Offwidth Cams In Stock Nov 9, 2022: BD7 + BD8

Today, I noticed BD7 and BD8 cams were live and in-stock. 

JFF I'll be logging the sales velocity to see how they fly off the shelves or trickle.

So far they are selling quite fast.

I saw the 7 go up for sale on monday and there were 161 in stock. looks like they are going relatively quick

The 7s went in stock last week with somewhere around 400 and the 8s went up Monday. I'll be interested to see how long it takes them to restock this time.

Rachael v2wrote:

The 7s went in stock last week with somewhere around 400 and the 8s went up Monday. I'll be interested to see how long it takes them to restock this time.

That's interesting.

Earlier today I saw the 8s were inactive and OOS but then 5 min later they were in stock. Prob just updating inventory i suppose. 

I sold my 8 about a month ago for $480. Just in time it seems. 

Creed Archibaldwrote:

I sold my 8 about a month ago for $480. Just in time it seems. 

Highway robbery, sheesh 

At least 2 other forum threads were posted about this already.

Desert Rock Sportswrote:

At least 2 other forum threads were posted about this already.

Exactly. There should be at least 6. 

Camdon Kaywrote:

Highway robbery, sheesh 

I didn’t ask for it. The dude offered on the forums and I couldn’t resist.

Camdon Kaywrote:

Highway robbery, sheesh 

I bought it from him when he responded to my WTB ad where I offered that amount. I got to climb a few routes in the shoulder season that I was really looking forward to. Plus C Archibolt is a super nice guy and was a great seller to work with. I have no problem with having paid a premium to him. 

So, no regrets! I just bought a #7 on the BD site and am psyched they are back in stock for everybody! 

Got busy at work and didn't chart as much intermediate points as I wanted but they are definitely selling fast...

BD Ecommerce guy here. Ya'll crack me up! But your data isn't too far off, Miles. I'll put it this way: weekly C4 Cam sales on BD.com are up nearly 8x this month vs last month, almost entirely because of #7 and #8 ;)

Get it while the gettin is good!

Michael Abendwrote:

Exactly. There should be at least 6. 

Seven or eight would be appropriate

someone should release BD 7 and 8 NFTs

4 BD7s left!

are the trigger keepers the same for the B8s as the other cams?

And #7s are sold out. Inventory went from 300+ to 0 in about a week. My Merlin #8 from this year is serial number #327, so BD sold more #7s in a week that Merlin has in years.

Yep same trigger keeper

Bryson Whitewrote:

Yep same trigger keeper

An estimated restock date for the 7?

Hi All,

        Last week I went online (BD website) and purchased a #8, and three days later it arrived by UPS ground shipment.  I am satisfied with the price and pleased with the rapid order fulfillment and shipping.  The cam action is smooth, for its size the cam is surprisingly light, and all the workmanship seems well done--so at least as far as I can tell from a visual inspection and playing with the cam a bit at home, the BD's contractor's QC/QA seems good.

        But I have one caveat/concern.  The pre-sewn sling on the cam has a sewn-in tag stating "5 KN."  It is difficult for me to believe that a new nylon sewn sling would only rate to 5 kilonewtons.  So, I am assuming this low rating is for the cam itself.  I have not yet contacted BD to obtain clarification.  This low fall energy rating may be due to the "honeycomb" structure of the cam--that is, that in order to keep the cam's weight low, a lot of metal has been removed.  A rating of 5 KN to me should more accurately be read for use in the field as the cam is rated to 4.5 KN--or roughly the maximum confidence one would have in a well-placed micro-cam.  If I am correct then, even if the cam is well placed in solid rock, one should not count on it to hold a long fall, but rather treat it as gear designed to hold only a somewhat modest leader fall.

         I am not an engineer or physicist, etc., so it is entirely possible, indeed probable, that I am wrong.  I invite others who may be more knowledgeable to weigh in and educate all of us as to the rationale behind a 5 KN rating.  I am open to correction and learning.

Cheers,

Bob Loomis,

Spokane, WA.

ROBERT LOOMISwrote:

Hi All,

        Last week I went online (BD website) and purchased a #8, and three days later it arrived by UPS ground shipment.  I am satisfied with the price and pleased with the rapid order fulfillment and shipping.  The cam action is smooth, for its size the cam is surprisingly light, and all the workmanship seems well done--so at least as far as I can tell from a visual inspection and playing with the cam a bit at home, the BD's contractor's QC/QA seems good.

        But I have one caveat/concern.  The pre-sewn sling on the cam has a sewn-in tag stating "5 KN."  It is difficult for me to believe that a new nylon sewn sling would only rate to 5 kilonewtons.  So, I am assuming this low rating is for the cam itself.  I have not yet contacted BD to obtain clarification.  This low fall energy rating may be due to the "honeycomb" structure of the cam--that is, that in order to keep the cam's weight low, a lot of metal has been removed.  A rating of 5 KN to me should more accurately be read for use in the field as the cam is rated to 4.5 KN--or roughly the maximum confidence one would have in a well-placed micro-cam.  If I am correct then, even if the cam is well placed in solid rock, one should not count on it to hold a long fall, but rather treat it as gear designed to hold only a somewhat modest leader fall.

         I am not an engineer or physicist, etc., so it is entirely possible, indeed probable, that I am wrong.  I invite others who may be more knowledgeable to weigh in and educate all of us as to the rationale behind a 5 KN rating.  I am open to correction and learning.

Cheers,

Bob Loomis,

Spokane, WA.

Here's their QC lab feature on the ratings: https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/stories/experience-story-qc-lab-big-cams/

Major takeaways from the standard and nonstandard asymmetric tests: big cams are very sensitive to tipped out placements, and "It is essential that large cams are placed such that they are oriented in the direction of loading, with the individual cam lobes retracted as evenly as possible, and retracted as much as possible." Because the #7 and #8 are very sensitive to placements (like the #0 and #0.1 on the other side of the spectrum), they gave them more conservative ratings.

When looking at the testing results above, the loads are well above the 5kN rating (for the Z4 #0 & C4 #8) and the 8kN rating (for the C4 #7). However, because of the known limitations and sensitivity to placements, a conservative rating was chosen to convey the need for the user to strive for a more optimum placement when possible.

Hi Cole & Others:

         I am grateful to Cole for providing a BD QC Lab link in his reply to my posting from yesterday--it was informative and very helpful to my understanding of the limitations of cams in general, but in particular to the limitations of micro-cams and the larger sizes.  For anyone contemplating purchasing a cam at either end of the size scale I encourage people to click on the link Cole so generously provided us and read the article.  Basically, I am still glad I purchased the #8 that I did last week.  When I use it I will work to be more mindful of its limitations and try to optimize its placement.  For me (a bit on the conservative side) having one of these below my feet when leading an off-width, even if there is a chance the cam will fail, is better than the alternatives.  We are near Thanksgiving so I close with the wish that all who read this enjoy a restful and grateful Thanksgiving with friends and family.

Cheers,

Bob Loomis,

Spokane, WA.