The Lightest Cams on the Market

The lifelong climbers at Metolius do things their own way. Always have, always will—and that’s why we love them. Their newest hot item is the Ultralight Master Cam, 20% lighter than the previous iteration. That’s six ounces of savings per complete rack. How’d they do it? They did away with the swage and cable thumb loop design that most camming devices use and instead employ a machined piece of aluminum with built-in 11mm webbing (which Metolius recommends replacing every 5 years). Designers also removed unnecessary material in the trigger and cam lobes. What remains is a flexible, single-stem cam with a new shark fin tooth pattern and color-coded range finder to ensure proper placement. “The action was really smooth, and I had reliable, solid placements with every type of fissure and pod—and a lighter pack to boot,” exclaimed one Eldorado Canyon, Colorado tester. Brownie points: It is all made right here in the U.S.A.