Does Yates still make big dudes I need wid crack pro (hollow Flake Pitch on Salathe)

-- Ben Baker (Benbuilds@aol.com), June 08, 1999

Answers

I don't think Big Dudes are still made. Reason is Wild Country and Black Diamond now make their own: #6 Friend (probably) or #5 Camalot (maybe) may fit Hollow Flake. There is a review on big pro in the latest R&I.

-George

-- George Bell (gibell@geocities.com), June 08, 1999.

Ben,

You need the #4 big bro for the hollow flake pitch. It would be best to get two since they are hard to walk. Also if yates doesnt make big dudes anymore the wild country #6 is the biggest cam.

-- Brian (SloBRI@aol.com), June 08, 1999.

BD's #5 won't work on the hollow flake. trust me.

-- Matt (jmpollard@kfogmail.com), June 11, 1999.

Forget the #6 WC and #5 Camalot for the Hollow Flake. They won't fit except at the very bottom of the crack. Yates isn't offering the Big Dudes anymore. Besides, I think their largest was about 7", or about the same as the WC #6.

You can't walk the Big Bro above you as you go, and it is hard to move above any pro you leave.

The best solution is here:

http://home.pacbell.net/takasper/index.html

The people who have seen and used the Valley Giant cams say they are very nice, and very high quality. I used them myself to go up the Excalibur, and my #12 seemed more stable and less prone to walking than a #5 Camalot. The #9s were even better.

Unfortunately, I don't have any more of the Valley Giants right now. I am in the process of getting another batch up, but it will be at least a couple of weeks.

For what it's worth, the Hollow Flake has some face holds you can use, and as it gets wider, it slants off to the left. So, you tend to fall into the crack, not out of it.

-- Tom Kasper (takasper@pacbell.net), June 27, 2002.