Which rock climbing CAMS should you buy in 2022 and climbing a gem of an HVS, Icarus.

Let us know what your favourites are!

I have owned dragons for some time, and just recently purchased some friends as I wasn’t happy with them. The pros for the dragons are the slings, and exceptionally smooth cam motion. They also have a larger range it seems, compared to some. However, those holes in which the sling passes through is an epic design flaw. You can’t simply grab a strand and pull, as chances are the sling will pull up against the hole and fail to equalize. You have to grab it by the stitching, and extend it that way before clipping. Not a big deal until you’re pumped out your brain and desperate to get safe.
The friends, with their thumb loop, don’t have that problem. And although the extendable sling is slightly shorter, I do prefer the thickness of it, as I see it lasting longer.

C4 are best build quality but heavy and slings are short.
Dragons nice middleground and very grippy, nice stem design.
WC cheapest but feel it as well. Do the job though.
Got some Z4 as well. Really nice but pricey

....WOW!!!!! I LOVE THE INTO MUSIC!!!... THANKS FOR ALL OF THE GREAT INFO!!

Which ropes are you using. Pink looks like an opera?

Recommended racks. 1st: wc zero friends 0.1-.75, wc friends #1-#3, BD #4-#5 ( optional #6 it you like it wide)
2nd: DMM 0.0-0.2 range, totems black to orange (0.3 - #2 range), #8 ulmc (smaller #3 range )

Now I know why people free solo. Cant afford these cams

Another consideration is stacking different brands together when building a rack as they are often slightly different sizes. The Wild Country Friend #2 for example is quite a bit larger than the Black Diamond C4 #2 and depending where you climb that might matter a lot (indian creek or other places with splitter cracks especially). For that reason alone, I find it advantageous to rack doubles of different brands on most climbs, although it takes some experience to be able to spot the differences in placement sizes by eye.

If I were to build a double rack today from BD size 0.3 and up it would have these cams:
- Black Diamond Z4 0.3 - 0.75
- Totem black to orange (roughly BD size #0.2 - 2)
- Wild country friend #1-3
- Black Diamond C4 #3-6 (size #4+ as needed)

Just sold my entire rack to refresh and my current thinking for a single rack is...
Full set of totems
BD C4 Ultrlights 2,3,4
Avoid routes that need 5's and 6's haha

Thanks for this Jez. Been looking at at getting a new set of cams for years. One thing I'd really like to see is a video on self belaying with a device like the shunt or any other device you think may be better/safer. Do you have any knowledge or experience with this? Be great to see a video on it.

Are the totems really worth it. I mean really, really worth it. It's pretty costly if you compare it to BD's for example.
We dont have an importer here in S.A. but ypu can order direct at a premium though.
Looking at the price i honestly cannot part with my money

We went and did icarus only a few weeks ago, super route.

I have all 3 totem bd and wild country plus alien lol

Great comparison Jez, always on point. Thanks for the mention as well 😊

My rack is mostly dmm, the nuts work everywhere (especially the offsets), biggest draw for me with the dmm cams is the resling/ repair service that dmm offers

No X4's???

mid sized dmm because of extendable sling and how grippy the lobes are, large BD's as the lobes can be locked in Position which is nice for racking up, und looking to get wild country or possibly totems for the really small ones, but on my c4's I sanded the lobes to get rid of the paint and they grip hell of alot more (not quite as much as the dragons), which is nice when climbing on Basalt or other Slipper Rock types.

Hey Jez, could you please make a video on retiring gear? I'm specifically curious about cams, alpine draw and ropes (with minor kinks). Many climbers use gear beyond the manufacturer recommendation, curious what your thoughts are...

Learned heaps from you man, cheers.

Totems purple and smaller are brilliant on the limestone around Bristol/Wye Valley!

Totems are ace, they just feel so re-assuring when placed, and never seem to walk. The black one in particular is so good, you quickly stuff that in a tiny crack while gripped and don't have to worry about it being a marginal bit of gear....always bomber, I love it. I'm slowly adding the larger sizes to double up with Dragons.

Been trying Dragonflys and WC Zeros, but neither feel as good as a black totem, and the Dragonflys seem to attract grit and seize up as soon as they're out of the bag.

As the owner of both C4's and Friends I'm interested in your opinion on the axles for both. The C4 axles and rivets(?) on the end plates always have surface rust/discolouration for me, while the Friends are spotless stainless steel. I'm sure they're both plenty strong enough, but when there's so little difference between them that surface corrosion + sea cliffs leans me towards the Friends.

About the totems - I 1 rack of totems (0.2-2) and the equivalent in wild country zeros.

After 2 years of using them, I pretty much agree with what you said about them. I'd add/clarify:

1 - They don't walk. Dunno if it is because as you said they bendier, the head configuration of whatever, but playing with it as much as I want, seems they never walk as much as... as any pretty much any other cam I've tried really.
2 - Seems to me they find their way easier into uneven cracks. Won't matter in perfect splitters (any cam will do then). But in funkier stuff... man it seems I can just pull the trigger, put then in, and they fit somehow. Again I don't know what in the cam design exactly makes it so, is it the shape of the lobes or the independent cables, narrow heads or whatever But practically speaking, they seem to fit easier into most cracks.

Finally, I there ever was a panic piece I'd like to have with me when poop hits the fan... I'd say the black totem (0.2). Wonderful small piece of gear, small but just feel very secure. I took 2 real falls on it and both times felt like I was falling on a #2 or something.

The main doubt I'd have is about reslinging/rewiring. With BD camalots etc. that's all possible and is relalivety easy to find people able to do that. WIth Totem, the thing is that the wires are load bearing, so dunno how dealing with frayed wires would work out.

Smaller slings make it a bit easier to clip wiregate carabiners with hook noses. Hence I've found that DMM is marginally less faff than WC/BD.

The mathematics behind the totems is really wild. I am just happy to see some innovation.

Good advice before buying a rack for yourself: share with your climbing buddies!!

my climbing partner has a wild country rack that we shared, so when I bought my own kit I asked which cams complement his rack- we ended up buying totems.

Bd ultralight for bigs
Dmm dragonfly’s for smalls
A couple of totems for good luck

Nice climb, will defo check this area out when next in Anglesey!

Really useful video, thanks. I got a good price set of dragons but in black from a UK supplier, sold as helix tactical for military use, put them on colour coded carabiners 👍 job done. 00 to 4 except I couldn't get the silver so got one on sale. It'd be a great thing to do a placement video, can't wait. Please include a size comparison (is 1.0 1 inch? And is that 1 inch optimally cammed or 1 inch max/min) and the correct way to place in a horizontal.

Also that route looks fantastic! Cheers for the great content.

I love me some tricams myself.

Nice just got a new cam...20min before the vid came out!

Black Totem is my absolute favourite 🙂