Other aspects of the Camalot Ultralights held up well, such as the stem and trigger wires. For others, the weight savings and daily utility of the Camalot Ultralight provides reason to use it for its 10 year lifespan and then replace it as some argue you should with much of your gear, including hard goods like carabiners and cams. For some this short lifespan is cause for concern as many climbers have cams over 10 years old on their racks, merely replacing the sewn sling on the thumb loop periodically. The Dyneema core stem is surrounded by plastic, making it durable in the short term but Black Diamond recommends a 10 year lifespan on this Dyneema stem with no way to resling or replace it. The chief concern is the use of Dyneema for the core stem in lieu of a traditional steel cable stem. The Camalot Ultralights shed significant weight from their C4 predecessors but with that weight savings comes some concern about long term durability. To some degree, albeit lesser, the cam lobes on the DMM Dragons and Friends are more square cut and вЂњaggressivelyвЂќ built, adding some benefit in enhancing stability. Compared to another double axle cam with a thumb loop, the Wild Country Friends, the CamalotвЂ™s tightly woven sling on the thumb loop was observed to contribute to movement of the cam compared to the loosely fitting sling on the Friends, which allowed the sling to move without affecting the cam placement.

During in-house testing in our stability test, the Camalot Ultralights could experience significant movement or вЂњwalkingвЂќ when a rope was moving through the carabiner and the stiff stem connected to a tightly woven and relatively stiff sling seemed to the be the biggest cause. Today, the Camalot Ultralights prove to be more stable than single axle cams but in our testing the Camalot Ultralights werenвЂ™t as stable as other double axle cams. Since then the patent has expired and many companies have copied the double axle design. Black Diamond revolutionized camming devices with the introduction of the double axle Camalot years ago. StabilityДouble axle cams have long been seen as more stable than a traditional single axle cam. ItвЂ™s a slight difference in the two but accounts for the edge given to the Wild Country Friends in terms of friendly ergonomics. The trigger is spacious and wide, making it relatively easy to use but testers preferred the curved trigger bar on the Wild Country Friends compared to the flat trigger bar on the Camalot Ultralights.

The thumb loop is grooved to provide extra purchase and is rigid to ensure itвЂ™s always open and easy to access, no matter how far it may be buried in a crack. A spacious thumb loop was easy to use by testers whether placing or removing gear, helping take some edge off of those difficult times when at a crux and trying to manipulate and place a cam. The Camalot Ultralight cams were one of the more popular cams tested in terms of ergonomics.

Outdoor gear lab master cam ultralight