DMM Dragon 3 and Dragon 3 Air

It’s official, DMM is updating their Dragon cams. It looks like they’ve got an update of the thumb press with extendable sling, and a thumb loop version with a fixed sling.

Dragon 3 Air

Dragon 3

• Range split into two - a set with thumbloops and the traditional thumb press
• Variable camming angle instead of the fixed 13.75 angle
• slightly increase in range and overlap between sizes
• Naming scheme looks to be consistent with BD now (.3 - 6 instead of 00 - 8)
• Lobes have a truss design instead of radial strut

They may just be another set of cams, but that truss style lobe looks so rad. Makes me want the #6 to carry up every climb. Finger cracks included!

On the shelves "early 2027".

Looking closely at the available images, it appears that some sizes now have hollow axles, like the most recent Wild Country Friends.

They’re…….beautiful  

nutstorywrote:

Looking closely at the available images, it appears that some sizes now have hollow axles, like the most recent Wild Country Friends.

The Dragon 3 Air set has hollow axels, thumb press, and extendable slings according to the links above.

Wow they finally decided that the BD color & naming scheme is the industry standard... except Totem, Aliens, Metolius... etc.

Very interesting they are only making thumbloop versions of #4 and larger going forward, which I think makes a lot of sense. Heavier & bigger cams without thumbloops have always felt harder to use for me, but it matters less on small cams. 

I saw these at the show and can say that the increased range was notable along with the weight savings (and the truss system in the lobes to direct the forces). As usual, top notch engineering and forging from Wales- makes me wish I didn’t already have plenty of cams laying around!

K Gowrote:

Wow they finally decided that the BD color & naming scheme is the industry standard... except Totem, Aliens, Metolius... etc.

Very interesting they are only making thumbloop versions of #4 and larger going forward, which I think makes a lot of sense. Heavier & bigger cams without thumbloops have always felt harder to use for me, but it matters less on small cams. 

I think having Wild Country adopt the BD number/color scheme ensured it would be the standard. BD, WC, and DMM are the big names in double axel cams so why not match the other 2/3? I started with BD cams so I’ve always called my DMM cams by the equivalent BD name, but maybe that’s just a USA thing …

Leif Mahoneywrote:

The Dragon 3 Air set has hollow axels, thumb press, and extendable slings according to the links above.

Thank you Leif .

Wow. These are gorgeous. Curious about the variable camming angle.... Really happy that they've adopted the BD color/number scheme. I have no loyalty to which scheme becomes standardized, just that the industry finds one. Its a small but noticeable QOL improvement.

It’ll be funny in a few years time when DMM discontinues making the OG “dragon” style  cam because they’re not selling compared to the new thumb loop version.

Only the purest of data to settle meaningless MP debates of extendable slings and shorter racking lengths and blah blah blah. Ha!

Chris Outingswrote:

It’ll be funny in a few years time when DMM discontinues making the OG “dragon” style  cam because they’re not selling compared to the new thumb loop version.

Only the purest of data to settle meaningless MP debates of extendable slings and shorter racking lengths and blah blah blah. Ha!

I’ll also be curious to see if this happens. I’m glad they chose to make the extendable slings their lightweight cam going forward. Depending on the weight savings I think they’ll be great for alpine climbing where you’re already trying to bring fewer QuickDraws. I see the current gen Dragons as being like the pre 2019 Camalots/C4s. There’s a weight penalty for carrying them but man, you can just beat the shit outta them. I don’t know if anyone is gonna make cams like that in the future or if the market will keep pushing towards lighter weight, less durable tools.

Chris Outingswrote:

It’ll be funny in a few years time when DMM discontinues making the OG “dragon” style  cam because they’re not selling compared to the new thumb loop version.

Only the purest of data to settle meaningless MP debates of extendable slings and shorter racking lengths and blah blah blah. Ha!

There is a sizable amount of climbers in the uk that really like current Gen dragons and would hesitate to move away from the design. DMM is the kind of company that will keep pushing them out to serve their core consumers. 

As a factory they also have to justify their tooling costs and they need to keep the lights on, they just don't have the same business model as other climbing brands. If sales are slow it's not that big of an issue provided they are still profitable, they can change when they want to do production runs to when they have less work.

Anyone get any photos of the harness they did a sneak peek of on their instagram? Looked interesting.

Cedric Salvadorwrote:

Anyone get any photos of the harness they did a sneak peek of on their instagram? Looked interesting.

A brief look- it looked really nice, but apparently it goes at like $200 USD. They said it has a ton of cool tech in it, but it didn’t look worth the price tag at first glance.

Noob question here. Does anyone know if the stem of the D3 Air is made of "soft" material like BD's ultralights? I guess I ultimately am asking if the D3 Airs are expected to be more durable than utlralights?

Brian Ewrote:

Noob question here. Does anyone know if the stem of the D3 Air is made of "soft" material like BD's ultralights? I guess I ultimately am asking if the D3 Airs are expected to be more durable than utlralights?

Pretty sure they’re metal stems.

I’m honestly more concerned about the hollow axles than anything else with them. Companies keep shaving weight off of cams and I’m mostly baffled as to why- I don’t really think any cam today vs my C4s from the 00s would make or break any send in my future based on weight.