Question, is the stem flexable or rigid? Any input on the peice is great as well. I need a larger cam and this seems to have a big range.

D

After lurking for over a year, here's my first post!!!

They're a rigid stem, and the #2 will work from a .5 camalot to a #2 camalot. I love mine, and keep a #1 and #2 on my shoulder sling (the #1 works from .4 to #1 camalot, so the #2 is really a better deal). I really just save them for weird shaped cracks, or if I'm pumped/runout and just need to fire something in.

On the downside, they're heavy, which is why I only carry one of each size.

On the downside... they seem to have significant failure issues, too. Poke around and you'll see what I'm referring to.

They seem to be fine, failure wise, in perfect lab type cracks. However I have significant issues with the particulate processing method used for portions of the cam lobes, any kind of twisting or non perfect placement which produces non normal stresses on the link cam could result in the lobe failure, stresses that other cams can endure without failure... Apparently they, OP, did a study and that the normal locations of the cracks which can form in the lobes have no effect on strength in their laboratory perfectly parallel directly downward loaded tests. However, from the pictures of broken cams the lobes fail directly through where the cracks were in the their test samples. Now it seems as if these cams would have been designed for unusual hard to protect cracks, but I would seriously question them before I climbed with them, make your own decision if you think the gear you will trust your life to is safe (do this with all gear). I think there are other failure issues too, I haven't looked it up for a few months now, I should probably do some more recent homework on them before posting too much. I would love to run some tests on these in the lab, get some broken ones and partially broken, see where and how they are failing, get some micrographs and fracture photos, then go see all of the Metallurgical professors here... But the stem is similar to the old BD cams. My opinion though is that I do not consider them safe enough to climb with at this point. Many people think they are fine though.

Great...... how did I miss this? I didn't really need anything else to mess with my head game.

I quickly searched around the other RC forums and haven't found anything recent as to safety of the gear. Has anyone seen anything? I really don't want to retire these pieces if I don't have to.

link

Would say they are fine unless you place them in the types of cracks and pockets where an extended range cam would excel, I hope they improve upon their design though, modify it a bit and don't use powder met so we can get a good microstructure which would give better strengths...

I LOVE mine... for aid. I just did a roof in JTree and the first piece I placed after getting around the roof was the #1. The rope ended up getting stuck behind the loose lobes (I had it cammed way down and the bigger lobes were loose). I had to rap back down to it and get it freed up. Another thing is they get fixed REALLY easy. I think I'm gonna take them off my free rack and use them for aid only.


Hope this helps...

Zac

I don't know much about them failing, but the trigger wires fray and break super easy. I had to do some funky engineering to fix one on my #1. It was weird how it broke too, I guess it happened when cleaning it. I looked down on my harness and the cam lobe had unwound.

I don't know...........

I've taken multiple falls on both the #1 and #2. I haven't had any failures even in flared crack placements. No problems either placing or removing them and I've only seen one #1 fixed. Like any camming unit, if one is careful with their placement they should not get fixed.

I think these units are safe for falling onto whether it be on free climbs or on aid routes.....

Jack

I'm with Jack here. I love mine and trust it fully.

In response to the second post, the Link Cams are not rigid. The stems are made from cable which will flex if it is needed. They aren't as flexi as an Alien or the new Master Cams but you won't break or destroy the unit if you load it over an edge.

Mal

I'm with Malcolm... I love mine and carry it with me on all routes.
However, it has some caveats... The gold ones will get stuck in small cracks. I lost one on Bridger Jack Butte. It was in so deep you could not retract it. Also, here in the desert, I worry about the holding power when the cam-to-rock contact point is on the hinges... its a small surface are for soft rock to hold up under.

I guess I should qualify my statement a little. They are not perfect--nothing is--and I use it (I only have a yellow one) selectively when it's appropriate.
Mal