Crack climbers, take note: Wild Country has overhauled its classic Friends cams, and one of the biggest winners is anyone who leads trad routes on holiday trips to America's desert climbing meccas.
Gear guide Katie Griffith spent months testing the new Friends on long multi-pitch routes in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada and in Joshua Tree, California — including the 13-pitch Dream of Wild Turkeys on the Black Velvet Wall — as well as teaching trad courses and setting up dozens of top-rope anchors. Her verdict: the update keeps everything that made Friends a rack staple while fixing the details that matter when you're pumped out at a crux.
The headline change is the new Flow Cord extendable sling. It swaps the old Dyneema for a core-and-sheath construction built largely from UHMWPE, a polymer prized for wear resistance — good news in Joshua Tree, where the coarse monzogranite shreds soft goods fast. The sheath's nylon blend makes the colour coding clearer, and a built-in wear indicator tells you when it's replacement time. Even better, the sewn bar tack is now low-profile and flexible. On the old model, the stiff 2.5-inch bar tack had a habit of jamming behind the thumb loop when you extended the sling; the new design slides through smoothly, so you no longer have to think about which side you clipped mid-lead.
Wild Country also added lengthwise grooves to the cam lobes for extra traction, and trimmed weight — the new #3 comes in at 175g versus 192g last season, with the same strength ratings (12kN doubled, 10kN extended). Prices run $99.95 to $129.95.
There is one niggle: reracking the extendable sling to its short length is awkward with one hand, which can be a hassle when following pitches. And note that Friends run a touch larger than equivalent sizes from other brands — Griffith actually counts that as a plus on cracks that widen mid-pitch, like the steep hands splitter Rattletale at Index, Washington. For irregular, pod-riddled desert cracks, she suggests supplementing with Zero Friends, whose narrower lobes and flexible stems suit horizontal placements.
Why should a traveller care? If a climbing trip to Joshua Tree or Red Rocks is on your calendar, these cams are designed precisely for that terrain — long pitches where alpine draws run out, abrasive rock that punishes gear, and awkward placements where a smooth-slinging cam saves energy. Griffith's takeaway after a full season of professional use: the new Friends earn a spot on the rack, especially as a size supplement alongside other brands.