Long teased and long tested, the successor to the beloved1 X4 and C3 series answered the question “Now that we have 2019 C4s and Ultralights, how else can Black Diamond convince us to replace the perfectly functional hardgoods that last forever?”
And they did it with style.
On Paper
Courtesy Cam-parison
Anyone that’s placed X4s will already be familiar with the size range of the Z4s. While comfort with placements will come after a few pitches, you’ll still be grabbing for the same pieces you’re used to.
Looking at the microcam range first, the Z4s push the sizes down a step, adding the smallest piece rated for a fall to our potential arsenal. When compared to C3s, the Z4s fit the entire 5 cam range into 4 pieces, in a lighter package at each size, even if they don’t blow their X4 equivalents out of the water at these sizes.
For our more standard sizes, .3 and larger, the Z4s really start to shine on paper. Where the .3 X4 had a unique offset axle design (the “Stacked Axle”) which attempted to emulate the range of a dual axle cam, the Z4 arrives with an adorably tiny pair of axles, for a 14% larger expansion range. The remaining larger sizes shine brighter and brighter, with weight savings, larger expansion ranges and narrower heads.
The .5 X4 has always been (and might always be) one of the pieces I swear by, it slides in and out, and it take a beating, be that as part of an all day top rope anchor, a much abused redirect or just your jesus piece, but the .75 X4 has never been as beloved, likely because the flexible stem and the weight of the head result in a piece that- with no impairment as to function, is floppy2. The Z4s don’t feel this way, I’d even hold out hope that Black Diamond gifts us with a #1 in the Z4 range. While “how it feels” might not seem like a tangible attribute, once there’s an option to begin upgrading your rack, adding and trading out pieces, many gravitate towards the pieces they have the most confidence in, even if the contributing factors aren’t about how it performs in a crack.
Features
The Z4s may be one of the most hyped up releases in a while- Black Diamond has a strong presence in most gyms and the American market as a whole, and they got lots of finished prototypes into pro-climbers’ hands for testing, inevitably leading to leaks. This, combined with a zealous marketing campaign, gave rise to a world of impressions on visuals alone. As with most new gear, threads popped up around the internet with concerns of potential design flaws, and, as with most gear, these stopped once people started getting their hands on them.
“Why the flimsy plastic cable” was one of the initial views I saw echoed repeatedly. (It’s actually where the Z4s get their name!) I didn’t understand until I got them out on rock. No matter what they’re made of, previous cam designs scrape along the rock. This isn’t necessarily a huge issue, my X4s have taken years of abuse, and will certainly withstand years more, but the plastic wrapped around the Z4s behaves differently- since the coil is free-floating, it’ll stay put where it makes contact with the rock, leaving the trigger and stem cables to move freely inside, neither component worse for wear. To be clear- this isn’t going to be what goes wrong with your cam. Over a year since release, and I’ve been unable to find any reports of this sheath breaking3. However, even if you did manage to break through it in any given spot, all you’d then have is two free floating sheathes, which likely wouldn’t impact use in any way.
While many mistake this wrapping for the “RigidFlex Stem”, this feature actually refers to the two twin loops of cable running along the stem, beneath the plastic. When you pull on the trigger, you’re tensioning these cables and (in addition to the lobes retracting) the cam becomes rigid along its length, great for running along the inside of a crack to find the best seat. When these cables aren’t under tension, they can move independently from each other, leaving the cam as flexible as the X4s.
Just as simple, and just as functional is the “OmniFlex” feature, where stem cables gently winding around each other mean larger sizes can have twin cables for strength without being limited to uniform flex only across a single axis.
The Z4s aren’t necessarily trying to solve a problem, they’re just improvements across the board. With narrow milled lobes, heads and cable terminations, the Z4s are light and sleek, with springs that give you solid feedback when pulling the triggers.
But why?
In recent years, Black Diamond and the industry in as a whole has been bringing athletes at the top of our sport in to share their feedback and requests. In this case, they brought in some household name crushers, including Hazel Findlay, Carlos Traversi, Sonnie Trotter, and Babsi Zangerl. They came away from these meetings with a general blueprint to fill out the line.
C3’s are great because they’re stiff and that made them easy to place, but prone to walking
X4’s are great because of just how flexible the stem is, but can be tricky to place
It would be disingenuous to dismiss these differences out of hand, and it certainly makes sense that those on the bleeding edge of the sport might be more acutely aware of the shortcomings of the more specialized pieces of protection.
Featherweight
In 2019, we were sold a new version of the C4. They had exciting new features, like “stiff slings” and “we tucked the tags in” and “trigger keepers” (okay, the trigger keepers actually are neat), but every single review, showcase and product description will mention that they’re 10% lighter. It’s not a huge deal, but as it turned out, only one of the new C4s was actually 10% lighter, the #4, while the rest of the range fell somewhere between 4% and 9%, for an average of about 8%. This, of course, didn’t matter, so I’m not shocked that it hasn’t been brought up before. The Z4s blow them out of the water, they’re an average of 18% lighter than the new C4s, for the overlapping sizes.
However, considering the previous two releases in the field, I feel like a significant opportunity was missed out on- wasn’t the whole platform of the C4 Ultralights and the 2019 C4s that they did the same job, but at less weight? The Z4s are featherweights compared to what they replace, as well as the other offerings on the scene. The blue .3 is has the biggest disparity, the Z4 is nearly 30% lighter than the X4 (54 versus 75 grams), however, weight savings have been entirely absent all marketing material from Black Diamond.
Comparing the Ultralights and the Z4s is where the decision becomes more clear cut. With only three overlapping sizes offered, what may be a startling picture is painted-
the Z4s each have a larger expansion range
the grey Z4s and UL C4s are the same weight, for purple and green, the Z4s are only 3 and 4 grams heavier (3 and 4 percent)
The purple Z4 is even rated more highly (9kN versus 8) than the C4 UL
Takeaway
The Z4 isn’t for everyone, there are personal preferences and range familiarity that no feature could replace, no amount of magic should make you retire sound gear you know and love before its time. The narrow head isn’t always a plus, spreading out the force of a fall over the larger area using cams like the new WC friends is going to be more gentle on softer rock.
However, if its cams from Black Diamond (or any with a similar range) you’re replacing, supplementing or just looking for, these are the cams to do it. For the sizes they represent, they’re lighter and stronger with a larger range than anything currently on offer. Black Diamond knows this, and I can’t help but wonder if they've downplayed this in the marketing to avoid other offerings being ignored. When they launched a year ago, they were $10 cheaper than the X4s had been, now, sales are around every corner.
As a guide, I’ll always have a light rack in my pack, just for a quick redirect or teachable moment. I add a new WildCountry Friend #1 to the set, and the resulting .3-#1 rack is barely a pound with racking carabiners. I couldn’t be happier.
Other reviews to check out
I have no complaints for these cams on the wall. The smallest sizes suffer the same touchiness that comes with all microcams, but they’ve lasted and held up like a dream. For additional opinions and experiences, check out some of these!
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2020 Black Diamond Z4 Cams
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Long teased and long tested, the successor to the beloved1 X4 and C3 series answered the question “Now that we have 2019 C4s and Ultralights, how else can Black Diamond convince us to replace the perfectly functional hardgoods that last forever?”
And they did it with style.
On Paper
Anyone that’s placed X4s will already be familiar with the size range of the Z4s. While comfort with placements will come after a few pitches, you’ll still be grabbing for the same pieces you’re used to.
Looking at the microcam range first, the Z4s push the sizes down a step, adding the smallest piece rated for a fall to our potential arsenal. When compared to C3s, the Z4s fit the entire 5 cam range into 4 pieces, in a lighter package at each size, even if they don’t blow their X4 equivalents out of the water at these sizes.
For our more standard sizes, .3 and larger, the Z4s really start to shine on paper. Where the .3 X4 had a unique offset axle design (the “Stacked Axle”) which attempted to emulate the range of a dual axle cam, the Z4 arrives with an adorably tiny pair of axles, for a 14% larger expansion range. The remaining larger sizes shine brighter and brighter, with weight savings, larger expansion ranges and narrower heads.
The .5 X4 has always been (and might always be) one of the pieces I swear by, it slides in and out, and it take a beating, be that as part of an all day top rope anchor, a much abused redirect or just your jesus piece, but the .75 X4 has never been as beloved, likely because the flexible stem and the weight of the head result in a piece that- with no impairment as to function, is floppy2. The Z4s don’t feel this way, I’d even hold out hope that Black Diamond gifts us with a #1 in the Z4 range. While “how it feels” might not seem like a tangible attribute, once there’s an option to begin upgrading your rack, adding and trading out pieces, many gravitate towards the pieces they have the most confidence in, even if the contributing factors aren’t about how it performs in a crack.
Features
The Z4s may be one of the most hyped up releases in a while- Black Diamond has a strong presence in most gyms and the American market as a whole, and they got lots of finished prototypes into pro-climbers’ hands for testing, inevitably leading to leaks. This, combined with a zealous marketing campaign, gave rise to a world of impressions on visuals alone. As with most new gear, threads popped up around the internet with concerns of potential design flaws, and, as with most gear, these stopped once people started getting their hands on them.
“Why the flimsy plastic cable” was one of the initial views I saw echoed repeatedly. (It’s actually where the Z4s get their name!) I didn’t understand until I got them out on rock. No matter what they’re made of, previous cam designs scrape along the rock. This isn’t necessarily a huge issue, my X4s have taken years of abuse, and will certainly withstand years more, but the plastic wrapped around the Z4s behaves differently- since the coil is free-floating, it’ll stay put where it makes contact with the rock, leaving the trigger and stem cables to move freely inside, neither component worse for wear. To be clear- this isn’t going to be what goes wrong with your cam. Over a year since release, and I’ve been unable to find any reports of this sheath breaking3. However, even if you did manage to break through it in any given spot, all you’d then have is two free floating sheathes, which likely wouldn’t impact use in any way.
While many mistake this wrapping for the “RigidFlex Stem”, this feature actually refers to the two twin loops of cable running along the stem, beneath the plastic. When you pull on the trigger, you’re tensioning these cables and (in addition to the lobes retracting) the cam becomes rigid along its length, great for running along the inside of a crack to find the best seat. When these cables aren’t under tension, they can move independently from each other, leaving the cam as flexible as the X4s.
Just as simple, and just as functional is the “OmniFlex” feature, where stem cables gently winding around each other mean larger sizes can have twin cables for strength without being limited to uniform flex only across a single axis.
The Z4s aren’t necessarily trying to solve a problem, they’re just improvements across the board. With narrow milled lobes, heads and cable terminations, the Z4s are light and sleek, with springs that give you solid feedback when pulling the triggers.
But why?
In recent years, Black Diamond and the industry in as a whole has been bringing athletes at the top of our sport in to share their feedback and requests. In this case, they brought in some household name crushers, including Hazel Findlay, Carlos Traversi, Sonnie Trotter, and Babsi Zangerl. They came away from these meetings with a general blueprint to fill out the line.
C3’s are great because they’re stiff and that made them easy to place, but prone to walking
X4’s are great because of just how flexible the stem is, but can be tricky to place
It would be disingenuous to dismiss these differences out of hand, and it certainly makes sense that those on the bleeding edge of the sport might be more acutely aware of the shortcomings of the more specialized pieces of protection.
Featherweight
In 2019, we were sold a new version of the C4. They had exciting new features, like “stiff slings” and “we tucked the tags in” and “trigger keepers” (okay, the trigger keepers actually are neat), but every single review, showcase and product description will mention that they’re 10% lighter. It’s not a huge deal, but as it turned out, only one of the new C4s was actually 10% lighter, the #4, while the rest of the range fell somewhere between 4% and 9%, for an average of about 8%. This, of course, didn’t matter, so I’m not shocked that it hasn’t been brought up before. The Z4s blow them out of the water, they’re an average of 18% lighter than the new C4s, for the overlapping sizes.
However, considering the previous two releases in the field, I feel like a significant opportunity was missed out on- wasn’t the whole platform of the C4 Ultralights and the 2019 C4s that they did the same job, but at less weight? The Z4s are featherweights compared to what they replace, as well as the other offerings on the scene. The blue .3 is has the biggest disparity, the Z4 is nearly 30% lighter than the X4 (54 versus 75 grams), however, weight savings have been entirely absent all marketing material from Black Diamond.
Comparing the Ultralights and the Z4s is where the decision becomes more clear cut. With only three overlapping sizes offered, what may be a startling picture is painted-
the Z4s each have a larger expansion range
the grey Z4s and UL C4s are the same weight, for purple and green, the Z4s are only 3 and 4 grams heavier (3 and 4 percent)
The purple Z4 is even rated more highly (9kN versus 8) than the C4 UL
Takeaway
The Z4 isn’t for everyone, there are personal preferences and range familiarity that no feature could replace, no amount of magic should make you retire sound gear you know and love before its time. The narrow head isn’t always a plus, spreading out the force of a fall over the larger area using cams like the new WC friends is going to be more gentle on softer rock.
However, if its cams from Black Diamond (or any with a similar range) you’re replacing, supplementing or just looking for, these are the cams to do it. For the sizes they represent, they’re lighter and stronger with a larger range than anything currently on offer. Black Diamond knows this, and I can’t help but wonder if they've downplayed this in the marketing to avoid other offerings being ignored. When they launched a year ago, they were $10 cheaper than the X4s had been, now, sales are around every corner.
As a guide, I’ll always have a light rack in my pack, just for a quick redirect or teachable moment. I add a new WildCountry Friend #1 to the set, and the resulting .3-#1 rack is barely a pound with racking carabiners. I couldn’t be happier.
Other reviews to check out
I have no complaints for these cams on the wall. The smallest sizes suffer the same touchiness that comes with all microcams, but they’ve lasted and held up like a dream. For additional opinions and experiences, check out some of these!
GearJunkie | Bent Gate | WeighMyRack | Gear Lab
(by some)
floppy
It’s also been 4 years since the ATC-Pilot came out, and I’ve yet to see any reports of that piece breaking either