UKC

The UKC team recently returned from the annual gear-fest that is ISPO in Munich. There were some exciting new products on offer in the climbing hardware range with improvements and innovation aplenty.

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In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

Is it possible to make this back into an article you can read? As opposed to videos?

Cheers

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:
£160 for an alloy skimo crampon ????? Jeez that's a bit pricey. I don't know why somebody hasn't designed a crampon that sits in the rear tech binding holes instead of using bales at the rear.

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

I like how the Wild Country rep uses the word "innovate" quite a bit, when really what they mean is "we copied DMM/Black Diamond, and came up with a new friend almost identical to the soon-to-be replaced Camalot".

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

Camp already sells one.

In reply to ianstevens:

Ha, ha. After having a quick look yesterday my impression of the year's hardware innovations seem to be: BD is doing a lighter Camalot, WC is doing a normal Camalot, everyone else is doing harnesses in new colors. Exciting times!

In reply to HeMa:
Hadn't seen that, patented attachment system which answers my question why nobody else has done it.......

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

Might be...

Put me the Dynafit patent is not valid anymore...

http://www.camp-usa.com/products/crampons/race-290/

In reply to jules1990:

Agree, I find this trend towards video only annoying, less informative, and not great with a slow internet connection. Used to be a bit more of a mix of both, but just all video is rubbish! (Actually some of them are just photos from the manufacturers website this time!)

In reply to JayPee630:
agree, gives no opportunity to initially just skim and decide whether you want to read it, so I tend not to bother at all.. Also forces you to go at the video's pace rather than at your own speed, AND you cant quickly find the bits that interest you and focus on those. This all makes me much less likely to sit through a video rather than read an article.

In reply to HeMa:

Yes but i suspect the patent will be specific to a crampon using the tech inserts, not a binding.

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

I kind of doubt that... but then again, I might be wrong.

The reason we have now moved to almost exclusively videos for this is because the amount of content we get in these events is so vast that we can only properly document it by using videos. During the three days of ISPO we made 47 videos which mostly consisted of one-to-one interviews with experts and product designers. This sort of opportunity is not possible elsewhere and if we were to write down everything that these experts state during the video then the reports would be unmanageably long (that's if it was even possible).

With the videos we have short pieces covering a single product in great detail which can be used in future gear reports (often when the new items actually become available). They tend to get watched many thousands of times since our google presence ensures that they frequently get found when people search for specific products. This is extremely popular with the manufacturers and distributors we deal with for obvious reasons.

Occasionally we do use single photos for products (mostly taken at the trade show). This is when a video wasn't possible, or on the rare occasion that the manufacturer didn't want a video.

Although it might not help on slow Internet connections, you can roll-over the video thumbnails to find out what the products are, or click the Show All button to get them all in a single page if you want to browse through and pick and choose which products to view.

Alan

In reply to ianstevens:

That's what a rep is for, spin. Having done most of the design work on the WC cams I can tell you exactly what we did if you like. It might not be earth shattering, but we've smoothed out quite a number of wrinkles in the existing designs to produce what I feel is the best handling, solid feeling cam on the market. Will you be going out and replacing your camalots just because these came out? Probably not. But I reckon if you have them in hand next to dragons and camalots you might be pursuaded. And as for innovation, DMM have brought out a new version of the Dragon with very similar features to what we've done, with wide light lobes, skinned active surface etc. so we're not that far of the mark IMO... to be frank though, what did you expect from a marketing team? That they were going to tell you it's rubbish?

In reply to beardy mike:

Bearing in mind the recent BD recalls and the questions that raises over their QC/QA, I'd be inclined to say people might be looking to DMM and WC for their cams.

Mike, I though the WC cans looked really good, a return to form from WC after a few years being off the pace. Nothing ground breaking but refinement of the best designs on the market in one package.

In reply to galpinos:


Of which at least DMM has had a recall on cams.

In fact, I think almost all manufacturers have had recalls in the last 5 years or so, albeit not 100% certain on WC. But I do remember a lot of people having issues with their original Zeros though.

In reply to HeMa:

I have no problem with the odd recall, I was, as an engineer*, pretty disappointed with the nature and extent of the current BD recall.

I'll be up in the loft today checking my BD krabs.

*totally different field but as a lead engineer I have to approve lots of fabrication drawings (which go though a rigorous checking procedure overseen by me) and after the fabrication the systems go through a series of tests and checks (drawn up by me). Things do occasionally slip through the net but the BD recall seems to be a step up from that showing a significant shortfall in their QA/QC.

In reply to HeMa:


And http://dmmclimbing.com/documents/dmm-product-recall-14-09-2015.pdf


Remember this gem? http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=565379 and http://www.wildcountry.com/en/product-recalls

The most important thing for me is that a manufacturer issues safety notices and/or recalls before there are any accidents or faiures in the field. Brands issuing such recalls increase my trust in them rather than deminishing it. (Within reason)

In reply to Alan James - Rockfax:

Maybe a "highlights" news article to accompany the plethora of videos? All the new colours guff could be left out and more focus on actual new/significantly updated products?

As an aside, I think you look like the most uninterested interviewer I've seen in a while! Maybe it's the contrast to Rob's excitable puppy vibe but at times you do look like you couldn't care less...... This is intended as consecutive criticism, sorry if it reads harshly.

In reply to galpinos:


That's okay, I agree. I am not meant for that position but one of our younger and more bubbly staff members was unable to attend the show at the last minute hence muggins had to step in.

It won't happen again (if I can help it!).

Alan