjust, regular daisies with pockets. I stoked on totems, but am curious what a daisy fall on them might do with different daisy connections.
how about some commentary about the failure mechanism on good placements? The orange cam wires broke right off - just experienced this in the field - my buddy just took a big fall because a wire broke at the lobe - would be good to know if that's a common feature of these failures (he's OK - but annoyed).
@@sakaricajanus90 I don't think he followd up with Totem about it, but my speculation is that it happened because he fell on the same cam twice, the first fall may have weakened the wire and the second fall broke it, it was a 0.3 (blue) size, with skinny wires. Moral of the story: be careful how you place totems, and make sure to inspect them immediately after falling on them, with attention to the condition of the wires (especially where they go into the lobes).
It's quite fear inducing to see the cams come out at very low force, even though you thought the placement looked good. Seems like it's really hard to tell in advance how much those will actually do for you in case of a whip that you didn't anticipate... Thanks for all the content! I love everything you do!
Honestly most of his placements were marginal except the horizontal ones where the totem wire broke at the head. Plus the rock was pretty crumbly so I was not surprised most of those pulled out. Don't take his placements here as examples of textbook cam placements.
@@Govanification maybe it's also a little bit hard to judge in the video - maybe it would have been more clear how good or bad the placements were in person.
@@Zolodar Yeah true. Also tugging on a cam to see if it shifts helps evaluate. But the flared cracks and uneven lobe retraction were pretty obvious to me.
If all lobes of a totem touch the rock then all lobes will be loaded. They are equalized by design if you clip the center. I could help you folks a lot with this but I would recommend talking to plaid the representative for totem in the states
The AMGA instructor that I go through, says that if you only use 2 lobes on the totem cams, you're supposed to clip into the small loop on the sling that attaches to the plastic bit.
@@enricociuppa7093 this is not true. Totem use 7000 series alluminium which is usually stronger and more resilient than 6000 series ally that everyone else uses.
In quite a few of the tests it seems that the rock is failing and not necessarily the cam. Bits of rock break off and the cam flies out. I'm not sure what this is demonstrating.
Black Diamond claims it's dual axel design allows the Camelot to be placed with one of the inner lobes not engaged. You should test how strong that is...
I love and hate this sooo much. Totems are amazing, but fucking expensive! This is the content I’m here for. Love how you did them in some really bad placements.
Purchase Totems on our new store! hownot2.store/totems
I’d like to see more control tests: same rock/crack, same size cams, same direction of pull, different companies (e.g. BD vs Totem)
Yes! More direction of pull!
Using the same spot over and over with massive amounts of force probably isn’t good for the rock
All I know is the totems hold in places others don't but I only tested them next to friends and tcus.
Adam do I hear an offer to sponsor an episode? You are a kind soul, and the whole community will benefit from your generosity.
If you watch the slowmo segments you'll see the test is only good( consistent)till the rock yealdsthe first-time ( cams are opening the crack by lifting/spreading multiple ton granite builders . It is more obviouswhen the cams fail and the crack snaps shut)
Stonks must be paying off to break totems.
you didnt test a black totem, OR A PINK TRICAM! maybe the same episode?!?! you would please alot of people with that one hahaha.
Black for sure!
Why can't I upvote this multiple times!
pink tricam!!
do not forget the blue offset!
Came here looking for this comment
ooooooooh yeah: the "Will It Blend" of expensive climbing gear is back with another episode!
I sooo much appreciate you stating results in the video description. Also the channel improves every time, keep it great!
Yea I go back to look up something and it’s a pain in the a**. So full descriptions from now on!
I'm no trad climber, back back of the napkin physics calculations suggests that if you put a 14kn force on your cam you may well be dead weather or not it pops
There is a great disturbance in the force
I love the videos where you break cams in real rock, it’d be really cool to see you test these things in different kinds of stone, like sandstone!
There is a reason why it's forbidden to use metal protection in sandstone at least in Czech Republic. Don't do it, breaking the top layer will speed up the erosion
slowly piecing together my first Trad rack, this broke my heart. HAHA Great Work!!
Thanks!
To me this reels in a bit of the hype around these cams. On Ontario limestone, fanatics say use these or die and think they're the magic bullet. In reality a bad placement is a bad placement, I've seen black totems rip and camalots hold 30 footers in polished limestone. 2kn vs 1kn isn't going to make a big difference when you meatbomb the talus on your 2-lobe loaded cam. Maybe I'm just a contrarian, and these seem to be great aid cams, but in a good placement these don't really seem worth the bulk/weight/price over metolius/camalots/aliens/etc, especially when free climbing.
"Meatbomb the talus" that's pure gold!
@@OffWidthCrack I know absolutely nothing about climbing, like I watch things like this just so I can understand more about the world, I read that and I immediately knew exactly what that means (but assumed it was some sort of climber slang)
I use Metolius Master Cams, a few TCUs, a few offset TCUs & a couple of hand me down Wild County Friends. Love them all! Excellent video guys!
I know you've done videos on the KNs of falls but it would be worth referencing an "average fall" in KNs (qualified as necessary) to get a context of these results. Maybe an "I'd whip on that" scale?
As an aside It'd be interesting to see the check sandstone knots tested?
They did a video on falls already
@@mikelarin8037 yeah I know, but it would be useful to reference it because my puny brain can't recall the size of the forces at play.
It's be nice to have a human scale for reference. E.g. this cam would have broke / popped with the force produced by a 60kg average joe falling Xm straight down with a hard catch?
Most lead falls generate 2-5kN
@@simonjenkins9296 These cam heads seem to get abused at regular fall Kn's...But the soft metal will bite better in the rock
@@50StichesSteel yeah but better that they look rough and hold!
dmm dragons are my go to cam, they bite really nice and they have an extendable sling which is really nice.
and the sling sits better on the back of the cam as they go through the stem not through the cable from the thumb loop
As I have told you I love all your videos. I will continue to pass them on to all my caving friends because all the rigging stuff is so interesting and fun. Thanks for all you do
Rumor has it there will soon be caving videos... ;)
What a great thing to wake up to. Thank you for not break testing the black totem on camera.
It's only a matter of time
Thanks Ryan Jenks! I love this video: I now understand why Totem advises against "clipping both slings" but it is ok to "clip the shelf" (if that makes sense). The reason is that "clipping both slings", with the kind of destruction at 6:22 of your video, the carabiner would be out of the system! But "clipping the shelf" gives it a chance to catch on one side... Makes sense? AGAIN: Big value in your videos! Thanks!
Never had one inthe hand but i guess that if u are hanging just in two lobs it also makes sense to be clipped to the loop so u wont have tension at one sling
Bobby’s cackles in the background really make this A+ content.
Great video!! It would be exciting to see how they do over an edge. For example, a horizontal crack where you pull down vertically. Greetings from italy
Agree, this would be a cool test to see!
Good idea. Bobby may have found a better test area. It’s hard to find a good crack at a good size in a good rock at eye level within a 1/4 mile from the road (testing gear is heavy).... that no one will complain I’m hurting the rock 😂
@hownotto
Fresno Dome campground and surrounding. Much more exposed granite after the fires.
Mammoth pools and surrounding.
I would like to see which is stronger in a extreme shallow crack, 4 lobes engaged but not in direction of pull or 3 our of 4 lobes loaded in the direction of pull.
Hey man! I appreciate your content, love the bolting bible, have donated and will probably be donating again. A little request for type of content: after so many break tests, it's getting hard to remember overall lessons/ divergence from conventional wisdom from them. It would be nice if you did videos where you condense the conclusions from all those breaktests (kind of like the "conclusions" part of a research article, which is what most people read instead of going over every single result): Given all the slings you've broken in all sorts of configurations, how does it change what choices you would make when, e.g. building an anchor at a multipitch? You could divide it into categories like "anchors I'd choose", "knots I'd choose" etc based on your breaktests. In my mind there's two main motivations for watching this type of channel: One is the mythbusters "I wanna see shit explode for fun" motivation. the other is the educational one: "How the f should I build my anchors? Should I trust a dyneema quad anchor?". Thought the two can sometimes go together, the current set up of breaktests tends to satisfy the mythbuster more than the geeky climber who wants to build better anchors. Again, appreciate your work a lot!!
I kind of think the point is to avoid liability. They don't explicitly tell you what to do, so you can't hold them responsible if you get hurt.
Would be super interested to see them in a polished placement vs a regular cam!
I mean you have essentially seen the results in this video, the mastercam pops out at high loads where the totem stays in until it breaks.
it would be awesome to see tricams tested this way
I've sent him a single set of the Camp Dyneema Tricams. (0.5 pink, 1 red, 1.5 brown, 2 blue). So that will happen.
They’ll probably pull super low😂
@@PeregrineBF That's great. Thank you so much. Actually, what i would want to see is not so much getting destroyed (i trust the manufacturers MBS indications) but what placements fail and what placements will hold a fall. Very hard to test that in real life with real climbers lives on the line.
@@landonm815 i hope not, i am now trusting them with my life, so...
I agree
I have no idea why I’m watching this but it’s super interesting!
Siick ! The editing is getting better and better !
Looked like a lot of rock failure. Awesome stuff
Yeah this rock crumbles a lot. Is it normal or weak?
It is nice to have less than perfect rock to see what happens but definitely want a better rock in the future
Totemly Awesome video! Looked like the rock gave way when they pulled out.... not really a cam failure imo. Being a rigger by trade im fascinated by the data you provide. Keep up the good work and keep that data coming and where can i get my hands on it?
that sucks I cannot afford much and buy 1 piece at a time with long breaks before I get new stuff and it would take at least a year for me to get 4 or 5 of those and you just break them DAMN !! but I am glad you are doing this so we know for sure what the results are so thanks and kiss my ass haha for real THANKS guys for what you are doing it makes newbies like me feel safer
You gonna break the rest? Are you going to show what that Metolius breaks at. I ha e both Metolius and Totem, so im super intrigued about this!!! Been looking forward to this one!!!
I
This was awesome! One idea would be to do an episode on the history of cams from a technical perspective. They really changed the sport of climbing for the better and they are clearly not as strong as bolts. Placed well they are strong enough. My 2 cents
i agree. find a favorite rock for control
Fall Tower Cam Tests - we are waiting for it!
Love my Totems, Love my Metolius mastercams. I have one alien, and it sits on my wall. So sad to see these totems busted, but so happy to know I trust them more.
Awesome! i enjoy watching these a loout!
The metolius cams at the end should be used in a smaller crack. The cams are engaged in the yellow zone. Should ideally be in the green. The fact that the cam didn't break means it wasn't a great placement.
Rad video! Would love to see a video of camalot vs totem vs metolius to see if our brand biases have any basis in reality.
Just WOW! When i need some cams again, i will buy some of those. Seems to be pretty stable for me
Love these types of tests. More climbing gear break tests! Metolius easy daisy break test?
A test with DMM Dragon cams would be awesome !
It would be cool if you put the force on the screen when it pulls! Love the videos man always the best quality
I’m not on the totem train yet, but they seem decent.
I never like seeing brand new gear broken, but it’s good to see that my old stuff still stacks up against the brand new gear ( in terms of strength)
Great stuff! Love cams break tests
I never take the label off of my climbing gear! That way it has higher resell value.
You must not use your gear very much then. ;)
@@cwoodside907 nah, the standards of people buying it on ebay are just really low
I know this is called, “Hownottohighline” but I am stoked on these climbing related videos. Would you guys ever do break tests on different kinds of daisies...Metolius quick adjust, petzl evolv adjust, regular daisies with pockets. I stoked on totems, but am curious what a daisy fall on them might do with different daisy connections.
Great job man, keep going
Awesome stuff guys!! Always a good day when I see that notification for new video, keep it up:)
French Canada loves you brother. I feel so sad for these beautiful cams.
Black totem horizontal down 90 degrees "gunks" placement
how about some commentary about the failure mechanism on good placements? The orange cam wires broke right off - just experienced this in the field - my buddy just took a big fall because a wire broke at the lobe - would be good to know if that's a common feature of these failures (he's OK - but annoyed).
Did you ask about or send the broken cam to Toteam? Or any further speculation from you guys about what might have gone wrong?
@@sakaricajanus90 I don't think he followd up with Totem about it, but my speculation is that it happened because he fell on the same cam twice, the first fall may have weakened the wire and the second fall broke it, it was a 0.3 (blue) size, with skinny wires. Moral of the story: be careful how you place totems, and make sure to inspect them immediately after falling on them, with attention to the condition of the wires (especially where they go into the lobes).
"We're gonna pull a something-to-one..." hahahaha
I would love to test horizontal crack with down ill force!!
Try an outward flared crack, they are supposed to provide more holding power than a regular stemmed cam in flares.
Beautiful pictures ! Where is this place with nice granit, sun and trees ?
I am kinda sad.. But still super cool to see! thanks for the video.
I'm just glad to see the tests happen.......... I don't want to be the one testing it and then potentially turning into strawberry jelly at the bottom
man its already looks like summer on this side of the sierra too
ITS OUTTTT
I trust my totems regardless of any breaktest. This is really painful 😂 still, cool test!
It's quite fear inducing to see the cams come out at very low force, even though you thought the placement looked good. Seems like it's really hard to tell in advance how much those will actually do for you in case of a whip that you didn't anticipate...
Thanks for all the content! I love everything you do!
Honestly most of his placements were marginal except the horizontal ones where the totem wire broke at the head. Plus the rock was pretty crumbly so I was not surprised most of those pulled out. Don't take his placements here as examples of textbook cam placements.
@@Govanification maybe it's also a little bit hard to judge in the video - maybe it would have been more clear how good or bad the placements were in person.
@@Zolodar Yeah true. Also tugging on a cam to see if it shifts helps evaluate. But the flared cracks and uneven lobe retraction were pretty obvious to me.
If all lobes of a totem touch the rock then all lobes will be loaded. They are equalized by design if you clip the center. I could help you folks a lot with this but I would recommend talking to plaid the representative for totem in the states
The AMGA instructor that I go through, says that if you only use 2 lobes on the totem cams, you're supposed to clip into the small loop on the sling that attaches to the plastic bit.
Aliens is my number one cam.
favorite of all my cams on my rack
What was the test difference between the Aliens and Metolius cams?
totem lobes are much softer, and so they keep better the placement
@@enricociuppa7093 this is not true. Totem use 7000 series alluminium which is usually stronger and more resilient than 6000 series ally that everyone else uses.
@@TheLordsaviour something new for me, with your surname you should know a lot about materials.
I dont even climb trad, but this was mega interesting to watch.
In quite a few of the tests it seems that the rock is failing and not necessarily the cam. Bits of rock break off and the cam flies out. I'm not sure what this is demonstrating.
It hurts to watch this aaaaaggggg but I must
I'm not sure if I want to see a better slowmo or more gear
Totems rock! Nothing better in my opinion👍
Would love to see some ice screws pulled on one day!
I want to see you guys test really big cams and those micro cams
I want to see tests of small totems in horizontal placements (or the equivalent - with the wires being pulled across an edge)
So how many lbs of force is that?
Black Diamond claims it's dual axel design allows the Camelot to be placed with one of the inner lobes not engaged. You should test how strong that is...
Not sure what to think...
The RED - 2nd placement was looking OKish - and just 2kN ?
How much does a person generate in a whipper? 8 newton's?
What ate the best cams? Totems, black diamonds, friends?
How do these videos not have more views?
Ahhhh so painful to watch you destroy those cams! Thanks for doing it though
Awesome video!
Tie the cables together with a square knot! then pull it out!
Sad, but needed; Ryan generally what was the rock like, there was a lot of rock debris ?
An anchor made with two-lobe placements could be interesting. Maybe not the most "real world" situation, but it may not be too inconceivable.
totem says that you can fall with 3 lobes ingaged, we want to see that thing flying! i think totem showed his superiority
Three lobes makes for a more stable bodyweight only placement. It still only loads one of the two cables, so will hold around half of mbs.
Passively placed totem would be interesting to see
Would be cool to see how the cams break when placed passively
It just breaks the trigger wires since they don't have camstops.
totem are not made to be use passively as camalot, dragon and friend
Great video 👌
I love you for breaking totems, so i don't hav to break mine
Has anybody tried the new italian cam: Angel (sissor shape)?
Lots of undercammed placements imo, but they're still putting up a good fight.
please make some limestone tests
Both sad and happy to see this 😂.
100% for the aliens soooo good
Totems are awesome
love metolius but small aliens do have their place. .4-3 metolius are great
I love and hate this sooo much. Totems are amazing, but fucking expensive! This is the content I’m here for. Love how you did them in some really bad placements.
I like Metolius much more. I think a full rack of master cams compliments a c4 rack better.
Breaking Totems! What a crime! ;)
The last cam moved the rock
What a break test.