Lost cam on Rock On Sat. July 12th

[pinner]

Not mine - my buddy took a newbie friend of ours up last weekend, and he jammed it in there on second. I believe it's an orange Metolius cam, but am not sure, as my friend is not the gear head I am, and he doesn't even know what make his gear is. He does know, however, that it is orange. If anyone frees it, his broke a$% would much appreciate it being returned.

[Brendan]

interesting, i just had a conversation w/ somebody about this yesterday...

if cams are found IN or ON the climb, it's fair game. if found on the ground at the base or the approach trail, it's only fair to return it (consensus of everybody i spoke to about this).

[jefffski]

interesting, i just had a conversation w/ somebody about this yesterday...

if cams are found IN or ON the climb, it's fair game. if found on the ground at the base or the approach trail, it's only fair to return it (consensus of everybody i spoke to about this).

i would return a cam if it was left in an emergency or the party ahead of us left it and asked if we found it.

[Brendan]

that's different Jeff.

[pinner]

That's a new consensus to me, but one that I can agree with.

[Dru]

If I leave it and you find it it's yours.
If you leave it and I find it it's mine.

[sherri]

Playing "finders-keepers" is the easy way out, especially if you have a chance to return the gear(ie-see a post identifying it).

People don't leave gear on purpose and they're probably pretty bummed about losing it, so I'd rather give it back than count their bad luck as my good luck.

If I can't locate the owner, it's mine.

[Brendan]

Playing "finders-keepers" is the easy way out, especially if you have a chance to return the gear(ie-see a post identifying it).

People don't leave gear on purpose and they're probably pretty bummed about losing it, so I'd rather give it back than count their bad luck as my good luck.

If I can't locate the owner, it's mine.

any more words of wisdom?

[Dru]

Being bummed about losing gear will teach you not to lose it the next time.
Being happy to have found gear will make you look more closely for future lost or stuck stuff and help to keep the crags clean.

easy come, easy go.


I'm always willing to tell other people where I have left gear if I think they have a good chance of recovering it. And if they do manage to get it out, it's theirs. Likewise if I see a "stuck gear on pitch xxx of route yyy" post it's a chance to add to my rack.

But of course it's situational. I wouldn't consider a line of draws on a sport route to be booty, but when I was soloing up Sparrow once and found a #2 cam in the crescent flake and 2 draws on the bolts on the slab beyond, I took them.

[pinner]

New thoughts on the "find on route, keep, find on ground, return". Seems to me there are more factors/circumstances that may occur on route prompting someone to leave or forget a piece than there are on the ground. It's tough not to see a cam in a crack when your rope is clipped into it - if it's been left, and is not stuck, presumably there were some extenuating circumstances that made it seem necessary. If, however, you can't take care of your rack enough to actually get it off the ground due to carelessness, that seems fair game to me. Or would one assume extraneous gear was purposefully left to eliminate weight/bulk? Seems like that stuff should be stashed rather well. Just thinking out loud here...

[crazymonkey]

So what about the "what is this piece of gear's history" factor? If you find a piece on a route, or at the base of something and keep it, do you trust it? Obviously something smashed to hell and looking pretty manky would most likely find it's way onto a wind chime, but what about the rest?

[bradley3297]

personally if the piece is visually good its prob ok. most pieces are rated for much higher weight than necessary. im more worried about rock failure....inspect the piece if its undamaged its prob fine.

[sherri]

I mark bootied gear with a different color tape than the rest of my rack. If I'm leading through a super-sketchy spot where I wouldn't want to fall on gear that I didn't "100 percent" trust, I don't place that gear. For the most part, though, I treat it as part of my regular rack.

[pinner]

hmmm... seems like if you don't 100% trust the gear to take a fall, you shouldn't ever place it. Might as well run it out instead, save the weight, not potentially endanger your partner, etc. If you're not putting the gear in to arrest a fall, what are you putting it in for?

[Brendan]

I mark bootied gear with a different color tape...

that's what i do!!

black electrical tape means that it is damaged or could possibly be.


as for finding gear at the bottom of the pitch/ climb. it prolly means it was dropped and isn't really a good idea to use it. maybe cams are different!? nuts are still in for sure tho. biners/ belay devices are out 100%. imo.

alls i know is that if there's gear on a route (excluding projects), i'm taking it. i don't care about others loss or how broke they are