John,

got any idea what generation it is? I was thinking mine might have been before they work some bugs out since mine was right when they came out. I still think it is a cool design, was real disappointed when it broke.

Side note, they are easy to fix once you are on the ground. They sell a kit.

Metolius is pretty confident in the Kevlar- aside from the initial batch of Supercams (which supposedly had a bad batch of glue), there have been no reports of any problems with the kevlar to Metolius....

time will tell, i suppose, as i suspect that the wear and tear on the smaller Master Cams may be more extensive.

Anyone brought these yet?

Metolius Master Cams have arrived in Boulder. Neptune's got 'em. They don't have #0 or #00 yet though.

RIP, CCH. :)

--Marc

Bought the #1-3 this wknd and played with them in some cracks, a few pitches, etc. Aliens in one hand, Master Cams in the other. Aliens are a little more flexible, and therefore may walk less and may sit better in some situations where the cable wraps around some crack feature, but that's the only advantage an Alien has over these things. Aliens might be too flexible as they often collapse when I'm trying to trigger them. Some say the high strand count in Aliens that makes them so flexible is part of the reason they are failing - ie, the small stands overheat during the brazing. Otherwise, the master cam is superior in every other way. No time for a comprehensive spew review, except to say I really like the flexible trigger "wires". Even if they do fail every few years, which remains to be seen, the functionality of them getting out of the way w/o disturbing the lobes as well as allowing the trigger bar to rotate out of the way is really sweet and makes the cam safer, IMO. The triggering and placement overall is just superior to Aliens. I got my first Alien in 1992 and have had over a dozen of them. Many years of V free routes to A5 routes on El Cap - I was a fan. But the recent failures are just too much for me. I can't believe Metolious waited so long. Bye bye CCH. If the drastic and sudden loss of market share doesn't kill them, the various pending lawsuits will surely finish them off.

Thanks for the update Jed. Where did you get them from?

Think we could get a killer gear review like this one for the C3's? John?

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/climbing_gear_discussion/ge>>>>>

Anyone know if there are any plans for hybrids or "offsets as they call them"? I can't wait to try some of these once I heal up.

Will, I would really like to get a set and compare them to C3's and Aliens but I just can't afford them right now! Glad you liked the C3 review.

Hopefully someone will post one up soon. I know that John over at Rc.com has a set and is hoping to post a review up this month.

I didnt read this whole thread, I got to the part of the back and forth fights with out valued information so hopefully someone can catch me up if there was any answers to my questions. So I just got my grubby little hands on the new Master Cam. I like it for the exception of one hang up. This new Kevlar Glue in cord. It looks like nylon, and glued in???????? Im an aid climber, I know abuse, Im worried this stuff is going to break or come unglued. Metolius has always had an great reputation when it comes to "not " having to replace triggers, unlike other brands, Not to mention any (bd) ahum. Has anyone put these things to the test yet?? what about sand and water breaking down the glue? What about the cords durability to the abuse against the rock?

I believe that they have been using the kevlar cord and glue for sometime on their SuperCams and so far they have only had one return and that was a glue issue. The cord apparently holds up well.

This is from information I saw posted somewhere else but I can't remember where!

Some comments over on cascadeclimbers from people who have put down hard cash for master cams.


http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat>>>>>

Avery: sure, and it's pretty good right now. Todays snow level 1000 feet. So the am gets some you some powder runs till you get bored or if it gets slushy in the sun (you're at 4500-7000 feet so you can ski all day.)

Snow skiing around here usually goes all summer till @ late September-Early October when there is too little snow, but with this winters dump, this years snow skiing should be year-round. Later in the day hit any south facing cliff below snow level and it's a sweet spot climbing day moment to finish the day out. Because the deciduous trees have not re-grown their leaves yet, anyplace in the sun out of the wind feels like 70 degrees.

Sometimes by 3-4 pm after both rock climbing and skiing same day I'm home, Pwn'ed, showered and back in bed for an afternoon nap much to my wifes amusement.

That is: except for days like today where it was snowing on the Mountain (temp 16-21 degrees with 9" of new snow today for a total of 199" mid-mountain where I go) and raining hard below in the valleys and lowlands. Then you either go catch some freshiez, work, or maybe go for a hike to watch the creeks rise:-) That is, unless you head to Smith Rocks or a similar spot where it's dry, warm and pretty good most the time now.

Any new information on the Master Cams? It would be good to get the low-down from someone who's actually climbed on them for a while.

Also, has anyone heard if they are going to produce any hybrids?

They're superior in every way to Aliens. I've sold all my Aliens. Go play with some and make your own judgements.

I think it is a toss up. On one hand, it is reasonably safe to believe the heads won't rip off (a big plus). On the other, they are a little boxier due to the shape of the lobe tips protruding when at the lower limit of their expansion range. This is a little hard to explain, but they actually get a little bit bigger when you pull the trigger completely. I will try to post some pictures of what I am talking about at some point. This really only affects placements in shallow or flaring cracks, but that's why we love aliens!

Still, a very fine cam, but not without some nuances that I think I will adapt to with time.

Too bad they have not be able to get the 0 and 00 out.

Just out of curiosity, do some of you really ditch your old cams when the latest greatest new model hits the market? Sheesh! Ive only been climbing and leading trad since the mid 90s and have yet to wear out a cam to the point where I need to toss it. Granted Im no valley bum or hard core aid aficionado but I climb at least regularly enough to have to replace nylon regularly and ropes every few years.

Then there is the fact that folks have climbed way harder than I ever will on way less optimized gear. It still held their whippers.

Heck, any modern cam is good enough except in some crazy aid placements and the other few exceptions. Analyzing cam angles is so much less interesting than getting out climbing!

I do have one friend who wore out a green alien (one of the old ones which had the easily faded colored plastic) which I noticed, as I was placing it, had developed flat surfaces on the lobes from being rubbed against the sides of a crack upon insertion for way too many years.