Camalots

# 1 - 5 are on my rack. I have doubles in 1 - 3.5. They are a very durable and user friendly piece. Wear and tear doesn't seem to effect them. Very easy to place with a reliable spring mechanism. Great range of sizes although I prefer Aliens for my smaller sizes.

Great product but heavy. I think these are the gold standard for camming devices. Every rack should have a .5, .75. 1, and 2.

Nowadays the definity camming device. The micro-rack works beautifully in granite, and the bigger sizes in all tipes of rock. One you use the little ones with double axle, (0.3 & 0.4), you won´t climb without them.

I have the full set of 13. A little heavier and more expensive than others but worth it. The mid sizes are the best. The double axle really makes a difference.

Great selection of sizes Fit in almost all cracks. Camalots double axle makes them more stable when they are severely under-cammed than any other single axle cam. Overlapping sizes makes finding the correct size for the specific crack easy. A great buy. Definitely worth the money. Also, very durable.

Yes, camalots are solid and dependable cams, but lets add some numbers to the debate.

Suppose I want to cover a reasonable [1] camming range of 10mm to 100m on my general-purpose free-climbing rack, that I'm hauling with me on my epic first-ascent up Mount Doom:

The Black Diamond Camalot solution:
9 pieces (size 0.2 to 3.5) weighing in at 1384g and costing me $556.00.

The Wild Country Tech Friend solution:
10 pieces (size 00 to 4.0) weighing in at 1200g and costing me $480.00.

Going with the Tech Friends, which IMO are the other benchmark in camming devices, gives me more pieces [2] at less weight and at less cost.

If those differences don't seem like much consider what happens if I should start to double up on pieces. With my Tech Friend rack im already 1 piece, 184g and $70 ahead, and those numbers only get better for every piece that's added.

[1] By "reasonable", I mean a normal rack that doesn't cater for aid climbing micro-cams, or off-width size mega-cams.

[2] More pieces means more placements with which to temper the pull of the yawning void.

P.S. Point 1. of the previous review by climbersam is also particularly irksome to me when I use BD camalots!

There seems to be a certain irony, that the folks that bring you the lightest carabiner (Neutrino) also bring you the heaviest camming devices.... Camalots are, indeed, quite Safe, quite Strong, highly Versitile and can be used in many many applications !! Their double axles and special trigger design, both have some advantages and some down falls.The bottom line, however, is that they are heavy and they are expensive. In this Brave New World of Camming Devices, there are some that are better and some that are not. I have used the Wild Country Friends, both rigid and flexible stems, for more than 2 decades. They do quite well for all functions, Safety, weight and price !! I do favor the #4 Camalot over the #4 Friend, as it does have a wider range ( which is important at that size). Although I initially rejoiced when "Saint Yvon" came out with his own line of camming devices, I rapidly discovered that they really offered no significant improvement over the Friends that I had been using...only an increased weight and price. I would highly recommend that you strongly consider the fact that you get more pieces, at less weight and less price with Wild Country.

Other than the price and wieght there one of the best cams on the market. They supplement my WC friends rack. great as a secondary to carry for wieght reasons.

Excellent cam. The smoothest trigger of any cam I've tried. Own #0.75 to #3.5 (doubles in #1-#3). A bit heavy? Yes. Expensive? Sure but so are WC Friends (difference between the two is really not that great %-wise). All that is quickly forgotten when you place one of these - feel very stable and confidence-building.

I've used Camalots from other people's racks on numerous occasions. The more I use them, the more I dislike them. They are far and away the HEAVIEST and MOST EXPENSIVE cam on the market. With the fast and light climbing I like to do, Camalots are a hinderance. I prefer the smoother cam action on the Friends too.

Another thing that annoys me is Black Diamond's advestising. It is very misleading. They advertise that the Camalots have the largest expansion range of any cam, which is mininformation. In fact the Effective Range on the Friends is slightly higher, and they are much cheaper and lighter.

Don't buy them.