Camalot
(Mountaineering Equipment)
What is Camalot?
Camalot is a brand of spring-loaded camming devices manufactured by Black Diamond Equipment used to secure ropes while rock climbing. Black Diamond has produced several different models of Camalots: * The Camalot C4, the original model, most recently updated in early 2019. They use a dual-axle system, resulting in a slightly higher expansion range than for a similarly sized single axle unit, and also resulting in increased strength, allowing placement as a passive stopper. C4s range from the small #0.3 to the rarely seen massive #6. * The Camalot Ultralight, a lighter-weight version of the C4 with a core made of dyneema instead of steel, introduced in 2016, in sizes from #0.4 to #4. * The Camalot X4, with smaller heads and flexible cable stems, designed for placement in very small cracks, in sizes #0.1 to #0.75. The X4 were released in Spring 2013. * The Camalot X4 Offset, a version of the X4 with heads of two different sizes for flaring cracks or other asymmetric placements, produced in #0.1/#0.2, #0.2/#0.3, #0.3/0.4, #0.4/#0.5, and #0.5/#.75. * The Camalot C3, introduced in 2007 and discontinued in 2018, designed for placements in very small cracks, with a single axle and a narrow, three-lobed head. * The Camalot Z4, introduced in 2020, as a replacement for the X4 and C3 as Black Diamond's small-sized cams, available in both standard and offset models. Like other cams, Camalot lobes are in the shape of a logarithmic spiral, resulting in a constant angle between the cam and the rock at each contact point; this constant angle is designed to always provide the necessary friction to hold a cam in equilibrium. In April 2020, Black Diamond introduced the #7 and #8 C4s, the largest Camalots ever built. The cams were initially teased with an April Fool's Day video of Alex Honnold supposedly placing a "#21" C4. At $199.99 and $239.99, they are also the most expensive Camalots ever sold