Metolius Master Cam

  • Base and Stem 

Like the head, the thumb loop of the Master Cam is fairly slim. This is something that I rarely think about when climbing in warm weather, but it’s a little bit too ovular and can be tricky to use when I’m wearing gloves. When I’m mixed climbing or rock climbing in cold alpine conditions, I prefer the Helium Friends.

Working up to the stem of the cam, the thumb loop is formed by doubling the stem back on itself and swaging it at the top. The stem sits just off center when you’re looking down toward the thumb loop.

Metolius Master Cam, Blister Gear review.
The swage where the thumb loop connects to the stem (so that the stem is off-center).

This causes the larger sizes to sit ever-so-slightly crooked as the weight of the head pulls them to one side. I’ve heard people complain that Master Cams are floppy in the larger sizes because of the flexible stems. The stem on the Master Cam is flexible, but not as flexible as those of the Black Diamond X4s or the old CCH Aliens.

I think the stems are unfairly maligned here—the off-set stem also contributes to the floppy feeling of the larger Master Cam sizes (generally just black and green).

There’s definitely a bit of personal preference here. The black and green have some give to them, much more so than C4s or Friends. It doesn’t bother me, though I know this can be a dealbreaker for some climbers. Again, see if you can borrow a partner’s cam if you think this might be an issue for you.

Potential Pitfalls 

This floppiness isn’t an issue for the smaller Master Cam sizes. I’ve been climbing on a purple size 0 for years now and never thought it was too flexible.

These sizes, however, have their own difficulties. The trigger unit on the Master Cam is made from two metal flares—one on the bottom (the trigger itself), and one at the top (where the cables are attached)—connected by two plastic-coated cables.

Metolius Master cam, Blister Gear review.
Trigger assembly with metal wings at the bottom of the trigger wires.

Metolius does a decent job slimming these down for the smallest sizes, but they’re still large relative to the cam’s appropriate placements in sizes like the zero. I’d occasionally find the top part of the trigger assembly would obstruct a placement, particularly if I was trying to sneak the cam into a small pod with a constriction below it.

This can be annoying, especially if you’re running out of gas above your last piece. Granted, placements that fit that description generally make me reach for my stoppers in the first place.

The trigger wires on the Master Cams are made from a Kevlar-esque fiber rather than metal cable. This is great in that they don’t bend permanently, which can cause the lobes to sit crooked unless you bend them back.

This material does wear out faster than cable though. This isn’t much of an issue for free-climbers—mine are still in relatively good shape after sustaining some serious abuse. If you are looking for cams to flesh out your aid rack, however, you might keep a closer eye on this durability issue.

In the Field

In terms of real-world use, I’ve never had a problem fitting a Master Cam where a now-ubiquitous C4 would fit. If anything, the flexibility of the stem and the slimmer head give them the edge over comparably sized C4s or Wild Country Helium Friends. The new Black Diamond X4 might give the Master Cam a run for it’s money, but that’s because the X4s are an evolution of the Master Cam design.

Having climbed with these over the course of the last few years, I can say that I trust them implicitly. That’s a statement that I try to avoid in these reviews since all cams, if placed properly, are rated to hold my weight. But these just feel bomber.

The stem is long and flexible enough that the cam doesn’t walk much despite the narrow head width. This can be a problem, however, if you do manage to fix one of these. I find that cams with flexible stems can be harder to manipulate and work out once they’re stuck.

The short trigger wires of the Master Cam certainly aren’t much help here either. Of course fixing a cam is usually pilot error of a desperate nature (slamming in a cam at the last second or placing blind), but nonetheless they can be tricky to remove. I’ve almost lost the purple several times. This is a relatively minor gripe, and one that is largely within your control.

The Master Cam is such a successful piece that I initially wondered how it hadn’t put Metolius’ own TCU out to pasture. After all, they have the same cam angle but with a single flexible stem. The TCUs, and cams built on a similar chassis, however, still have certain advantages over the Master Cam. For example, there is nowhere to clip in high on a Master Cam when aid climbing.

Bottom Line

The Master Cam has an extremely successful design—it’s built on the success of the CCH Alien with a few added Metolius’ trademark features (e.g. cam angle).

My size 0 Master Cam hasn’t left my rack since I bought it several years ago, and the black size 5 that I tested this season has seen steady use from day one. Those two cams have been placed on climbs ranging from local crags to alpine destinations and they continue to hold their own in the increasingly competitive small-cam market.

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