Editors' Choice Classic: Black Diamond Camalot c4

Chouinard Equipment, which became Black Diamond, began marketing them as Camalots (so-named from various employee suggestions) in fall 1987, and three major updates later, Camalots are still the gold standard for trad climbers. Camalots have easier, smoother trigger action, slot into placements faster, hold better in shallow cracks, and both the metal of the lobes and wires and the nylon of the slings last longer. We do love the flexible stems of Aliens, the narrow heads of Metolius Master Cams, and the groundbreaking innovation of Wild Country Friends, but the C4’s have the best all-around performance and durability. Twenty-seven years after their first appearance, one climber says he’s still “having a love affair with these Batman tools for the vertical world.”