Camalot defect?

Better yet use 30 year old Friends like I do! I have never seen a Friend damaged anything near that after a long fall.

I once found a BD headlamp while walking around J-tree. It was all beat to hell and didn't work. I sent it back to BD and they sent me a new one, no questions asked.

I understand your question to be, "Is it normal for my cams to get trashed when I take a normal fall on them?"

In a word: no.

No, it's not normal. Sometimes, as people have been so helpfully sharing, shit happens, but shit shouldn't happen all that often (to the people who are saying 'quit your whining, it saved your life': he bought a #2 BD Camalot, not a screamer. Jesus, those things are made to be fallen on.) Contemporary wisdom is that if you're not falling when climbing trad, then you're not pushing yourself hard enough. If you had to shell out for ten new cams every day you worked on your project, nobody would be doing it.

Thanks for sharing, mate. I'd advise that you contact BD and ship them the cam for an evaluation (they're really good like that), and they should get back to you with an analysis. When they do, please post up here so we can find out what happened.

With the recent discovery of these unsafe[url= karstworlds.com/2011/02/att…]Petzl products[/url], there's a strong possibility that they're producing fake Black Diamond products, as well. You never know--you may be doing all of us a favor!

Peter Schroer wrote:I've only been climbing traditional for a couple years, so my experience with protection gear is limited. I recently upgraded my rack with a new set of C4s. I took a lead fall about 5 or 6 feet above my well placed #2 a couple days ago. No big deal, except that the camalot lobes got all tweaked in the fall. Is that scary and a defect, or is that what happens with a decent fall? Basically, the axles shifted all the way to one side, pinching the lower lobes tight against the end of the axle. That alone caused the action to not even work on that side of the cam . . . but in addition, the lobes used to open and close, near parallel with minimal play. Now, the lobes open and spread apart as they open . . . the play in the lobes is all over the place. The cam was placed perfectly fine in a perfectly vertical crack system with clean walls. The lobes were never caught up in anything. I'd say it was a picture perfect placement for what a cam is supposed to be used for and how to properly place it. The fall was a straight drop over it, past it, and under it . . . I'm just amazed if this is normal for camalots to get this tweaked in an average-type fall. I guess I'm looking for anyone who can comment on this being normal and the camalot still being safe to use . . . or if I'm out of 70 bucks every time I fall.

I appreciate the heads up. This is exactly how the Alien thing layed out at the start. Some random dude posted his experience and got flamed for it. You could almost copy/paste the same stupid-assed flames just replace the word BD for CCH/Alien. But this is where they part company, because Black Diamond stands behind their shit. If anyone has the slightest question about their gear they will jump up and get in front of it and examine the issue. They'll be on this like flies on shit as soon as they get wind of it.

That said, that #3 picture is crazy. Measuring force in the field during actual use is very difficult. Given that the #3 slid, it might have slid down into an irregularity that collapsed the cam with a lateral motion. In either case, you guys do BD a disservice if you don't share these cams with them so that they can check it out. They are a stand up company (OK OK, I know that they just changed ownership and is now a "big" corporation, but old time climber and stand up dude Peter Metcalf still is in charge and they've always stood behind their stuff. Glad no one was hurt.

BTW, what the guy said above about Friends not doing this I think is true. Furthermore, the only Metolius cam I've ever heard of doing anything like this was their smallest, a Purple 00, which they suggest for only aid -if that, (rates to 4KN). Some yahoo took a big free climbing whipper on it. Their stuff is burley strong. Still made in America, in Oregon as far as I know. You have choices.

Jus sayin......don't kill the messenger....

But contact the Black Diamond factory. For them, for you, and for us.

Thanks for sharing.

Regards and be safe! - Bill

Javier Gonzalez wrote:This type of bent lobe is consistent with a cam placed horizontally. The potential scenario is the following: The cam is loaded while being horizontal and the lobes engage, then the cam is rotated by the falling force. As a consquence, the engaged lobes will get bent like in the picture. Is the material is softer than nominal, then it will be even easier.

I was there when the #3 got jacked. Our friend who whipped said it was placed perfectly, right in the middle of the range with the stem going down.

Kevin Kent wrote: it was placed perfectly, right in the middle of the range with the stem going down.

Not all perfect placements remain perfect once we go above that placement. Just fyi.

The axles don't look too bad. The articulation of the lobes off center might be a result of tweaked wires. Like everyone else says, I would send it to Black Diamond and have them inspect it. The shipping doesn't cost that much, and overall shipping plus re-wiring is less expensive than a new cam. If the wires are tweaked, the lobes won't articulate correctly.