With the most versatile offering of cams on the planet, Ultralight Power Cams, TCUs, Offsets, Fat Cams and Supercams, why would Metolius add a single-stem cam to their line? The reason is that there is an infinite number of variables in the climbing environment: hard rock, soft rock, parallel cracks, flared cracks, etc . . . Each individual cam style excels at a certain set of variables. The biggest advantages of the single-stem unit are: they will fit into certain placements better than the U-shaped body and the flexible, single cable reduces leverage to minimize walking in certain placements. They set out to make the finest single-stem unit they possibly could and the Master Cam is the result. They made their Slider Nuts over 25 years ago, so they are no strangers to flexible, single-stem designs. The Master Cam combines a nice, flexy cable with an ultra-narrow head for hard aid or free climbing. Since they invented the CNC milled cam-stop, they naturally applied them to Master Cams. Metolius also joined their silky-smooth trigger assembly with an ergonomic thumb piece to provide precise control over placement and retraction. The longer body affords additional reach when top-stepping or stretching for that hard-to-get placement. The Range Finder system also provides critical placement feedback for those who need it. Master Cams are hand-built in their Bend, Oregon shop. Each one is thoroughly inspected and every unit is tested to 5 kN. Master Cams are CE and UIAA certified.