These things are cheap, and I don't think I would buy them for myself, but I
have to say now that I have one (bootied) that they are pretty damn solid
pieces. They are very “low-tech” in most aspects of their design, but for $30,
that's still a good deal for a solid cam.
- Rock Empire Robot, #1 (gray)
- Bootied: Wednesday, July 28, 2004
My first piece of booty ever! This was in perfect condition when I retrieved
it from a placement on the first pitch of Open Book at Tahquitz. It wasn't even
the least bit overcammed, but the trigger was inaccessible up under the crack.
One quick pull with a nut tool was all it took. I'm pretty sure it had never
even been placed before; I placed it a few times that day, and it had more
scratches on it at the end of the day than it had when I first retrieved it.
Based on this, the ease with which it came out, and even the model of cam (a
really cheap one), I would bet that this was left by someone with zero trad
climbing experience, who was probably in over his head on Open Book.
- Left behind: Sunday, September 6, 2015
I placed this on the first pitch of Geronimo in Red Rocks, while climbing with
Ivy. She couldn't get it out, so I told her to just leave it behind, and I'd
try to retrieve it on the rappel. By the time we were rapping off, it was
getting a bit late, Ivy was concerned about hiking back in the dark, and I was
a little worried about getting a ticket for having my car on the loop road
after dark. So I didn't spend too much time working on getting this piece out,
but I'm not sure if much more time would have helped anyway. It had turned more
than 90° so that the stem was sticking out and up, and had walked into the
crack a little. Some of the lobes were touching both sides of the crack, and
the whole thing wouldn't even wiggle. I messed with it for just a few minutes
before deciding to leave it. After all, this has never been a piece I valued
all that highly, other than the fact that it was my first booty. Alas, the
booty gods giveth, and the booty gods taketh away.