UKC

Just since its nice to give credit where its due etc...like perhaps many of the more venerable in this parish much of my cam rack is (still!) based around a full set of DMM 4CUs, bargains in the 2000's but although not the lightest I feel still a great cam to use and place.

After punishing a particularly stuck over-cammed 4CU 1.0 in my efforts to extract it from a Cornish granite crack, I decided I ought to send half the set off to DMM to look them over and change the (15 yo) slings.

After a few weeks, they came back - and for only a tenner each they now have shiny new slings, wires all straightened and the lobes all aligned, and presumably a thumbs up for their being still safe!

So - a shout out to a great service DMM, and great you still look after the older kit. 

Aren't they actually lighter than the equivalent sized dragons? 

I had a set back in the day, and some 3cus, loved 'em!

Yes they are. Lightweight gear seems to have gotten heavier...

So DMM resling your cams regardless of age? Someone was telling me they didn't re-sling cams that were older than 10 years old. 

Ive been thinking about getting my Dragons re-slung but am worried DMM will condemn them. Ive had them for so long now, since I was a student and the thought of not getting them back brings a tear to the eye...

Clearly yes - these are 15 YO and DMM seemed happy to look them over. I did have a wobble when it looked like the post office had mislaid the parcel (and all those fond memories with them), but it came good in the end

wow, I did not realise that. I guess the 4CUs are a single axle - but this is not a limiting factor for my climbing (in)abilities...

I'm pretty sure that the lightest cams are actually the old rigid stem cams.

+1 for great DMM service. Sent off half my cams (mixture of ages and types) and all my hexes and got them back the other day looking amazing!

I just had my three dragons done - bought in 2010 and absolutely hammered on trad, alpine and Scottish winter. Trigger wires replaced, reslung and clearly given a full dose of TLC. £12 each including postage back to me! Outstanding service. I'd have no qualms about sending anything to DMM and this has 100% made me decide to buy more of their cams whenever I need more. 

Can't beat a piece of aluminum for a stem...

Yeah, it works fine for nut heads, carabiners, and cam lobes. As long as they're placed properly (not loaded over an edge, placed in the anticipated direction of pull) they're fine.

What beats me, is why we even need large size cams with a flexible stem. I mean really large, like size 4 and above. The reality is that a horizontal break large enough to take a cam like that doesn't close down  enough to put the stem over an edge. Those things are so damned heavy, why wouldn't you use the lightest stem....

Agree with you , Mike.

I think the problem is that manufacturers try to make one design style that fits from 7-8 mm to 200 .

My latest cam preference is metolius UL to size 2 into blue to green dragons then flex friends to 3 then rigid 3.5+4.

DMM will re-sling their old cams, provided they are still in good working order. Reassuring that they checked three of my 4CU's were OK first, before doing so.

Excellent service at a reasonable price. 

Great news!! I got mine around the same time so I'll send them off next winter now I'd imagine. What was the turnaround time? 

About two weeks to turn them round I think. 

How do you go about getting this done? Is there a specific contact to arrange it before posting?

I have some 4CUs and a couple of 3CUs that would benefit, being on 15 to 20 year old dyneema but with still great metal bits.

I sent some cams back to Wild Country perhaps 15 years back  and quoting H&S reasons, binned them! Not impressed.

Maybe the rules have changed since leaving the EU?

Nothing to do with Brexit.  The issue is that manufacturers have to put estimates of lifetimes on their gear.  WC put five years from first use for textile parts and 10 years from first use for metal.  So if you send them a cam that's more than 10 years old then, according to their own documentation, it cannot be re-certified as safe.

DMM state ten years for textile but unlimited for metal.  So they can repair and re-certify a cam at any age, as long as the metal parts are still in good condition.

It's a moot point at the moment because WC no longer have the facilities in Europe to re-sling.  They have stated that they intend to open such a facility again in the near future.  I bought a set of WC micros on this basis, and I hope it turns out to be true...

Yes...wouldn't even give them back.  Offered me a discount on new ones that was more expensive than Needlesports. 

That was a while ago.  "The near future" has been and gone since they said it, and no progress so far.

Good luck.

So in Jan 2021, McKEuan (who I believe works for WC) said it was definitely in the pipeline and slated for late 2021 or early 2022.  I hope he was right, or in about three-and-a-half years I'll be selling some lightly used WC micro cams...

Ahh interesting I thought it was down to the CE regulation putting a maximum of 10 years on PPE. Didn't DMM used to have a limit of 10 years for cam reslinging?

Perhaps he'll clarify, but McKEuan is the UK distributor for Oberalp I think..

In this thread from May 2020 (that you & I both commented on) he mentioned that he was mithering them regularly about this for the UK market (I'm not sure if that's because he's the UK distributor, or because British climbers are particularly tight in wanting their cams to outlive the slings they come with).
https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/gear/uk_cam_reslinging-719090

Personally I think the situation is unacceptable and the 10 year limit on metal gear when DMM's in unlimited is pretty sad and also wasteful of the planets resources.

Yep, I'm not totally sure if he's WC (UK) or OberAlp.  Whilst I completely agree that in most cases, slings are fine for quite a bit longer than five years, and we probably over emphasise the need to have them changed, it is a pain if you instruct with them because it makes them effectively unusable.

CurlyStevo - I had it in my head that DMM once said ten years on metal too.  I'd agree that both five years on textiles and ten years on metal is really quite conservative. 

https://dmmwales.com/warranty-returns-servicing-repairs

Fanks muchly

No, we are only required to give an expected life for the product. What defines when it's "life" is over is not given so it's anyones guess. I cover it with the traditional "one use or forever". One is also required to say how customers can identify when it should be taken out of service, that I just ignore!

He is with Beta who distribute WC in the UK. I know he has been trying to get them to do this, all I can say is that WC were trying to get Oberalp to continue this service years ago, I'd say it was 2014-15 and they got a firm no. Hopefully this will change because I know it is a serious issue for some climbers. Anyway, hopefully he will be along shortly to advise from the horses mouth. My experience of working with Oberalp was it was difficult to influence their thinking as they have a different approach to climbing in general and it's as much a cultural divide as anything else... the instructor issue you have is simply not an issue in Italy because they mainly rely on fixed gear.