Offset Metolius Mastercam Review

I bought the grey/purple, purple/blue, blue/yellow a few months ago when I was planning a trip to the valley. Still haven't made it to Yosemite, but I have put quite a few pitches of aid and free climbing on these cams.

Overall I am impressed with these cams. They are light, but durable. I have placed the blue/yellow a ton, and have not noticed any degradation in performance. They are less prone to walk than my C3s, and really inspire confidence.

I do a lot of climbing at Eldo and Lumpy, and the blue/yellow has become an indispensable part of my free-climbing rack. It will fit where the .3 and .4 C4 really just don't work, and the crack flares the wrong way for a nut placement. I have even found spots that will fit it and only it on Aerospace(next to the sketchy #2, but not behind a flexing flake), Climb of the Century, and a direct(dirty) start to cheap date.(instead of traversing in from the right, go straight up from the ramp)

I have used the other two free climbing, but where they really shine is on aid cracks, such as that third placement on Country Club, and Gill crack.

I haven't used alien hybrids, but as they become increasingly rare, I really recommend offset mastercams to fit where nothing else will.

Can't wait to get my hands on these... thanks for the writeup Phil! now if I could just find a deal...

Offset TCU's rock as well, a cheaper alternative. Absolutely bomber and were more confidence inspiring for me than my C3's, as much as it pains me to say it given the expense of the C3's v. Offset TCU

I'm interested in getting a set off offsets. I'm not sure exactly why being that I don't aide and don't have any intention on starting soon. A: do I need offsets or do I just want a bigger rack? B: would anyone recommend the TCU's over Master Cams or are they just one good for x and one good for y?

I have never used my off sets for free climbing. My suggestion - get a set of tcus to complement your rack.

To The Corny Man,

I think the TCU and the Master Cam are both great. I don't notice any difference, except that the TCU is smaller, but at the same time it is not...being that it has metal on the outsides of the three cams, the Master Cam has no metal on the outside of the cams, but has one more cam lobe... So I think they are the same. I have used TCU's since they came out, so I have much experience with them. I have been using Master Cams to replace my TCU's since February of this year, and didn't notice much difference. I do like how the Master Cams are very flexible. They "sit in place" well. I also think the flex is good for shallow, and horizontal placements.

As far as "should I get off-sets??" It depends on where, and what you climb. If you go to areas that have pin scars, flared cracks, etc. I do think the off-sets are a key piece of the rack.
(at least for me they are.) So they need not be just for aid.

Hope that helps out!

Cor

PS: The kevlar instead of cable design is holding up well!

Cor wrote:PS: The kevlar instead of cable design is holding up well!

Mastercams don't use kevlar. They use a material called Technora which is similar, but not the same. Not really sure where the whole kevlar thing got started.

I have one Offset Metolius Mastercam to supplement my set of hybrid Aliens. The cam was less than a year old, used less than 5 times and has never been fallen on. The cable is stuck and one of the cam stops broke. It is the worst piece of cam I've even owned in my 16 years of climbing.

Gunks wrote:I have one Offset Metolius Mastercam to supplement my set of hybrid Aliens. The cam was less than a year old, used less than 5 times and has never been fallen on. The cable is stuck and one of the cam stops broke. It is the worst piece of cam I've even owned in my 16 years of climbing.

I'll give ya $5 for it.

Gunks wrote:I have one Offset Metolius Mastercam to supplement my set of hybrid Aliens. The cam was less than a year old, used less than 5 times and has never been fallen on. The cable is stuck and one of the cam stops broke. It is the worst piece of cam I've even owned in my 16 years of climbing.

Might be worth a call to Metolius, I'm very happy with my set of Metolius offsets after having placed them many times in different types of rock (Red Rocks, Joshua Tree, Yosemite, Taqhuitz, ect...) while aiding, free climbing and taking the occasional whipper. I do find that the cable on a few of them are slightly curved now since I have weighted them on aid a bit but no more than any other single stem cam.

Matt Marino wrote: Might be worth a call to Metolius...

I called them with similar complaints about a TCU. They offered to sell me a new one at a discounted price, at cost basically. Seeing as TCU's are pretty cheap anyways I told 'em thanks but no thanks.

I love my offsets. Indispensable for yosemite if you dont have offset aliens

I have two full sets of the master cams and a full set of the offsets. I absolutely love these things! If you are thinking about it - do it. You won't regret it.

I've never looked back and highly recommend them. Offset master cams look way better, but I'd buy whatever I could find cheaper. I've only free climbed with them and are great on pin scars like Serenity Crack.

+1 for "I love my offsets. Indispensable for yosemite if you dont have offset aliens"