C3's discontinued?

awolf wrote:

Just picked up a 000 at backcountry.com for 35% off:

https://www.backcountry.com/black-diamond-camalot-c3?skid=BLD0790-C3000G-S000&ti=U2VhcmNoIFJlc3VsdHM6YzM6MToyOmMz

Same!  They seem to be the only ones left...probably because BD says “for direct aid only.”  Any thoughts on that from those of you who’ve used them?  4kn isn’t something I’d want to whip on, but for small falls it should be ok and, as they say: it’s significantly better than nothing...

Thanks Al!

i just noticed on rei's website that they have the 000 on sale but the 1 and 2 are not on sale and the pic makes it look like they changed the coloring (as in cosmetic change only)  

looks like they are not discontinued but are just being updated to eliminate the colored rubber protector in favor of a clear protector. I assume this is a cost savings thing as the plastic tubing the triggers run through is probably bought in bulk from a supplier while they probably make the rubber part in house, and eliminating the color means they only have to have 1 sku of protector before assembly which would reduce cost for a lower volume product.  I assume the c3s don't sell as well ever since x4s and totems came out but maybe they arn't totally gone?

anyone know anything about this?

https://www.rei.com/product/737342/black-diamond-camalot-c3-cam

Looks like a cosmetic second TBH.

Saw this suspicious looking updated C3 or C3 replacement in Alex Honnold’s GF’s instagram story. 

Taylor Lapeyre wrote:

Saw this suspicious looking updated C3 or C3 replacement in Alex Honnold’s GF’s instagram story. 

Yeah that does look a bit different

Hmm...if so, that’s great news!  Maybe we should bug Black Diamond like we did Adidas?

not to be a debbie downer, but i think that was the first gen c3. i remember seeing them in old c3 photos. it DOES say "new Black Diamond® Camalot™ C3 cam" tho so who knows

http://www.alpinist.com/media/web07x/bd-c3.jpg

BD reps seem to just deny future products except for those announced, so they'll just keep saying there's no immediate plans for c3s, whether that's true or not :/

The clear plastic sleeves predated the color coordinated plastic sleeves.

Re: instagram screen grab - looks like a normal c3 to me. What am I missing?

Josh Janes wrote:

PS: I disagree with rgold's opinion that Totem Basics are "better" than red and yellow C3's. 

He said regular Totems, not Totem basics.  And I agree with him.  Regular Totems are the best.

I feel on two lobes of a red c3 this week at t-wall.  Nothing else seemed to fit quite right and the damp runout slab above me needed either crap gear or no gear.  it held even though the third lobe flipped as I swung horizontally past the placement.  Nothing else on my rack would fit there.  

Thank you c3. 

Rob D. wrote:

I feel on two lobes of a red c3 this week at t-wall.  Nothing else seemed to fit quite right and the damp runout slab above me needed either crap gear or no gear.  it held even though the third lobe flipped as I swung horizontally past the placement.  Nothing else on my rack would fit there.  

Thank you c3. 

I feel up my cams every once in awhile too, but it never seems to have much affect on them.  Maybe I'm doing it wrong.  

Nice catch, but what do you mean by the lobe filpped?  And how do you swing horizontally past a placement?

Have you tried cam lube?

Ted Pinson wrote:

Have you tried cam lube?

Now that I think of it I have.  And I seem to recall it was pretty messy at first but then things started loosening up nicely.  Thanks for the reminder.  Now I need to go find that bottle of lube.

rockklimber wrote:

I feel up my cams every once in awhile too, but it never seems to have much affect on them.  Maybe I'm doing it wrong.  

Nice catch, but what do you mean by the lobe filpped?  And how do you swing horizontally past a placement?

it's a perfect typo so I'm leaving it. 

I placed, climbed up and left and when I fell I swung right a good bit.  The leftmost lobe umbrellaed (horizontal crack that probably could have used an offset) but the other two lobes held.  Was very happy.  The pieces below it were bigger and probably better but whatever, the cam held. 

Rob D. wrote:

it's a perfect typo so I'm leaving it. 

I placed, climbed up and left and when I fell I swung right a good bit.  The leftmost lobe umbrellaed (horizontal crack that probably could have used an offset) but the other two lobes held.  Was very happy.  The pieces below it were bigger and probably better but whatever, the cam held. 

Was this at the horizontal that protects the top of passages? 

eli poss wrote:

Was this at the horizontal that protects the top of passages? 

No but we also climbed that!  I think that that traverse was protected by a .5ish cam?  A fall there would be into the wall but it seemed pretty chill for the grade past the corner.  It was our first time at T-Wall and we were all very impressed (and I was very impressed with the c3)

My buddy who's a design engineer at BD said there is no plan to replace the C3. The x4 does a decent job replacing the green and red c3 but there's not a cam out there that replaces the 000 and 00 when it comes to hard thin trad. Big bummer for basalt climbing.

Rob D. wrote:

No but we also climbed that!  I think that that traverse was protected by a .5ish cam?  A fall there would be into the wall but it seemed pretty chill for the grade past the corner.  It was our first time at T-Wall and we were all very impressed (and I was very impressed with the c3)

Yeah, I think I used a black tricam there, which I think is roughly the same size as a red c3. A red tri-cam would have worked better but I'd already placed it lower down. For me pulling that roof in the corner at the top was the crux. T-wall is great, probably the highest quality rock I've ever climbed on. I just wish there was multi-pitch. 

Aaron Livingston wrote:

My buddy who's a design engineer at BD said there is no plan to replace the C3. The x4 does a decent job replacing the green and red c3 but there's not a cam out there that replaces the 000 and 00 when it comes to hard thin trad. Big bummer for basalt climbing.

Bummer.  I heard they were redesigning them.  Perhaps false. Maybe I’ll pick up a few more.