Well treated, well maintained climbing equipment will not only be a more trusted companion on the crag but will also last you a lot longer. Here we take a look at cleaning and maintaining perhaps that most complex piece of climbing hardware, the camming device. This short video includes instruction on how to clean, lubricate and store your trusty cams.

The first and most important step in cam maintenance is inspection. Inspect your cams frequently. If you have any reason to doubt the integrity of a camming unit (or any of your gear) heed your instincts and retire it.