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Reviews for Supercam
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Average Rating : 3.78 out of 5
Item Details | Reviews
Review
Review by: skateman, 2005-07-27
My son got me one of these babies for fathers day, what a great kid! The camming action on the supercam is as smooth as silk, probally due to the kevlar wires. The build quality is outstanding. I like to carry this cam to supplement my rack. Because of the large expansion range, it can act as a double for two cam sizes (ie. #1 & #2 camalot) The cam seems very easy to place. In fact it was used on almost every pitch this weekend past.
One thing that caught me by suprise: My son cammed this beast near to the very smallest part of its range. After visual inspection I thought the cam was a goner . I gave the trigger bar a little extra squeeze and the cam popped right out. I guess my fear was based on the old school mentality of overcamming standard range cams.
Since I already have two full racks, I 'm guessing that I will have to wait until Christmas to get another supercam. Hint, hint whipperboy!
I downgraded from 5 to 4 biners. After useing the supercam for 2 months, the kevlar string is prone to slide which causes the lobes not to return to an even expansion. This is only a minor nuissance that can be fixed by pulling the cam lobes out manually after the cam gets into this state.
One thing that caught me by suprise: My son cammed this beast near to the very smallest part of its range. After visual inspection I thought the cam was a goner . I gave the trigger bar a little extra squeeze and the cam popped right out. I guess my fear was based on the old school mentality of overcamming standard range cams.
Since I already have two full racks, I 'm guessing that I will have to wait until Christmas to get another supercam. Hint, hint whipperboy!
I downgraded from 5 to 4 biners. After useing the supercam for 2 months, the kevlar string is prone to slide which causes the lobes not to return to an even expansion. This is only a minor nuissance that can be fixed by pulling the cam lobes out manually after the cam gets into this state.
Review
Review by: j_ung, 2005-05-23
[b]Full Disclosure: The company that manufactured this equipment LOANED it to RC.com and RC.com returned it after the review process. This company does not currently advertise on RC.com.[/b]
As of the writing of this review, only one size of Super Cam is available for purchase. Please keep in mind that this is only a review of this “small” size. I will neither vouch for nor rip into larger sizes before using them.
The first cam I ever bought was a TCU. It had smooth lobes and no cam stops, but the little guy worked overtime on my rack for many years. Since that first purchase, my rack of cams has always been Metolius based. Oh, I’ve dabbled in various other Metolius models, but I’ve -----
Oh, screw it. We all know that Metolius is one of three companies to introduce crazy new tech to the mostly consistent world of SLCDs. This is the first of Rockclimbing.com’s examinations of the three.
Anecdotes be damned. Let’s get it on.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//546/54642.jpg[/img]
[size=9][i]Jay Young (j_ung) heads into the unknown with naught but the small Metolius Super Cam to protect him.[/i][/size]
Super Cam co-developer, John Field, practically stumbled into this radical concept when friends asked him to use his CNC machine to build SLCDs for wide cracks. But John knew he had a design problem on his hands, namely that really big units are inherently weak at the axle. The uniquely asymmetrical shape of the Super Cam was a way to address that weakness and, it turned out, to expand the range of the device. [b]To achieve this, the small lobes pass within the arc of the big ones and allow the Super Cam to make use of a much longer section of the cam spiral.[/b]
I understand just little enough about physics that this makes a sort of nonsensical sense to me. To Metolius, however, the applications were easily apparent, even for smaller SLCDs.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//547/54714.jpg[/img][img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//547/54715.jpg[/img][img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//547/54716.jpg[/img]
[size=9][i]From left to right: the Super Cam at rest, at half retraction, at full retraction – small lobes completely inverted.[/i][/size]
And indeed, the Super Cam does have an impressive range. Its 31mm range (39.5-70.5mm) is substantially bigger than, say, the corresponding Metolius Power Cam’s 23.5mm range. When stacked against the range of the other two new-fangled units on the market, however, this SC is actually the smallest of the three. Trango’s Max Cam edges it out by 2mm and Omega Pacific’s Flex Cam by a whopping seven.
Of course, numbers are all well and good, but the proof is in the placing. It took high-quality playtime to really formulate an opinion of the Super Cam, so it and I set out on an adventure or ten and got to know each other.
Like, I imagine, both of the other new guys, the SC is new and improved enough that takes a little getting used to. The biggest obstacle to that is the very thing that makes it so radical: its asymmetric cams. Owing to the logarithmic nature of the cam spiral, the lobes dart toward the axle at breakneck speed with the first centimeters of trigger pull. But the farther one retracts the cams, the slower the unit’s size decreases. The effect was that, early on, when I placed the SC near the lower end of its range, I was sometimes frustrated that I couldn’t get it small enough. I was picking up the Super Cam when I should have been grabbing something a little more petite. On one occasion, I hung out fiddling with it too long and fell, pumped to the nines, onto what I thought was a less-than-optimal placement. It held, but I attribute that more to the 25m of rope out than any magical Super-Cam holding power.
I had no such trouble near the middle and upper end of its range. Indeed, in those situations I found myself overjoyed at the thought of using it and placed it with confidence every time. And, to be honest, it only took a few placements of use to figure out the newness and adjust accordingly.
To allow the little lobes to travel halfway round the axle while the big lobes only travel part of that distance, Metolius opted for a trigger that incorporates two Kevlar cords. The cord that controls the small cams wraps all the way around the axle and ends at the trigger bar, while the cord for the big lobes runs from one cam across the bar and down to other cam. At all ends the cords disappear into holes in the metal and exit out the other side, where they’re tied in tiny stopper knots and glued into place. It reminds me of a lawn mower’s pull cord.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//547/54717.jpg[/img]
while the cord for the big lobes runs from one cam, across the bar and down to other cam.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//547/54718.jpg[/img]
Each cord ends at a stopper knot in a small hole in the metal where it’s glued in place.[/i][/size]
I once had a U-stemmed Camalot that blew a trigger cable on the second pitch of a six-pitch route. I could still place it, but I only got one shot, since it required two hands to remove and re-adjust. If, for whatever reason, the trigger cord breaks on the Super Cam, the inverting smaller lobes will not afford you that courtesy. Needless to say, I’m hoping for [i]durable[/i], because I don’t believe that it’s field repairable; at least not [i]easily[/i] so. Only time will tell.
This particular Super Cam is a little heavy (184g) when compared to the corresponding Max Cam (150g), but it’s lighter than its Link Cam counterpart (207g). Unlike the Link, however, the SC carries all its junk in the trunk. This baby is wide, almost 7cm, which is actually the primary thing I noticed on our first “date.”
Now, in reading back what I’ve written up to here, it’s easy to get the impression that my thoughts about the Super Cam are not entirely flattering. I bitched about setting it at its low end, I whined about how it isn’t the range equal of the other two new cams and I hosed it on the trigger. Then, just to ensure that it’ll never let me into its pants, I told it that it needed to lose some weight.
Well, don’t be like that, baby! I actually love the Super Cam for many of the same reasons I’m so devoted to Metolius’ other offerings. The Super Cam uses grippy 6061 aluminum, a tight 13.75-degree cam angle for power and a huge – HUGE, I tell you – cam surface, a la their Fat Cam. Those, combined with the new tech and Metolius’ reputation for quality and durability, tell me that this is a fantastic, versatile cam whose time has come.
Add to this the -- how else can I say it? – [i]sheer elegance and simplicity[/i] of its approach to the range problem and, in fact, my only [i]real[/i] gripe is that I have to send this cam back to Metolius.
It’s not a five on the RC.com biner scale, but it’s close enough. If you’re looking for a hand-sized – and then some – piece, add it to your rack. You won’t be sorry.
As of the writing of this review, only one size of Super Cam is available for purchase. Please keep in mind that this is only a review of this “small” size. I will neither vouch for nor rip into larger sizes before using them.
The first cam I ever bought was a TCU. It had smooth lobes and no cam stops, but the little guy worked overtime on my rack for many years. Since that first purchase, my rack of cams has always been Metolius based. Oh, I’ve dabbled in various other Metolius models, but I’ve -----
Oh, screw it. We all know that Metolius is one of three companies to introduce crazy new tech to the mostly consistent world of SLCDs. This is the first of Rockclimbing.com’s examinations of the three.
Anecdotes be damned. Let’s get it on.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//546/54642.jpg[/img]
[size=9][i]Jay Young (j_ung) heads into the unknown with naught but the small Metolius Super Cam to protect him.[/i][/size]
Super Cam co-developer, John Field, practically stumbled into this radical concept when friends asked him to use his CNC machine to build SLCDs for wide cracks. But John knew he had a design problem on his hands, namely that really big units are inherently weak at the axle. The uniquely asymmetrical shape of the Super Cam was a way to address that weakness and, it turned out, to expand the range of the device. [b]To achieve this, the small lobes pass within the arc of the big ones and allow the Super Cam to make use of a much longer section of the cam spiral.[/b]
I understand just little enough about physics that this makes a sort of nonsensical sense to me. To Metolius, however, the applications were easily apparent, even for smaller SLCDs.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//547/54714.jpg[/img][img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//547/54715.jpg[/img][img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//547/54716.jpg[/img]
[size=9][i]From left to right: the Super Cam at rest, at half retraction, at full retraction – small lobes completely inverted.[/i][/size]
And indeed, the Super Cam does have an impressive range. Its 31mm range (39.5-70.5mm) is substantially bigger than, say, the corresponding Metolius Power Cam’s 23.5mm range. When stacked against the range of the other two new-fangled units on the market, however, this SC is actually the smallest of the three. Trango’s Max Cam edges it out by 2mm and Omega Pacific’s Flex Cam by a whopping seven.
Of course, numbers are all well and good, but the proof is in the placing. It took high-quality playtime to really formulate an opinion of the Super Cam, so it and I set out on an adventure or ten and got to know each other.
Like, I imagine, both of the other new guys, the SC is new and improved enough that takes a little getting used to. The biggest obstacle to that is the very thing that makes it so radical: its asymmetric cams. Owing to the logarithmic nature of the cam spiral, the lobes dart toward the axle at breakneck speed with the first centimeters of trigger pull. But the farther one retracts the cams, the slower the unit’s size decreases. The effect was that, early on, when I placed the SC near the lower end of its range, I was sometimes frustrated that I couldn’t get it small enough. I was picking up the Super Cam when I should have been grabbing something a little more petite. On one occasion, I hung out fiddling with it too long and fell, pumped to the nines, onto what I thought was a less-than-optimal placement. It held, but I attribute that more to the 25m of rope out than any magical Super-Cam holding power.
I had no such trouble near the middle and upper end of its range. Indeed, in those situations I found myself overjoyed at the thought of using it and placed it with confidence every time. And, to be honest, it only took a few placements of use to figure out the newness and adjust accordingly.
To allow the little lobes to travel halfway round the axle while the big lobes only travel part of that distance, Metolius opted for a trigger that incorporates two Kevlar cords. The cord that controls the small cams wraps all the way around the axle and ends at the trigger bar, while the cord for the big lobes runs from one cam across the bar and down to other cam. At all ends the cords disappear into holes in the metal and exit out the other side, where they’re tied in tiny stopper knots and glued into place. It reminds me of a lawn mower’s pull cord.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//547/54717.jpg[/img]
while the cord for the big lobes runs from one cam, across the bar and down to other cam.
[img]http://photos.rockclimbing.com/photos//547/54718.jpg[/img]
Each cord ends at a stopper knot in a small hole in the metal where it’s glued in place.[/i][/size]
I once had a U-stemmed Camalot that blew a trigger cable on the second pitch of a six-pitch route. I could still place it, but I only got one shot, since it required two hands to remove and re-adjust. If, for whatever reason, the trigger cord breaks on the Super Cam, the inverting smaller lobes will not afford you that courtesy. Needless to say, I’m hoping for [i]durable[/i], because I don’t believe that it’s field repairable; at least not [i]easily[/i] so. Only time will tell.
This particular Super Cam is a little heavy (184g) when compared to the corresponding Max Cam (150g), but it’s lighter than its Link Cam counterpart (207g). Unlike the Link, however, the SC carries all its junk in the trunk. This baby is wide, almost 7cm, which is actually the primary thing I noticed on our first “date.”
Now, in reading back what I’ve written up to here, it’s easy to get the impression that my thoughts about the Super Cam are not entirely flattering. I bitched about setting it at its low end, I whined about how it isn’t the range equal of the other two new cams and I hosed it on the trigger. Then, just to ensure that it’ll never let me into its pants, I told it that it needed to lose some weight.
Well, don’t be like that, baby! I actually love the Super Cam for many of the same reasons I’m so devoted to Metolius’ other offerings. The Super Cam uses grippy 6061 aluminum, a tight 13.75-degree cam angle for power and a huge – HUGE, I tell you – cam surface, a la their Fat Cam. Those, combined with the new tech and Metolius’ reputation for quality and durability, tell me that this is a fantastic, versatile cam whose time has come.
Add to this the -- how else can I say it? – [i]sheer elegance and simplicity[/i] of its approach to the range problem and, in fact, my only [i]real[/i] gripe is that I have to send this cam back to Metolius.
It’s not a five on the RC.com biner scale, but it’s close enough. If you’re looking for a hand-sized – and then some – piece, add it to your rack. You won’t be sorry.
Review
Review by: korntera, 2005-05-13
I tried out the cam for the first time yesterday. It is amazing having such a great range and awesome holding power. Although i know the kevlar string is strong, it is still a string in my mind.
