Just curious what people are thinking about these new cams. Are they a rip off or is it good for BD to get a little competition?

In the long run, we all benefit from competition. I haven't seen the actual Dragon cams yet, so it is hard to tell if they are on the same level of quality.

I hear ya, I took a look at them this weekend at Rock and Snow. They look sweet, but there isn't really much of a weight difference like they wanted. The expendable sling is nice, but its all opinion at this point, and its hard to tell yet but they look well made and designed. It took them two years to finalize the Dragon.

One look at the pics is all the answer you need. But I'm not complaining about BD having competition. Their patent ran out. On the other hand, we really don't need simple copies, and I doubt that DMM units will even try to be inexpensive. Thats never been their thing.

Didn't Climb Max have a dual-axle knock-off a few years ago? Along with knock-offs of tech friends and TCU/FCUs?

I thought about picking up a Dragon cam this weekend, but well I don't need more mid-sized cams.

Seems to me there aimed at the EU and AP markets, where the price is more competitive with BDs.

On a whim, I checked out the Dragon cams vs. Camalots tech info, and they do appear to be near exactly the same range and weight for a given size. BD reports slightly bigger range and DMM a tiny less weight on some sizes. Looks like it is a wash and personal preference/price will dictate which you buy, as long as DMM did their usual fine job.

well it seems that DMM likes to make their products for the deep pocket climber, though the difference in price is only about $15. The weight, and camming are nearly the same. DMM made a few tweaks to the design and slapped their name on it. I am not saying this is bad or good, but it seems some think BD could use the competition... Anyway, they look sweet, and I would climb on them if I had the chance but my budget at this point prohibits large expenditures.

theyre only expensive because you're working with dollars. its called an exchange rate. dmm works in pounds...do the math

#3 camalot = 100 bucks if you're in france
dragons are cheaper in france than the camalots

oh wait. theres people outside the usa? shit. who knew...

Well, exchange rates play a little part in the higher price of imported products, but it's more the cost of importing the goods from overseas that leads to higher prices- shipping costs and tariffs.

Snow and Rock (in London) is selling the #3 Camalot for 60 pounds which at today's exchange rate is about $89 thanks to the weak pound. If the pound recovers against the dollar, that could jump to $100, but it would still cost 60 pounds to the folks in the UK. If the price were directly related to exchange rates, the price could be cheaper with a stronger pound as it costs less to buy and import them, but it's not like retailers are going to lower the price.


The #5 dragon (equivalent to the #3 Camalot) is selling for 50 pounds, which is about $75 right now, $5 cheaper than you can get them in the states.

So the Dragons will be a lot more competitive in the UK and other parts of the world that have to import both products.

yeah. what he said.

I was in the UK this past week, and checked out the prices. Not a huge selection in the stores, but both the .5 dragon and the .5 camalot were both selling for 49 pounds (less than $75 at current exchange rates). So in the UK they are competitive price-wise.

I forgot the prices include VAT, could be cheaper if you are a visitor and can get a refund on the VAT.

Finally got to place my purple Dragon Cam few times this weekend. First impressions are not too favorable.

First of all, the plastic rigid thing that covers the stitching on the sewn sling is way too long and too rigid. It makes extending the sling super PITA, not cool for the cruxes or if you're pumping out. Second, on one of the overhanging moves after I extended the sling, I changed my mind and wanted to extend the cam with a longer sling - again because of that stupid hard stitching, it was not too easy for me to double up the sling back into a shorter mode and in the extended mode with another sling on it, I didn't like the extra extension. Third and last (this is subjective and could be due to a user error), my less experienced second could not clean it and may have fixed it a bit, so my other more experienced second had a very tough time cleaning it.

I got the purple Dragon to double up my .5 C4 (for their light weight), was going to see how it feels before getting the .75 double. If I can't safely remove the stupid plastic casing from the sling, I don't think I'll be getting the green Dragon cam. Anyone knows what's the deal with that plastic? Would like to hear about other people's experiences with Dragon cams.