Everything about hooks (slinging, racking, using) with an emphasis on cam hooks [back to top] [FAQ contents]

Kinds of Hooks

From: Eric Coomer, 9/27/1995

Cam hooks, wide and narrow: a.k.a. gift of the Gods and Goddesses. These are rounded looking hooks that aren't used like regular hooks. You place them sideways in a vertical crack and cam them into place. They are quick and efficient and usually better than a small nut. They don't do much for pro though.

Pointed Leeper hook: regular looking hook that is pointed at the end. The point can be stuffed into shallow drilled 1/4" holes drilled for that purpose or blown bolt/rivet holes.

Sky hook: the original hook. Looks like a what a hook sounds like(???) YOu set them on a good edge. They curve about 180 degrees to it helps to place them over a good incut lip for stability.

Flat leeper: Like a truncated sky hook. It only makes just over a 90 degree bend. Good for flat hook ledges. More stable on these than a sky hook.

Fish, and Captain hook: these are large radius hooks- like meat hooks. They can be placed over large flakes and such or big shelfs.

Some hooks, especially the fish and captain hooks can be duct taped in place as pro. I've never done it, and probably will someday. Scary stuff.

From: Brutus of Wyde, 9/27/1995

fish and captain hooks.

Big hooks. Made by Fish and Also-Rans (no offense intended, Mr. Rans)

A couple of skyhook moves followed...

Little hooks. Made by Lotsa Folks.

...I looked for a bat hook hole, or a blown rivet...

Bat hooks: invented by Warren Harding, a hook with a tiny, short, narrow point used for hooking drilled holes (imagine the start of a 1/4" diameter bolt hole, as it looks after the first several hammer blows, and you get the picture...) Saves placing bolts on long, bolted first ascents like the South Face of Half Dome.

From: Robert Fonda, 10/17/1998

A cam hook is a flat L shaped piece of metal that you can wedge in a crack and your applied weight causes it to naturally cam against the wall of the crack.

How to Use

From: David Hill, 6/21/1998

cam hooks are absolutely fantastic! they now come in THREE sizes, i believe. Basically, they work in super-thin cracks. They serve (at least) two purposes. First, they allow you to aid up a thin crack WITHOUY nailing LA's or fiddling with RP's. And if the crack is parallel and nuts won't work, they may be the only solution. Second, they allow you to aid up a thin crack SPEEDILY.

Case in point: on the Muir last summer, there was this LA crack on pitch 20-something. I would make 2 or three cam hook moves in a row and then place a tiny nut. Fantastic! They seem kinda scary the first time you use them, but after awhile, you can just toss em' in a crack, hop on and start high-stepping!

I do NOT think they are suitable for scars...I tried this once and went for a good whipper.

From: Bill Folk, 6/22/1998

They can work well in a flaring scar, but of course it really depends on the particular scar in question. In any case, it's worth trying more than once. Less damaging and faster than a hammered nut or a sawed angle.

From: Dcondit, 6/23/1998

I found that the larger Leeper Cam Hook actually works quite well in those big, oval pin scars. I used several placements in the big fat scars on the lower pitches of the Nose. I'd put it in & then torque it around until it nestles up against a crystal.

I've also got one of those Red Dragon cam hooks from Moab. It's much smaller than the smallest Leeper (the Yellow Dragon is smaller still), and it works great in tiny little slots. It's designed for sandstone, but seems to work well in granite also.

From: Chris Maytag, 6/21/1998

I've found them to be quite usable if the crack is narrow enough, but when the crack widens out a bit they tend to torque out if one's not careful about direction of pull. Like all hooking, it seems to me that the key is to move smoothly, and quickly.

From: Evan Bigall, 10/13/1998

I know I'm not the first to slot a Leeper cam upside down under a roof. But does anybody know if the piece was ever designed to be used in this way?

Designed? Who knows, but they are used that way all the time and don't fail. The new micro leepers come with an explicit warning not to use them that way though.

I recently used a leep on a non-roof horizontal, just folded the sling over, leaned out a bit and stood on it. Cool.

From: Donutz, 10/13/1998

As I recall, the documentation for the newer smaller Leepers stated that they wouldn't stand up to undercling placements. The best I can assume is that the bigger ones therefore are expected to stand up to the force exerted.

From: themadco, 8/26/2002

Its aid climbing. If it fits then it works. Now just get it to fit good.

Most Useful Sizes

From: Evan Bigall, 10/16/1998

What do folks carry? One of each size?

Two of the regular gets you through 85% of the time, I also have one big and one small for those special placements.

From: Pete, 10/16/1998

As for sizes, I use the small cam (not the micro) about 7 or 8 times for every one time I use the large. I like the small one so much that I'm going to get a second one and leave one on each set of aiders when climbing the thinner stuff. Just keep an eye on your webbing, though. I've found that it has a tendency to get worn pretty quickly.

Material to Use for Slings

From: Scott Ghiz, 6/24/1999

I've always used 1/2" tie-off webbing on my hooks. I read somewhere that you should never do that and use 9/16" supertape. Well, I got some 9/16" supertape and started slinging my hooks.... no way. First of all, the extra thickness causes the standard Chouinard hook to rock and it looks like a talon will also be somewhat destabilized. No chance of even getting it through Leeper hooks. FISH and Captain Hooks seem better with this thicker stuff, though. Can I go back to 1/2" tie-off OR better yet, that 9/16" FISH super tie-off webbing? Or am I using a serious time bomb?

From: Matthew Buckle, 6/24/1999

I am by no means a big aid climber, but unless therer is some other reason I can't think of, I wouldn't be too worried. If you are generating the forces necessary to break good condition 1/2 inch webbing on a hook placement, I think the webbing would be the least of my concerns. For peices which I would expect to hold a big leader fall it would certainly be best.

From: Rex Pieper, 6/24/1999

Scott, you're fine. I use 1/2" for the most part. If you're paranoid, go w/ Russ' Supertape.

From: Ian Francis, 6/24/1999

I use 1/2" supertape for hooks. 9/16" for the Talon. I feel safe.

From: Jim Cormier, 5/3/1999

I use 1/2" tubular, and 1/2" flat, sometimes 9/16". I just keep an eye on it and replace it at the slightest wear. However I would reccomend using "Super Tie Off Webbing" from FISH.

Swaging Hooks

From: John Myles, 6/25/1999

A while back I took my hooks into the local hardware store and swagged (is that the proper term?) them with cable similar to the stuff they use on RURPS. Works great and they sound really nice when all racked side-by-each. (When I retire from climbing they will make a good wind chime.) Oh, and that swagging stuff makes good alumiheads for less than a buck each!

From: Jim Cormier, 6/25/1999

I use 1/2", 9/16", 4mm cord, whatever is laying around and will work, but predominately I use narrow webbing. I have done the swaging cables for another known climber, but have not done it to my hooks yet. He mentioned that it was reccomended to him from Jim Bridwell.

From: Mike, 5/3/1999

I got tired of the webbing getting chewed up. I had stainless steel loops swaged on and have been fine since. This configuration violates Leeper's threading instructions, but I've seen no decrease in performance.

How to Sling

From: Rex Pieper, 4/22/2002

You only want the final loop of sling to be about 2" in length, tied with an overhand knot with both tails heading the same direction. Push the non-knotted end of the loop through the cam hook towards the concave side so that the knot wedges in the tie in hole. Clip one of each to your aider biners and zip up that C1 pitch in no time.

From: Jim Cormier, 5/3/1999

Take a piece of 1/2" webbing 8"- 10" fold in half and tie an overhand knot and feed the loop through from the outside (per the instructions from leeper)

From: Scott Presho, 5/2/1999

I tied a 3 inch loop with an overhand knot(with lots of tail), set the knot by bouncing on it, and then threaded the loop so the knot was away from the rock.

From: themadco, 4/22/2002

Is there any reason why a short sling of 1/2", tied off with a water knot, wouldn't work just as well or better?

An over hand and a water knot are look same when finished if tied as Rex described. Match the two ends and tie an overhand. Try to keep in mind that you are not going to be falling on these so strength is not the big issue. The major difference is you do not have a sling ran through the cam hook tied in a loop but rather a loop pushed through the sling hole, as you would sling up a regular hook. Your way is strong but makes for a cumbersome placement, odd forces on the cam, and is not neccassary for what they are used for. Your right, your way wont kill you, you'll just wish you were dead.

Length of Loop

From: Amanda Tarr, 10/8/1996

I think my loops are medium length... but in reference to your question, I think the pro of having a short loop would be, as you say, getting higher on your piece. I'm not really sure this would be a concern, but I guess a con could be that with a shorter loop, there's less "play" in the system, and your movement might be more easily translated onto the hook, causing it to pop.

From: Robert Ternes, 10/8/1996

Outward pull might become a concern on a shorter loop, because

1) You won't notice it as fast as on a long leash

2) The greater transmission of outward and all other pull while using a short loop.

Racking Hooks

From: Rex Pieper, 3/7/200

If I'm using Cam Hooks often, they stay on my aider. Otherwise I clip them to the front gear loop of my harness, not the rack. Just easier to find if they stay in one spot.

For the other nasties, Brent turned me on to this slick trick. Get a FISH Products vinyl wall bag (small) and put the hooks into that. Clip the now sheathed hooks to your rack. You can also just girth the sling of the bag to the gear sling, but I don't like it "fixed" to the gear sling.

Others combine the hooks with the tie offs, the webbing seems to defang the hooks (a bit). Not as well as the bag though.

From: Andy Gale, 3/7/2002

Get a couple small sized Beef Bags from Fish Products. These are stuff sacks made completely out of vinyl. Clip several hooks onto 1 biner and stuff them into a small beef bag clipped to your gear sling. Granted it is not necessarily readily accessible since you have to get them out of the bag whenever you want to use them. But they won't CF everything else. The beef bags are great for other stuff sack uses on wall also, as are the Fish Wall Bags.

From: Brian in SLC, 3/7/2002

Any small stuff sack. I use an REI model that has a lightweight daisy built on. I think its for an ultra light sleepin' pad. Keeps snaggin' and jinglin' to a minimum...

See also:

How to use Leeper Cam Hooks - from The Greenspun Mountaineering Forum, 10/2001
How to Hook - from FishProducts.com
picture of a slung hook - from Black Diamond Equipment
hooks for newbie aid rack?, 12/1999
Fish hooks: worth the weight?, 8/2002
Cam hook tomfoolery - how to sling cam hooks, 5/2002

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