Achieving Engineering Excellence

So the problem was set and the solution was obvious - to build the smallest & lightest cams ever - but this was to prove easier said than done.

As we experimented with our own small cam designs we saw there was a problem to be solved. Axle & termination design basically hadn't changed for 20 years and remained the barrier to the miniaturisation necessary to take cams on to the next level - real micro sizes.

Traditional cam design had been restricted by the need to achieve the maximum strength possible to meet international standards. We needed to go back to basics, so we asked climbers to build a wish list from the perspective of cutting edge performance. During these conversations it was size, weight and flexibility that were the key elements, while interestingly, strength seem to matter less. As long as they were, in climbing parlance, 'strong enough' it seemed that the guys would accept their advantages even if they were weaker than traditional units.

This allowed more experimentation with design and after a lot of scratching of heads our engineers provided a solution by combining the following revolutionary features:

'Direct Loading Axle' - This design meant that the axle and termination were one piece, which removed the a lot of the weight and the bulk of the old design, allowing a much smaller cam-head to be used - therefore much smaller cams. This is easily seen if a Zero is compared to any other unit on the market as the smallest Zero is about 25% smaller.

'Flexistem' - Becasue of the smaller head size only a very thin and light wire rope could be used as a stem therefore it needed to be protected - this was done by sheathing in tight stainless steel springs whicxh were immensely strong yet flexible and hardwearing.

'Guided Trigger System' - This was the final piece of the jigsaw - three alloy guides made sure the trigger wires run smoothly and in the correct plane, allowing confident triggering with minimal flex, essential for placement and removal.

'Cam Stops' - Zeros were the first tiny cams to have cam stops which worked to the same breaking strength as the cams themselves.

'Smooth Cams' - These made sure there was maximum contact area for the tiny amount of metal to grab as much as possible.

The picture below shoes a close up of the head of a Zero 1 with the features marked

Due to the revolutionary nature of these features it is necessary to point out that there are caveats to their use and it is essential to read the instructions for each cam to get the best from them.

Or for an overview go to the next section

Use Strength + Function

while the beneifts of eah of the technical aspects of Zeros are set out in

Zeros Benefits

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