C4's or Master Cams?

I'm looking for opinions on what's better, the smaller range c4 cams(.75, .5, .4, .3) or the equivalent sizes in Master Cams. I've got a bunch of the larger c4s and I love them. I've also used a friend's .5 c4 and have been pretty happy with it. Never used the Master Cams but I've heard good things about them. What do you think?

It's really just personal preference, the master cams and C4s both work great. I like the C4s down to .4, the #2 C3 has roughly the same range as the .3 C4 with a much narrower head.

I don't think I'd leave home without my .5 and .75 camalots. In those sizes, they're tops in my opninion. That said, I also love my black master cam(#5, between .75 and 1 camalot). The thing will fit in those weird pockets in which camalots rarely fit. So....just get both :)

2nd the C4 down to the .4
The .75, .5, and .4 are awesome cams.

Use and love both. I personally feel that in the smaller sized cams, it is important to have a selection of brands. Sometimes, a c4 doesn't place quite right and the same sized master or TCU is bomber. Other times, the opposite is true.

I will say that, as a whole, c4's are my go to cam and above a size 1 or so, there is no other cam in my opinion.

Just my 2 cents,
Evan

I've been climbing with both for a while, well since before they were available to the market...The only quam I have with either is that the Larger Master Cam (Black, and Green) get sloppy after a one or two falls..What I mean is when I go to pull the trigger the cam folds in half, kinda like a good ole worn out alien..The C4's retain stiffness.
But to counter act this I think the smaller master cams are great.

2pennies

Camalots... i like the range and the feel in my hand but the master cams are cool too... in the small sizes my favorite is TCUs... really its up to your preference... what ever you use you will get used to... and you will love them...

I like my TCUs, but have no aversion to BD whatsoever. I frequently use BD also. I also really really like the wild country long stem zeros, they feel better than TCUs and c4s IMO.

+1 for the camalots.

C4's down to .5 is a no brainer at this point. And I agree that the #2 (yellow) C3 covers that smallest C4 size (.3). So the only cam worth some debate is the .4 C4.... at that point, might as well play the same suit throughout.

[BD, if you're reading this, give a go at making the C3's in two larger sizes... just to overlap with the smaller range of the .5, thanks.]

The #2 C3 and .3 C4 are the same size, but four lobes spread out over more surface is safer, especially in soft rock. I carry both and if the .3 fits, I go for that first. The Master Cams feel nice, but I can't get over the kevlar cables, even though they have been using them on their big cams for a while now. No one seems to say much about Wild Country cams, I think they're well made, smooth, and very reliable, I personally like to carry those and BD's in larger and medium sizes (with a couple link cams too), and Aliens and C3's for the small stuff. In the future I may pick up some of the smaller WC's and some Zero's.

aliens

C4's down through .5 Mastercams from yellow down, works great for me!

Thanks everybody! Great info.

I also love the C4's down to .4, and the #2 C3 (yellow). The yellow C3 might be one of the most used pieces on my rack. I don't think I'd ever leave the ground without the .5 and .75 C4's but I do have some TCU's also. I don't really like the action on the Mastercam as much.

1 TCU all the way, Then stick with BD. I love my C3s and C4s, but the orange TCU is the best cam in that range hands down. If BD was smarter they would add 1 or 2 more sizes larger sizes to the C3 line up.

Four lobes don’t always have more surface areas, The C3 has a very large middle lobe, which gives it more usable surface area then comparable 4 lobe cams. In-fact your surface area is greater unless you are undercammed. Plus 3 lobes walk less.

If you measure the with of the lobes, which is not total surface area, but is a easy way of measurement. You will see that 3 wider lobes can have great surface then 4, which is the case below.

#2 C3 ranges from .5616 of a inch to 1.1856 of surface area
#.3 C4 ranges from .5 of a inch to .8736 of surface area

Im not a fan of BD C3's because of the terrible spring-in-stem design that doesnt allow the stem to fit nicely in the crack, they can also be hard to retract when pumped. I would get C4's for larger sizes, like ringlocks and up and mastercams and TCU's for fingery stuff. just my two cents....

I think one set of C3s and one set of MasterCams (up to Orange) is a perfect combo for a small cam setup... as they each fit different spots. Then I have C4s for everything bigger.

I like C4's from .3-2 and a set of aliens black through red with doubles in yellow and green and .4-1. I have 2 master cams the bigger ones, black and green which I liked until someone I met at Peterskill showed me a scary thing with them. When the mastercam was placed in a horizontal crack with the trigger wires hanging over the edge the cam stem rotates when you fall on it and it actually loosens 2 lobes which on a bigger size wasn't to sketch but I can see on a smaller one leading to failure. The only way to avoid this was to place the cam so far back that the trigger was clear of the crack and if it walked would become part of the climb imo. He also mentioned it has been talked to death on a lot of forums so not trying to bring up old stuff but just wanted to give a heads up if your gonna use them in horizontal cracks like many found here on the east specifically the gunks.

For me at least the mastercams are going to stay as a doggie anchor or gonna go up on the sale board in the next few days.

BD's down to 0.5, master cams from orange to purple.

I also have a set of C3's, in which case I bring the BD 0.4.

you can't go wrong with a mix of c3s, aliens, tcus, and WC zeros for the small stuff. For the big stuff c4s, master and power metolius cams, rigid and flexible friends. 2 sets of offset aliens 1 set of offset tcus, and one set of offset master cams should fill out the rack nicely.
For those really pesky placements consider a set of tricams, hexes, offet brass and alloy nuts, ball nuts, splitter 2cams, pitons and knotted webbing of various size and material.

I think this rack will give you the most placement options, while most effectively minimizing the weight of your wallet.