Depends on where you climb. Out in Camden, the stubby is essential, just like the pink, white and black tricam on rock. Other places, you can go a bit longer depending on what you climb. For instance, in MWV yesterday, I used several 16's but also placed multiple 13's and 10's due to the thickness of the ice. I've never used my 22 out here except for a v-thread. My 19 got dropped years ago and I haven't even noticed it missing except for the extra orange screw cover and the guilt of losing a $55 piece of gear. 16's are a good place to start as they will definitely get used a lot. As you can see from the forum, the longer and shorter depend on who you ask. IMOP, you can clean off junk ice, but you can't make ice, so if you can only get a limited number, I would get 1 or 2 10's and 1 or 2 13's to start with in addition to the 16's at least to start with. You will need them at some point. You just may not need 4 stubbies and 3 yellows to get pro at this point in your career. And longer screws aren't necessarily stronger. In the same quality ice, the yellow and blue BD have the same thread area. Not sure about the long ones. Just for FYI, my rack consists of 1 22, 6 16's, 4 13's and 4 10's. I've been very grateful to have the option of the shorter screws in that quantity. But, it also just the luck of what and when I climb. Next time you're out, just take note of where you think you would want to place some gear and start assessing the ice. And find some partners with screws to see what you use of theirs before you get too many of one size.
