Wild Country Friends Cam Set Review

This year has been a busy one in the world of cams. News has sprung up from a variety of different companies launching some kind of cam-related development, now or in the near future. Petzl has a first-ever cam on the horizon. Black Diamond plans to offer extendable slings on their C4s. And the one that already has rubber on the road — Wild Country has updated its line-up of Friends. I’ve been climbing on them all summer long, and I think they’re worth a look.

Wild Country Friends Cam Set Features:

• Wide thumbloop
• Extendable cord gives up to 20cm of play to reduce rope drag
• Flow Cord technology features a seamless core-mantle cord that eliminates stiff bartacks
• Nylon and UHMWPE outer sheath resists cuts and abrasion, while the UHMWPE core provides mechanical strength
• Red wear indicator in the core signals when it’s time for sling replacement
• 14-years certified lifespan: Resists UV, moisture, and freeze-thaw stress
• Hollow double axle design minimizes weight while maximizing cam range
• Softer, untreated aluminum cam lobes offer 8–10% more grip than anodized surfaces
• Spring-loaded lobes locking system on Size 4 ensures symmetrical cam closure and easy one-handed operation
• Weight: 1,015g (full set .3-4; stated)
• MSRP: $850 (full set .3-4)

Pleased to Make Their Acquaintance

I have long had a loyalty to Black Diamond’s C4s and X4s, but time has made me more flexible than I once was. My initial exclusivity had nothing to do with the quality of alternatives to BD, but centered instead around consistency in practice. In the early days of my climbing career, I roped up with too many partners who had a smattering of Black Diamond cams, Metolius cams of various models, DMMs, Friends, Aliens, etc, etc, etc. It was confusing. I’d be leading a pitch, reach down for a cam in the .5” neighborhood and be met by so many different colors and options, none of which was immediately obvious as my needed piece of pro. So, for the sake of simplicity, I swore off mixed racks and committed to one brand for a long period of time.

I think many of us in the US have done that. Black Diamond is more or less ubiquitous here for a variety of reasons, and if you have to choose one, it feels like a natural choice. They make quality cams, yes, but they certainly don’t have a monopoly on quality. Wild Country was the first to the party in the early 70s, releasing the first spring-loaded camming unit by the name “Friend”, and they’ve been quality since day 1. And suffice it to say, technology has drastically improved since that time. Just earlier this summer, I climbed Lexington Tower with a couple buddies on their rack – the out-going model of Friends – and they were excellent cams. I loved using them.

So, all this to say, I went into this testing with the eyes of a skeptic. Would the new Friends be good enough to replace my C4s, or at least to shift my stubborn insistence on a single-brand rack? I’ll leave that answer for later. For now, let’s establish coloring and sizing. While ranges for any type of cam differ, the Wild Country Friends are very nearly in line with Black Diamond. When I reach for a purple .5 C4, a purple .5 Friend will fit the same placement. Looking down on the rack on your harness, they fit seamlessly and interchangeably together. That matters a whole lot to me.

With that said, the latest Friends rely more heavily on their colorful racking carabiners than C4s, or many other cams for that matter. The new Flow Cord is rather low contrast. The difference between grey, yellow, and purple, for instance, is detectable, but requires effort. The colored strands in the cord can be lost in the black background, making immediate identification more challenging than, say, if the cord were fully grey, yellow, or purple. The decision to make the majority of the cord’s surface area black is a perplexing one, but as I mentioned, colorful racking carabiners save the day here.

As a whole, the Flow Cord is an improvement on the prior models’ more standard bartacked sling. Catching the bartack on the carabiner or the loop of the cam was a mild nuisance, and it no longer has to be endured. The sewn part of the Flow Cord is small and flexible, enough to easily flow through the thumb loop when extending the sling. I’d wager that’s the reason for the name, but hey, don’t hold me to it.

Otherwise, in function, the Flow Cord is just an extendable sling on a cam. Some folks love that; some folks hate that. Many feel pretty neutrally. I’ve transitioned into the neutral category over the years, but I won’t belabor why. What I will say is that an extendable sling won’t replace the need for alpine draws. It’s just there to reduce rope drag and cam walking. It does great for those purposes, but you’ll certainly still find yourself needing alpine draws. Extendable slings won’t offer the range needed to get around a bulge or make a sharp change in direction with an arching crack. They’ll just be there for minor variations from dead-straight or to give a little extra wiggle room to prevent you from pulling your piece around as you climb past it. The Flow Cord does just that. Maybe you’re stoked on that idea.

Slings can never get me as excited as the most basic function of the cam though – the trigger pull. The Friends have this point on lock. I can be very particular about trigger pull characteristics. If it isn’t smooth, easy, and consistent, I want nothing to do with it. I’ve long ago sworn off Metolius Ultralights for that reason, and I have my mixed feelings about Wild Country’s own Zero Friends over the same qualm. But the new Friends? Golden. Across all sizes, the triggers pull with consistent ease – smooth from one side to the other. They are perfect to deploy. I can’t give higher marks on that front.

The other notable change in the newest iteration of the Friends affects only the largest sizes – 4 and up. For these, Wild Country has put in a spring-loaded system to lock the lobes in their compressed position. It helps keep things tidy on the harness and reduces the number of snags on rocks and other gear in the process of trying to get to your stuff. It’s a great idea… one that Black Diamond introduced in their last generation of C4s.

I think the Wild Country system is better though. Where Black Diamond’s system relies on two separate trigger keeper wires, Wild Country’s setup has just one, centrally located trigger keeper wire that you can access with your thumb as you pull the trigger. It’s a smooth, one-handed operation, and when you pull the trigger next, the spring-loaded trigger keeper releases, and the cam returns to its normal range of motion. Super effective, and a worthy version 2 on Black Diamond’s original innovation.

Let’s talk about head width and weight. I won’t drown you in stats, but the new Friends are functionally the same in terms of head width as the current C4. Taking the .75 as an example, the C4’s head width measures in at 49.5m, and the Friend measures at 50mm. They’re basically the same. That trend continues across the rack. Weight-wise, things also track similarly. Averaged across the range of cams though (.3-4), the new Friends do come out on top. They save 35 grams when comparing the full racks to one another. It’s not much, but it is something. It’s entirely possible that those hollow axles make the difference.

But with all things considered, are the new Friends worth replacing your existing cams? Well, mine have traveled with me across Washington state through the North Cascades granite, across the coastal sandstone and diorite, and out to Squamish’s bulletproof walls. They’ve racked alongside Black Diamond C4s time and time again, and I’ve come to my conclusion. They’re excellent, and I really love them… but I don’t need to replace my existing cams with these lovely Friends. Instead, I’m happy just to supplement my existing rack with them. If cams need replacing in the future, I may just get a Friend instead of a C4. For me, it’s a statement enough to admit that they exist wonderfully alongside my C4s, even if I’m not dropping all my C4s today for their sake. What really matters is that they’ll make the cut every trip. They’re more than good enough for that.

Buy Now: Available at REI