What's up with my cams??

I just got these cams.  They are identical to metolius master cams in every way except they don't have any color but black.  I searched google and found no info.  Was hoping someone here might know what the deal with these things is.

Military issue/surplus. 

Doesn't Metolious supply military outfits with climbing gear? Maybe cams from a more "tactical" line that lack the color coding. 

My guess is they are made for military climbing units.  A lot of gear manufactures make military specific versions of their products, either all blacked out or whited out to help eliminate how flashy it is.  

http://soldiersystems.net/tag/metolius/

I think they're for military applications.

I'm a former instructor at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center. Issued trad gear is Metolius Master Cams, colored black.

Black, except for the shiny metal parts. That’s got to be one of the dumbest things I’ve seen.

Bill, baby steps. Making powder coated, non-reflective cam is probably pretty hard. Either deal with a little shine (some of which gets taped up to reduce rattle), or use all passive pro. 

Bill Czajkowski wrote:

Black, except for the shiny metal parts. That’s got to be one of the dumbest things I’ve seen.

Yes. Military. 

I’m curious what they cost if they were military surplus? And where’d you get them? 

mediocre wrote:

I’m curious what they cost if they were military surplus? And where’d you get them? 

I got them off eBay for ~$30 each.  It was such a sweet deal I didn't really mind about the color

This kinda seems crazy. The colors serve a purpose and help you easily pick the right size. I can see maybe a more subdued palette, but all plain black?

On the other hand is the military out there lead climbing or just rigging random things up. If the latter it's probably less of a big deal. 

DMM also does their cams in all black for the military.

I don't recall ever seeing all black/tactical for Black Diamond cams or Trango cams or Wild Country cams....

What use does the military have for cams? 

Sam Miller wrote:

What use does the military have for cams? 

I'd guess either for climbing or for rappelling.  It is fully possible I am way off the mark.

Sam Miller wrote:

What use does the military have for cams? 

Idk about in the US but in the UK you have technically not special forces but special forces group called mountain leaders they specialise in mountain/ Arctic warfare and anything particularly steep, part of the Royal marines. 

Sam Miller wrote:

What use does the military have for cams? 

Well, think of an area with cliffs or vertical surfaces. That's an area that may be more lightly defended due to it being seen as less trafficable. Some military members are trained to surmount these obstacles. Some of the training that I in participated in, and taught, include cliff assault, lead climbing, mountaineering, and steep earth techniques. Most times areas that are going to be defended aren't going to be on a nice flat piece of dirt. In the class that I was an instructor at, we took people from having zero climbing experience to lead climbing multi-pitch 5.8s in six weeks. This course also covered snow climbing, mountaineering, and crevasse rescue.

I went on an instructor exchange with the Chilean Mountain Warfare school in Los Andes and Portillo, Chile. If you look at the terrain in those types of mountainous areas, you can see why it would be needed. Most of the countries of interest to the USA include areas with large vertical relief, cold weather, compartmentalized terrain, and snow. 

Mount Yonah, a climbing area in Georgia, was first used by the military for training climbing. Later on climbers started climbing there but before then it had bolt ladders for the military. 

eli poss wrote:

Mount Yonah, a climbing area in Georgia, was first used by the military for training climbing. Later on climbers started climbing there but before then it had bolt ladders for the military. 

Table Rock, NC as well

My friends got me some cams online. I sure hope they go with my tactical gear.