UKC

Craig Smith reviews the DMM Dragons size 00 and 0, the latest additions to DMM's range of Dragon cams.

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=4791

In reply to UKC Gear:

How did the loopless thumb pad feel in use in comparison to the looped Heliums and Camalots?

In reply to UKC Gear: How do the head widths compare to other cams? In my eyes head width is one of the most important aspects of a small cam! Size 1 dragons are easily the best SLCD in their expansion range in this respect.

In reply to UKC Gear: "renowned for his extensive wardrobe of lycra"...which I hope he kept hold of as it's bound to be 'in' again soon enough, and original examples will fetch big bucks on ebay.

In reply to UKC Gear:

It would be interesting to hear how these compare in size and quality to the Black Diamond C3s and Metolious 0/00.

In reply to UKC Gear:

I had 4 units of dragons a year ago, dmm told that 1/10 000 units has problems, so they were recalled, I checked mine and 3 of 4 had visible cracks in the metal-stem. Chance to that was like winning in lottery, after months of waiting i got them back, after sending multiple e-mails to everyone in DMM (all emails were unanswered).

Good job DMM!
and I didn't even get free biners for some compensation.

In reply to UKC Gear: No review of their holding power? Why not get on something steep, plug one in, back it up a little lower with a bomber gear nest and take a big lob on it? Surely how well they hold a fall is far more important than any other consideration.
Also, how about a bit of abuse, jump up and down on them, mash them with a few rocks, see if that has any effect on their trigger wires/other aspects of performance. Obviously you can't get a perfect idea of long term wear and tear over a short review period but there's no harm subjecting them to a bit of the abuse they would normally receive from being sat on, thrown to the ground at the bottom or a rucksack, bent sharply over a lip during a fall, etc.

In reply to UKC Gear: what crag is the route above hebden on?

In reply to dunnyg: Found it, whats the tech grade of the rest of the route? (realise offwidths are bit hard to grade)

In reply to UKC Gear:

Is this a review or a commercial?

"Better than the other leading brands."

In reply to henwardian: I agree. This review read like a bit of a puff piece.

In reply to Richard Gilbert: ha, yeah. The wprds read like an advert, but the piture shows the cams still sitting on the harness, strange messge. However, there prob wasn't anywhere to plug them in, but in a review f the cams, it would be nice to have them shown in action. So, why then include the picture?

In reply to henwardian:

Couldn't agree more. For finger width cracks I swear by metolius 00/0/1 as I've fallen on them and they've always worked. They're small, fit well and feel good. No problems with the wired getting bent as they're Kevlar fibres or something. Very durable as all my gear takes a bashing as I tent to slide on my ass a lot on descents

If the reviewer is sponsored by DMM, to get me to buy these he would have to convince me that the dragons offer the same real-world holding power and come in at a similar price or weight as what else is there on the market. So far the double sling is the only thing going for the dmms (a feature which I love by the way).

In reply to UKC Gear: Poor review for cams with great potential. Apart from the top two pictures none of the photos included had the new Dragons in them!

I'd be interested to read the explanation about the logic behind
strong springs = "resistant to being pulled out of slippy placements"

In reply to duzinga: Umm - got to love those 'slippy placements'!
I must say the reveiw read like an advert...and dmm do a better job of advertising!
Come on we want to see a big lob onto one! After all that is the point of them.

In reply to mikekeswick: I'll do the testing....