Cam Comparison Chart

I decided to put a chart together so I could better understand the various cam sizes and colors and how they compare. (Beginner climber trying to follow along the various "What to buy for a trad rack" type of posts. Maybe it'll be helpful to some other people here.

EDIT: See rgold's comment below for links to a variety of similar charts, put together by people with way more experience and knowledge than I have. This one is based on manufacturer reported specs.

EDIT: Added link to full size.

Link to full size

+1!!
A couple of things:
Could you put a link up with a better version, hard to read this one.
Do you have a life? Man, this took a little time, eh, very sweet.
Where'd you get the info?
Anywho, great thing to have out there, thanks.

Nice work. One suggestion; it would be easier to compare pieces if there were either grid lines or numbers for the various bars and dots. As it is, it's difficult to compare pieces of different makes more than very generally.

See also

summitpost.org/size-matters…
This one relates cam sizes to corresponding crack techniques

clydesoles.com/Front/Camsbr…
Dated, but Soles didn’t rely on the manufacturers but used calipers himself. He also gives far more realistic measurements by giving the `”useable min” = 10% “physical min”, “useable max” = 60% “physical max”, and “minimum width”=width of all cams plus bolt extension on one side.

climbingtechniques.org/uplo…

mojagear.com/learn/2014/05/…

dropbox.com/s/yd2fbj9j52whv…

estk.github.io/camvis/?1=1&…

steimann.li/climbing/slcd.html

docs.google.com/spreadsheet…

rgold, I figured someone must have done this already, thanks for the link, that's exactly what I was looking for.

I think the post rgold links to would answer anyone's questions, but I'll check back in a week or two and incorporate any comments into a final version.

Athough I haven't personally checked, the main problem with most charts is that they go out of date as new models arrive and old models are updated.

rgold wrote:Athough I haven't personally checked, the main problem with most charts is that they go out of date as new models arrive and old models are updated.

and as you note several comparisons use manufacturer ranges, and some manuf's factor in a usable range to their published numbers while others use the actual physical max/min, which gets you a less than useful comparison from brand to brand

This is awesome, but to pile-on with the bikeshedding, if the length bars were placed on a logarithmic graph it would be easier to eyeball the expansion ranges as well as include the larger cam sizes.

Rob Blakemore wrote: I decided to put a chart together so I could better understand the various cam sizes and colors and how they compare. (Beginner climber trying to follow along the various "What to buy for a trad rack" type of posts. Maybe it'll be helpful to some other people here. EDIT: See rgold's comment below for links to a variety of similar charts, put together by people with way more experience and knowledge than I have. This one is based on manufacturer reported specs. EDIT: Added link to full size.  Link to full size

This is incredible. Sorry for necro