Moses Cam Hooks
I got my Moses Cam Hooks from Mountain Gear and went straight to my local crumbly beach cliff to try them out.
The come in three sizes:
Mini - $7.95
Narrow - $8.95
Wide - $9.95
Plus the Fragile Flake - 14.95
Shipping from mountain gear was $4.95 and they took two business day to arrive.
I bought the Narrow and Wide. The Mini Leeper Cam Hook never had been that useful; I remember using it on El Cap only a handful of times. I would say only get Mini Moses if you are doing some cutting edge clean aid and want every possible tool. Otherwise the Narrow size works 90 percent of the time. The other 10 percent of the time I use the Wide. So if you can only buy one, get the Narrow.
After my new Moses Cam Hooks arrived I pulled out my old Leeper Cam Hooks for a size-by-size comparison. But I couldn't find my Wide Leepers…Doh! If anyone is borrowing them from me, please return them.
So for this comparison we will only be looking at the Narrow size… which is cool because that is the most useful size anyway.
As you can see in the photos below they are pretty much identical. The bend is slightly different, the eye on the Moses is a little smaller and the Moses is a little shorter but they are essentially identical.
Comparing Moses Cam Hook narrow size (right) with old Leeper Cam Hook narrow size (left).
Comparing Leeper Cam Hook narrow size (left) with Moses Cam Hook narrow size (right).
Comparing Leeper Cam Hook narrow size (left) with Moses Cam Hook narrow size (right).
How Did They Compare?
In full disclosure, I tested in crappy coastal rock. A real test is necessary in granite where these will generally be used. I'll do that shortly on El Cap so for now this is a "first look" report.
In bigger cracks, the Moses cam hooks worked just as well as the Leepers. Sweet!
I then put them both in crappy shallow placements:
Leeper Cam Hook in crappy ocean rock.
Moses Cam Hook in crappy ocean rock.
Here I discovered that the Leepers held a little better. I was surprised at first, even a little worried. Then I noticed a key difference:
Moses Cam Hook narrow size (left) compared to Leeper Cam Hook narrow size (right)
As you can see in the photo, the edges of my Leeper Cam hook are worn down. (I am pretty sure they started out just as square as the Moses edges). That little difference made the Leeper more secure in a few super-tenuous spots.
So is it time to file down my Moses cam hook to make it more like the Leeper? Not yet. This was crappy ocean rock; not an ideal test environment. I'll go to Yosemite and report on how they turn out. Meanwhile, I'm still looking for my missing Wide Leeper!
FAST FORWARD to Yosemite
I made the trip to Yosemite while working on the first free ascent of Mescalito with Tommy Caldwell
While there I tested the Moses Cam hooks on El Cap and found they worked just like the old Leeper cams. The only difference is that my Leeper cams worked their way into slightly more tenuous placements because their corners are worn down (see explanation above).
Here are some photos:
Moses Cam Hook In Action
Leeper Cam Hook
You can read more about cam hooks in the How To Big Wall Gear Chapter
