Forged Friends

 

Page Type Gear Review
Object Title Forged Friends
Manufacturer Wild Country
Page By Martin Cash
Page Type Apr 26, 2003 / Apr 26, 2003
Object ID 724
Hits 4207
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Forged Friends are the workhorse of Wild Country’s SLCD range and have evolved from Ray Jardine’s visionary design which revolutionised the climbing world when they were launched by Wild Country in 1978. Forged Friends inherit all the key features of the original, brought up to date with modern technology and are still acknowledged as the lightest and most durable SLCD available today. Forged Friends use definitive constant angle cams (13.75 degrees) which are now CNC machined with integral cam stops giving them passive strength capability. They have a lightweight stem which is now forged into an ‘I’ beam cross section for greater strength*. This year we have replaced the standard nylon sling with high strength 12 mm Dyneema which is lighter and more compact and we anodised the cams and stem for greater corrosion resistance. Also included in the Forged range are the two new sizes 1.25 and 1.75. *Wild Country recommends that you clip into a Dyneema® sling tied through the hole in the stem close to the cams if the stem is placed in a vulnerable position such as over an edge in a horizontal placement. Cams are now completely color coded.

Reviews


Viewing: 1-3 of 3

desainme - May 13, 2003 5:24 am - Voted 5/5

Untitled Review
Bought a #3 from the Self Propelled Outdoorsman in Cincinnati. Used it to good effect in the Red River Gorge. Great on cracks. Stuck it above myself and popped in a hex, stopper or Forrest Titon. Would resume and take it with me. Used this and a number two friend at Seneca. Both inspired lots of confidence for me.

CharlesD - May 2, 2005 3:10 pm - Voted 1/5

Untitled Review
Forged Friends; the original SLCD. Everyone should own one of these as a peice of climbing history, if not as a peice of useful hardware. Unfortunately or otherwise, designs have changed a lot in 30-some years and, IMHO, there's not much place for them these days. Rigid stems are prone to snapping off if cross-loaded and the thick, short stems are harder to place then longer, flexible models. I also find the action to be very stiff and clunky. On the plus side, they're quite cheap and you can equip yourself with a whole set for a lot less than any comparable SLCD. They are also probably very useful in aid climbing.

My particular complaint is with the smaller end of the line; the only ones I've actually used on the sharp end. The width of the stem is a large fraction of the minimum cam width. I got one horrendously stuck in a 3/4" crack simply because of the stem width. It would probably have been more secure as a piton than as a cam!

robojeda - Mar 3, 2007 3:46 am - Voted 5/5

OG Cams
Love these cams. Dad-in-law's got a set. They have a very nice feel when placing. Rigid stems have their goods and bads. If you think through your placements and tie short where needed they will work fine in all situ. Check the "gunks tie-off" for more info. Jardine nailed it from go.

Viewing: 1-3 of 3


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