My biggest problem with the design is that they went from this design:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=48937
to the thumb grip design (that allowed them to have greater strength with the extendable sling) to gain a pathetic one inch of length over the camalots.
So basically any situation where you would extend a camalot you'd have to extend a dragon aswell, so forget about leaving your quickdraws at the bottom. The camalot also has the choice of having it shorter (krab on thumb loop then longer (krab on sling). So extra complexity and design work carried out by dmm (to keep strength and the doubled sling) to gain no real advantage. You could say they're cheaper but you'll have to send them back to dmm after 5 years to get them reslung so no real savings in the long run.
Although on a slightly different note, clipping into a dmm dragon doubled up is as good as clipping into the thumb loop on the camalots (for the whinging aid climbers in america to who this is important to and made a big fuss on their forums when they first were announced)
Also they have more appealing look than the camalots (slightly) and both sets of cams look better than friends.
This is from the perpective of a someone eyeing up a new set of cams and wished the decision was a little easier.
Am I wrong? I could conceed that because the dyneema is floppier and the springs are stronger there is less risk of walking and need of extention (but we must also consider rope drag).
Anecdotal evidence from dragon users is very welcome if they would comment please
.
So I have a just answered my own argument? What do you guys think?