UKH

Has anyone else experienced problems with the trigger cords on Metolius Ultralight Master Cams? These are made of kevlar and I have 3 of my set which have problems. On one cam the cord has snapped on one lobe and on the other two the cord is abraded and no longer captive on the trigger. As these have had very little use I'm inclined to believe that this is a design fault. Expensive cams too.

Not directly addressing your question I know but maybe interesting as anecdote.

I have a very well used set of the standard master cams I bought in 2011. Aside from the well publicised issues with their tendency to seize up after exposure to sea water they are still working very well. None of them have any issues with the trigger wires.

Having two of the trigger wires snap sounds like the ultralights may be far less robust!

Thanks but they are not trigger wires but kevlar trigger cords.

Sorry I was using trigger wires loosely. The original master cams also have kevlar trigger cords.

Thats very odd then. My experience is that the kevlar cords are not up to the job. Wires would not have broken.

I would suggest returning them to the shop or distributor Beyond Hope. I worked with the previous QA manager from Metolius and he spent many hours testing the kevlar cord. His comment to me about them was that they lasted far longer than the wire equivalent. So it's worth at the very least bringing to their attention that there may be a problem. They are a fastidious bunch so I would be surprised if this was just bad design.

They are out of guarantee but have had very little use. Thanks very much for the tip. I'll follow that up. I did e-mail Metolius customer service in Oregon but have received no reply.

I had my concerns regarding the kevlar when I bought the standard mastercams. I only bought them as at the time they were the only real alternative to aliens which were totally unobtainable. 

Aside from the seizing they are still in good condition with no damage to the cords at all.

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web16f/ms-metolius-ultralight-master-cams-revie...

This review identifies that they had an issue on early batches on these cams. I don't know if the timescales fit with when you bought yours. 

The Kevlan cord on one of my near new Metolius master cams 'shredded' too. not sure why as I'm careful with placing gear. (Not so at losing it)   I contacted Beyond Hope who were very helpful and replaced it after seeing a photo I sent them. 

Was that the standard or ultralight mastercams?

It was a size zero (0) Ultralight. Older version with a loop end for the sling.

Edit: Sorry. By 'Near new' I meant still in very good condition.

I've had by purple, blue and green ultralight master cams have the kevlar cord wear through and snap (luckily whilst not placed). I got in touch with beyond hope who sent me out a new one each time, no questions asked.

I believe it was a problem with the angle that the cord goes through the trigger over an edge that is too sharp, which mainly effects the larger cams due to wider angle between trigger and lobes. Not had any problems with the new ones so hopefully it's been fixed.

Apart from this problem they're great cams! (and I've bodged some trigger wires onto the old cams so now have doubles in some sizes)

Can I ask how you did that? It's the kevlar glued into a little hole?

Took a knife tip to the glue in the hole to scrape it all out, then you're left with a nice wee hole to pass the wire through.

Thanks for the tip about returning the cams to the distributer Beyond Hope (an unfortunate name!). I was asked to return them and received 3 replacements by return. Good service but I hope it doesn't happen again.

Better than the chinese manufacturer of carabiners called Kingsnap.