Overall avg rating 4.5 of 5 based on 10 reviews. Most recent review: April 10, 2012
Street Price:
Varies from $51 - $60 | Compare prices at 14 resellers Pros: Narrow head, durable. Cons: A little stiff, short sling. Best Uses: Aid climbing, big wall climbing, trad climbing.
Review by: Chris McNamara ⋅ Founder and Editor-in-Chief, OutdoorGearLab ⋅ April 10, 2012
Overview
The Metolius Master Cam is not only maybe the best small camming device for the money, it is one of the best smaller s.l.c.d.'s (spring loaded camming devices) at any price. It is the first climbing cam in years to seriously challenge the CCH Alien for the title of "best cam for shallow and awkward placements." It has a narrow head, which makes it easy to get in pin scars, and it comes with all the other benefits of a single stem unit.
For a long time I didn't have a single Metolius cam on my rack. But after years of only using the CCH Alien for small placements, I am now embracing more Master Cams and they are becoming one of my favorite pieces of climbing gear. I still keep a set or two of Aliens because they get in some placements better. But overall Master Cams feel more bomber and are much more durable. While the Black Diamond Camalot C3 has an ever more narrow head, it also is not as stable or as good in awkward placements. They are flexible, but not quite as flexible as the Wild County Zero. So overall, they do a lot of things well without having any big downsides which make them an overall solid cam. Best of all, they are affordable and relatively easy to find (not always the case with Aliens).
View our complete Camming Device Review to see how this climbing cam compared to others. Also, see our Camming Device Buying Advice for what to look for when choosing cams.
Photos
OutdoorGearLab Editors' Hands-on Review
Likes
Metolius Master Cams have a very narrow head width. In some sizes they are even narrower than Aliens. This means they are more bomber in really shallow placements. Also, the metal in Cams is harder than than that of Aliens. This means that the Metolius cams will likely be more durable. That said, part of what makes the Aliens stick so well in little placements is the soft metal, so there is a pro and a con there. The Master Cam stem is flexible but more rigid than other single stem cams like the Wild Country Zero or Alien. This means the cam is a little more stable in the hand and easier to retract, especially over time when the cams get more sticky. The sling is very small and thin. This means that on a big wall rack with 3-4 sets of cams, you have a lot less bulk than a Black Diamond Camalot C3 or CCH Alien.
Metolius uses a unique "Range Finder" color coded system to help you know if the cam is bomber or not. If the green dots are touching the rock, the cam is bomber. If the yellow or red dots are touching, it's not. This is very useful for beginning leaders. I didn't use it much but it is a good reminder about optimal cam placement.
Dislikes
Most of my likes have their own drawbacks. For example, the more rigid stem on this device means it is more likely to walk when the climbing rope moves and it does not bend edges as well as the Aliens or Zeros. More importantly, the stem width a few inches below the cams is a little wide (there is a slightly bulky piece of aluminum there). In certain placements, this keeps the cam from being placed as deeply as you could with an Alien.
The shorter sling on the unit is great for racking, but it means that the cam will walk more and therefore you are more likely to need a quickdraw than with units with longer slings and more flexible stems. I would prefer it if the sling were another inch or two longer.
Not sure if this is a like or dislike
The cam "wires" are made of Kevlar. Metolius says these are much stronger than typical wires. However, time will tell if they are more durable. Anecdotal reports from El Cap are that there are more than a few of these getting fixed with broken Kevlar wires.
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I have a full set of power cams and TCU's, I picked up the 5 and 6 master cam to double the sizes larger than TCU's. I love having a single stem option that matches everything else I have. The green master is the same size as the green powercam and so on. I will continue to double up with these now instead of power cams or TCU's. They need to make a hybrid version to truly be an Alien killer, I still had to buy alien hybrids for pin scars and such. The trigger and action is better on the master cams but the alien lobe design will be hard to beat. I picked up my masters already on sale at REI within their 1st year, a great value and a great all around cam. Not the perfect cam for anything but well suited for many tasks. They are far stiffer than aliens but much more flexible than the tradition U-stem cable cams…
updated - I have a hybrid on order now after reading Chris's review..
Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this product to a friend.
I've had my set for several months now. I own size 0-6, purple through green. I've whipped on these a fair amount and they've held up very well so far! I'd also like to say that initially I debated whether it was worth "upgrading" from my ultralight tcus to these. After lots of placements, I have come to the conclusion that they are more stable (ie, they don't pivot like the tcus) and the lobes stay in the position that you place them in. They make me feel warmer and fuzzier than my tcus. The trigger cords have zero wear on them, which was the one thing that I was most worried about when buying them because there are very few reports on their durability. With lots of placements and falls on them, they have no issues so far.
My only dislike is the largest size (#6, green). It's really floppy compared to the rest and isn't the best to place if you are pumped out (fortunately it's bomber hand-jam size for me). The next size down (#5, black) doesn't seem to have this problem.
If I were to by them again, I'd skip the largest one. Otherwise, no complaints! They work extremely well and have held many a fall of mine.
Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this product to a friend.
I own many of these and ALSO CCH Aliens. In fairness I love the Aliens and wont badmouth them. Having said that, Mastercams are REALLY nice and place/remove easily. As close to an Alien as you can get with proud Metolius QA backing it up.
Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this product to a friend.
I have owned and used the heck out of a complete set since they first came out. I am also aware of the complaints of the triggers, and when bent sharply some people have said the can come uncammed prematurely. I have tried to duplicate this scenario in pods, shallow placements, and bent over horizontal edges. I say they are just unable to admit that aliens are the thing of days gone by, totally untrue issues on the problems and complaints. They are by far the shizz. They do not retract or have trigger durability issues that I have found.
They have become the "go to" cams on my wall rack, and the c3's cannot even come close to them. The even beat out the met tcu's on my rack. Hybrids are a must have for any pin scarred route. I will trade c3's to anyone who dislikes their Masters, right across the board.
Bob
Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this product to a friend.
These are OK cams if you don't have any aliens, but I am still waiting for a cam that works as well as aliens in all conditions. In a shallow vertical placement, the way the Mastercam stem bends and pulls on the trigger cables is worrisome.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this product to a friend.
My only other set of cam was a #1, 2 and 3 Friends. Coming back to "trad" climbing after a 10 year interlude of sport climbing I was amazed at how well built and versatile these cams are. It seems like everywhere I look I can get a bomber piece. I love well built gear and these cams certainly fit the bill.
My only complaint would be that after aid climbing a bit on them and clipping directly into the colored plastic on the wires, the plastic started to wear a bit. Functionally it's no big deal but maybe a harder plastic would be better in that spot.
All in all though, if they all got ripped off tomorrow, I'd be ordering another set the next day.
Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this product to a friend.
I bought a set of Master Cams this past fall and love them. As for the aforementioned cam retraction, it's never been a problem for me. I've used them in shallow and horizontal placements, and I have played around with them on real rock and have never been able to duplicate the cam retraction. Aid climbers will still prefer Aliens, but these are the best small cams for free climbers.
Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this product to a friend.
Salamanizer · Climber · The land of Fruits & Nuts!
I bought one of these a while back and have bootied a few. I thought they were going to replace my Aliens but was disappointed by their performance. Like all Metolius cams, they are built like a Porsche. Sleek, stylish and well made, but beyond cosmetics they preform like a VW Beetle. Underpowered, overrated but last forever.
I like the fact that they are absolutely bomber in a perfect placement. Like the Powercams before them, they give you a warm fuzzy feeling when they seat well. However, they walk super easily and get stuck as bad as every other Metolius cam out there. The worst on the market IMO. They also gum up quickly due to the fact that they are built like a swiss watch instead of like a Kalashnikov like BD cams. Built tightly instead of with loose tolerances makes for much maintenance.
I've given all my Mastercams away or traded for C3's.
They may work better in different stone, but in Yosemite granite/pinscars… they are my last choice.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this product to a friend.
I do not own one of these but have played with them in stores a few times. One aspect of this design bothers me. I'm curious if others have noticed this as well. I otherwise like the design of these cams and how smoothly they seem to operate… but I feel that Aliens are still a superior design.
It's a bit hard to explain in words so bear with me: my concern relates to relatively shallow horizontal placements of this unit, especially when the cam is near the wide end of its range. The trigger wires are taut enough that in some conditions, when you pull down on the stem in such horizontal placement, the trigger cables to the upper two lobes can come under tension, and actually retract those lobes, causing the unit to pop out. I have only tried this on artificial cracks in the store, and the "rock" was arguably quite smooth. It may not be a problem on more abrasive rock.
Has anyone out there made the same observation?
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this product to a friend.
