BURSTPetzl, a leading manufacturer behind some of the world’s best and most popular climbing gear, has announced its entering the cam market. While the cams aren’t expected to be available until at least spring 2027, here’s what we know so far.
The cams, currently called the Pur’Cam, were unveiled last week at the Climbing Wall Association Summit at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. While the event primarily focuses on climbing gyms, plastic holds, foam flooring, and business leadership, it also gives brands like Petzl a chance to showcase new gear, including the updated Bug pack (review here), the new GriGri+, and the Pur’Cam.
We were at the Summit last week, along with hundreds of other climbers, and were among the first to see the new cams. And by “new,” we mean fresh off the line. built not long before the Petzl team flew from Europe, making this the first and only set in North America at the time.
We don’t have weights, we don’t have head widths, and we were told that we couldn’t directly quote any of the Petzl employees, likely because the cams might change in one or many ways over the next year. But we do know some things, scroll down to see what.
Lightweight: We don’t have exact weights yet, but the cams felt very light, easily among the lightest we’ve handled.
Replaceable Stem: Petzl says the stems will be user-replaceable thanks to a removable pin that connects the stem to the lobes. Swapping it out requires a torque wrench and a replacement pin supplied by Petzl, which comes pre-treated with Loctite.
Replaceable Trigger Cord: We didn’t see it in action, but seemed straight forward enough.
Carabiner Keeper: The carabiner is secured in two ways: first by the sling itself, and second by a rubber keeper that fits over the sling to hold everything in place. The extra sling material above the carabiner and keeper also creates a small basket, allowing you to clip in a longer quickdraw when needed.
Patent Pending: The units we saw had “patent pending” stamped on the sides, though it’s not yet clear which specific design or feature it refers to.
Conclusion: For years, climbers have speculated that Petzl would eventually design and build cams, and now they have with the Pur’Cam. They look like cams, handle like cams, and feel like cams. They’re impressively lightweight, feature replaceable parts, and come with a fixed carabiner. We only had the chance to see it at the trade show, so we haven’t yet placed, clipped, or whipped on them. But our stoke for the Pur’Cam is high, and we’ll share more details once we know more or get a chance to test them.
Petzl Pur’Cam, sizes 0.3 to 3
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