I love cordage and carabiners, and always keep an eye out for new
systems. One such was coming up in my social media feeds were the CamJam Cord Tightener from NiteIze Innovation. The device is simple enough. a
High-Density plastic hook, with a sping-wire gated closure, a cord feed
hole, and a built-in toothed cam for binding and locking the cord under
tension. This particular version of the Cam-Jam is suited to 1/16th'
(2mm) to 3/16th" (5mm) cordage and its feed hole is sized to accommodate
this. It weighs only a slight 1.69oz (16.00g) and measures 2.70" (68.57mm) x 1.35" (34.30mm ) x 0.58" (15.34mm). The cam is a tear-drop shaped piece of the same material as the
rest of the clip. It has a hollow on the underside which friction lock
onto a knob on the body of the clip. A tensioning bar at the rear of the
clip fits into a ridge on the back of the cam, presses the cam into the
body.
On the "back-side" of the clip
where the cord feed hole (the "eye") comes out has a channel to guide
the cord "downwards" away from the clip. this ensures the standing end
of the cord is held in parallel with the cam. This, in turn, maintains
pressure on the cam, reducing lateral slippage on the working end. This
is important as the teeth of the cam are not especially aggressive nor
is the tensioning bar especially tight.
The
CamJam works by having anchored cord fed through the hole and passed
beside the cam where the hole is, the clip end can the be clipped onto
whatever it's being fixed to. The working end of the cord can be pulled
taught through the eye and "set" with the cam.
NiteIze recommends
fitting some kind of stopper-knot on the working end. and I think some
kind of hitch on the bright is the best way to go, to prevent total
failure, should the cam-slip. Which it does, quite a bit.
One
thing I found was that the Cam Jam did assist in belaying the line in
order for me to set a more secure knot in place, such as a hitch on a
bight or a truckers hitch. The "eye " and feed channel feature are
useful regardless of the reliability of the cam and the spring wire clip
of the carabiner might be light-duty but the whole unit is. It's not
climbing rated, which means you don't want to put your life on the line
with it.
Have a bundle of firewood to haul? have a tarp or tent fly to
secure? This should do the job. Need to lash the escape ship to a pier?
Get a heftier tool.
The CamJam Cord Tightener features the strong plastic body of a
carabiner combined with a locking cam mechanism for a knot-free way to
tighten, tension, and secure light loads. The CamJam can be clipped to
fixed anchor points and the cam mechanism will lock cord in place with
the desired amount of tension. There is a smaller version of the Cam Jam, the CamJam Mini is meant to be used with cord 1.8mm - 3mm. Which is to say, dummy cord, hootchie cord and guy lines and only weighs 0.18oz | 5.00gand measuring only a slight 1.75" (44.60mm)x 0.90" (22.63mm) x 0.37"(9.50mm) but smaller and lighter doesn't really equate to stronger and chunkier, though the smaller cam does bite quite well on the paracord. 
