Gear : Reviews
Reviews for MaxCams™
Average Rating : 4.07 out of 5
Item Details | Reviews
Review
Review by: ajaxjv, 2005-07-14
Just recently got my #2 max cam from Trango. I was very impressed with how much more refined it looked compared to older trango products. It had a Smooth trigger action (as smooth as the C4). About the thumb loop I belive it is underdone on both the C4(notched) and maxcam(rubber) and I can see both slipping off on a hot day. Also you definitally have to have large hands inorder to be comfortable with the maxcam. Because of the large expansion range you have to pull the trigger bar a lot farther. The one thing i noticed about the maxcam that is an advantage over the C4 is that they have much more flexible stem then elliptical stem of the C4 allowing the stem to flex in any direction. Overall both the maxcams and the C4 have there advantages and disadvantages but i think it is good that C4 finally has a practical competitor. I have to say i will have both of them on my rack.
Review
Review by: chanceboarder, 2005-07-13
Overall very nice cam with features very similar to the new BD Camalot C4's. Personally I found a few things about the cam I didn't particularly care for. The range is very similar to the new BD's as well as the weight. When holding my #2 max cam and #2 C4 I couldn't tell the difference in weight. Placing wasn't a problem and just took a few tries to get used to it. I didn't like the trigger bar, size of the thumb loop, or the extendable sling. I'm rating the Max Cam a 4 while I would give the new BD C4 a 5 rating. Read my more extensive review of the [url=http://rockclimbing.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1130989#1130989]Max Cam here [/url]
Review
Review by: maculated, 2005-07-10
[b]Full Disclosure: The company that manufactured this equipment provided it free of charge to RC.com and RC.com then provided it as compensation to the reviewer for his or her review. This company does not currently advertise on RC.com.[/b]
When I asked Malcolm Daly of Great Trango Holdings, Inc. what he thought about the Max Cam’s comparison to BD’s touchstone Camalot, he told me to forget it: “Honey, this IS the new benchmark cam.”
Max Cam designer, Max Reed, is all about simplicity. Most of the time, simplicity, efficiency, and gear management lead to the summit in the most painless way.
The goal of the Max Cam was to expand range through simple, non-weighty engineering – and it does. Coming in six sizes very similar to the BD C4 (0.5-4), with similar coloration, length, and appearance, the Max Cam leaves most comparable cams in the dust.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//573/57346.jpg[/img]
The Max Cam goes through the motions.
Its tri-axle design actually cuts weight from the double axle of the Camalot, and the extended range is impressive.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//573/57353.jpg[/img]
Top view of the tri-axle.
The #1 Max Cam has a range of 25-51mm and a weight of 132 g with a rating of 12kn. The comparable #2 Link Cam’s range is larger at 25.4-64 mm and 14kn rating, but its weight comes in at 207 g. Supercam’s range starts at 39.5-70.5 mm for a small with a weight of 198 g and a 13.3kn. Black Diamond's C4 comes in at 30-52mm, weighs 134 g, and 14kn.
Both the OP Link Cam and Metolious Super Cam have specialized applications and limited sizing, so only the Max and C4 cams stand up to primary rack function – but side-by-side, BD has nothing on Trango. The Max Cam shaves off weight, adds range, and while the rating is 2kn less for the Max cam, 12kn should be as strong as you need a cam to be.
Last spring at Red Rocks, Daly handed me a #2 Max cam – just in time for a trip to Indian Creek. My partner spent the drive from Red Rocks to IC playing with it – loving its weight, aesthetics, pretty colors, and when it came time to jump on a crack, Dan got to make its first placement. As he sank it into the splitter he let out a great sigh . . . “Now THAT I would drop a truck off.”
But it's not just splitters that make happy Max Cams. Flaring placements suddenly become a lot easier to deal with – it’s like my hybrid aliens grew up! In a what used to be less-than-optimal BD Camalot placement, the Max Cam fit perfectly.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//571/57199.jpg[/img]
The Max Cam sits happily in a flaring crack.
The ads boast that the Max Cam can replace two or three cams on your rack. This is hard to believe, but the proof is in the photos.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//573/57348.jpg[/img]
Both cams retracted . . . but just wait . . .
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//573/57347.jpg[/img]
Check that out. The #2 Max Cam is about the same size as a #1 Camalot at full retraction.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//573/57349.jpg[/img]
While this doesn’t mean you should be carrying fewer cams on your rack, the versatility is remarkable. In the months I’ve had with my little #2 Max Cam, I’ve found myself wondering why it is that I ALWAYS find a placement for it when I need it. It became more clear recently when I was rapping down to an anchor that required a long unprotected traverse that had my heart rate up. I happened to have only the Max Cam on me, and as I placed it – perfect!
You'll have probably noticed that protrusion that occurs when the cam gets more fully retracted. I’ll show it to you again next to the #2 Camalot:
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//573/57347.jpg[/img]
Many of us imagined problems with that but I invite you to compare the length of the lobes from that protraction to tip with the #2 Camalot’s lobe length. You can relax. It just looks funny because the lobe’s not as big – it appears to be the same depth as a Camalot. In interview, Daly also expressed a concern for this protrusion, citing problematic shallow horizontal placements, but reports that another field tester, Julie Seyfert, from the Gunks (famously home to such placements), has yet to find a problem.
With its increased mobility (thanks to 3 axles and the asymmetrical design), some have reported a tendency for the pieces to walk more than standard cams. This may be a problem with those of you out there who are stingy on your sling usage – even with the extendable sling equipped on the Max Cam, I usually add runners to my pieces and walking has not been a problem.
This new, unfamiliar design can create lopsided placements (which is going to be a universal in the Big Three New Cams for 2005). Those of you used to firing in cams blind may find this a problem. But, as Daly says, “If I have to stick something in where I can't see it, I clip it then pull to look. If you look at one of these when placed, the cams may look unbalanced but the contacts point on the rock should be fairly symmetrically opposed.”
Those of you with bad placement habits be warned: if you place a cam shallow and then push it in further to make it more secure, you will have a problem with the Max Cam. Because of the off-center stem, it is easier to tip the lobes than with other cams. A cam should always be repositioned by retraction and repositioning, not pushing.
When I asked Daly what the biggest complaint about the cam was, he said short trigger bars. “But long, comfortable trigger bars are the prime culprit in trigger-wire failure. They get snagged on everything and torque the wires every which way while you're trying to un-tangle them from your rack.”
In conclusion – I love this cam. As someone who climbs conservatively (ie, not blindly plugging in cams), Max Cam does it all. It takes all the qualities we like in the Camalot C4 and then adds to them. Certainly on some levels the changes aren’t dramatic – but when you look at every other cam on the market, including the comparable price, it makes sense to check these guys out.
Reed is quoted on Trango’s site as saying: “This cam will feel at home in your hands from the first trigger pull.” And there's no place like home.
When I asked Malcolm Daly of Great Trango Holdings, Inc. what he thought about the Max Cam’s comparison to BD’s touchstone Camalot, he told me to forget it: “Honey, this IS the new benchmark cam.”
Max Cam designer, Max Reed, is all about simplicity. Most of the time, simplicity, efficiency, and gear management lead to the summit in the most painless way.
The goal of the Max Cam was to expand range through simple, non-weighty engineering – and it does. Coming in six sizes very similar to the BD C4 (0.5-4), with similar coloration, length, and appearance, the Max Cam leaves most comparable cams in the dust.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//573/57346.jpg[/img]
The Max Cam goes through the motions.
Its tri-axle design actually cuts weight from the double axle of the Camalot, and the extended range is impressive.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//573/57353.jpg[/img]
Top view of the tri-axle.
The #1 Max Cam has a range of 25-51mm and a weight of 132 g with a rating of 12kn. The comparable #2 Link Cam’s range is larger at 25.4-64 mm and 14kn rating, but its weight comes in at 207 g. Supercam’s range starts at 39.5-70.5 mm for a small with a weight of 198 g and a 13.3kn. Black Diamond's C4 comes in at 30-52mm, weighs 134 g, and 14kn.
Both the OP Link Cam and Metolious Super Cam have specialized applications and limited sizing, so only the Max and C4 cams stand up to primary rack function – but side-by-side, BD has nothing on Trango. The Max Cam shaves off weight, adds range, and while the rating is 2kn less for the Max cam, 12kn should be as strong as you need a cam to be.
Last spring at Red Rocks, Daly handed me a #2 Max cam – just in time for a trip to Indian Creek. My partner spent the drive from Red Rocks to IC playing with it – loving its weight, aesthetics, pretty colors, and when it came time to jump on a crack, Dan got to make its first placement. As he sank it into the splitter he let out a great sigh . . . “Now THAT I would drop a truck off.”
But it's not just splitters that make happy Max Cams. Flaring placements suddenly become a lot easier to deal with – it’s like my hybrid aliens grew up! In a what used to be less-than-optimal BD Camalot placement, the Max Cam fit perfectly.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//571/57199.jpg[/img]
The Max Cam sits happily in a flaring crack.
The ads boast that the Max Cam can replace two or three cams on your rack. This is hard to believe, but the proof is in the photos.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//573/57348.jpg[/img]
Both cams retracted . . . but just wait . . .
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//573/57347.jpg[/img]
Check that out. The #2 Max Cam is about the same size as a #1 Camalot at full retraction.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//573/57349.jpg[/img]
While this doesn’t mean you should be carrying fewer cams on your rack, the versatility is remarkable. In the months I’ve had with my little #2 Max Cam, I’ve found myself wondering why it is that I ALWAYS find a placement for it when I need it. It became more clear recently when I was rapping down to an anchor that required a long unprotected traverse that had my heart rate up. I happened to have only the Max Cam on me, and as I placed it – perfect!
You'll have probably noticed that protrusion that occurs when the cam gets more fully retracted. I’ll show it to you again next to the #2 Camalot:
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//573/57347.jpg[/img]
Many of us imagined problems with that but I invite you to compare the length of the lobes from that protraction to tip with the #2 Camalot’s lobe length. You can relax. It just looks funny because the lobe’s not as big – it appears to be the same depth as a Camalot. In interview, Daly also expressed a concern for this protrusion, citing problematic shallow horizontal placements, but reports that another field tester, Julie Seyfert, from the Gunks (famously home to such placements), has yet to find a problem.
With its increased mobility (thanks to 3 axles and the asymmetrical design), some have reported a tendency for the pieces to walk more than standard cams. This may be a problem with those of you out there who are stingy on your sling usage – even with the extendable sling equipped on the Max Cam, I usually add runners to my pieces and walking has not been a problem.
This new, unfamiliar design can create lopsided placements (which is going to be a universal in the Big Three New Cams for 2005). Those of you used to firing in cams blind may find this a problem. But, as Daly says, “If I have to stick something in where I can't see it, I clip it then pull to look. If you look at one of these when placed, the cams may look unbalanced but the contacts point on the rock should be fairly symmetrically opposed.”
Those of you with bad placement habits be warned: if you place a cam shallow and then push it in further to make it more secure, you will have a problem with the Max Cam. Because of the off-center stem, it is easier to tip the lobes than with other cams. A cam should always be repositioned by retraction and repositioning, not pushing.
When I asked Daly what the biggest complaint about the cam was, he said short trigger bars. “But long, comfortable trigger bars are the prime culprit in trigger-wire failure. They get snagged on everything and torque the wires every which way while you're trying to un-tangle them from your rack.”
In conclusion – I love this cam. As someone who climbs conservatively (ie, not blindly plugging in cams), Max Cam does it all. It takes all the qualities we like in the Camalot C4 and then adds to them. Certainly on some levels the changes aren’t dramatic – but when you look at every other cam on the market, including the comparable price, it makes sense to check these guys out.
Reed is quoted on Trango’s site as saying: “This cam will feel at home in your hands from the first trigger pull.” And there's no place like home.
Review
Review by: drector, 2005-07-07
I just got a hold of the #2 Maxcam to try. The manufacturing is well done and the device seems solid. The offset stem was not an issue in the 10 different placements I made with it yesterday and today.
I would have given it 5 carabiners but the trigger wires seem to be too far towards the outside of the trigger. My fingers feel spread out a tiny bit too far. They also seem to be hanging over the edge of the trigger a tiny bit. This is just minor complaint and I will defintely recommend these cams.
Also, this is the first cam I've had that has a doubled sling. It seems a bit short and when fully extended, it is not much longer than the regular slings on my old BD Camalots (pre C4). It seems useful for racking but would still need a QD or longer sling added when climbing.
I would have given it 5 carabiners but the trigger wires seem to be too far towards the outside of the trigger. My fingers feel spread out a tiny bit too far. They also seem to be hanging over the edge of the trigger a tiny bit. This is just minor complaint and I will defintely recommend these cams.
Also, this is the first cam I've had that has a doubled sling. It seems a bit short and when fully extended, it is not much longer than the regular slings on my old BD Camalots (pre C4). It seems useful for racking but would still need a QD or longer sling added when climbing.
