mapeze

Thank you Bill!

Thanks Bill for sharing the experience and your opinion. Did you find any placement where Totem and nothing else held?

I'm glad you are going to play with shallow placements. I only would like to remember the instructions for two lobes loading at our web site. Learn more about loading just two lobes Have a nice climbing day.

Bill, the Silver Alien and Yellow Totem Cam are almost equal in size (see the photo). The Purple Totem Cam is almost equal to Red Alien. Where you placed the silver sized lobes of the Silver/Red hybrid Alien, most probably the yellow Totem Cam lobes would fit better than purples. So, as general rule: where the Silver/Red Hybrid Alien would fit try Yellow Totem Cam with two lobes loaded. The hybrid cams are specifically designed for flared cracks where fit better than regular cams. Are not “better” cams. Otherwise they would usually be the main cam set of climbers rack, and are not. Totem Cams are all around use cams and outperform Alien hybrids and all other cams in some placements (see the video). However, I'm sure that you could find a placement where the inverse would happen.

This is Mikel, designer of Totem Cams. I do not want to persuade everybody to buy Totem Cams, but to give a honest opinion of them as climber and as designer. Some questions arose in this forum and I will try to give my point of view of them: Really, I do not have hybrid Aliens so I can't compare them directly. It's possible that an hybrid Alien can hold in a placement where a Totem Cam can't but I really doubt about it. Maybe the fact is that in some cases you would be more careful with Totems 2 lobes loading to achieve a holding where with an hybrid Alien would be more intuitive/easy. However, the aim of Totem Cams is to be a general use cam with added aid capabilities. Have you taken into account the guidelines offered in "Learn more about two lobes loading" in our web site? I suspect that probably in this Silver/Red Alien placement you did not choose/set properly your Totem. See the sizes. The equivalent to Silver Alien is the Yellow Totem so where Silver/Red Alien fits you should place a Yellow Totem with two lobes loaded. The Purple could not be introduced so deep in this shallow crack. I should admit that I have tested the aid capabilities much more deeper in limestone than in granite. However, I confirm that you can get a body weight supporting placements with Totem Cams where an Alien could not (being hybrid or not, see some pure two lobes placements in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrn_CUEkE20). The Totem Cam have more parts so do not expect a longer lifespan than a BD C4. I can only say that Totem Cams are constructed with the better materials possible and the design looks for the durability. Have you destroyed them Bill? If so, let me know where have been damaged to improve them. I can only understand this opinion if you usually operate a cam supported on your hand palm. Otherwise, you have a loop for your thumb! Just like in another widely used cam brands. Finally I add a short review appeared at issue #99 of Klatring (Norway). They compare to BD C3. More reviews are upcoming on next Climbing Magazine and Vertical (France-Europe). I never know what are they going to say. Yet another camming device? From a small Spanish company nobody has heard of? Can that be good? Oh yes! Totem Cams are a small revolution. There's no stem, and the force is going directly to the cam lobes through the wires attached on the inside of each lobe. This leads to a significantly greater force against the rock sides, resulting in higher friction and in the end that you as a climber are even better protected. When the manufacturer also promises placements impossible with other cams, like loading only two lobes and hold in 40 degrees downward flaring cracks it's not only the engineer that is fascinated! When the Spanish postal service was finally done with their siesta eager unpacking revealed five cams, with sizes about as Camalots 0.3-1. The weight and quality are also similar to these classic cams from Black Diamond. However, the cam heads are much narrower, a red TotemCam is as narrow as a violet C4. The smallest TotemCam is about equivalent to a yellow C3, but has four lobes. One thing is what the manufacturer promises, another is reality. Reality can be very hard, especially if one falls too far. So there was only one thing to do; fall! Getting ready to take a fall on the smallest TotemCam my heart was racing, as a couple of reference falls on the yellow C3 had resulted in the cam popping twice! My worry turned out to be unwarranted, and the C3 is hereby retired from my rack! The TotemCam held as glued to the rock in the small uneven crack, even if it's theoretical maximum holding power is 2kN less than the C3. The TotemCams are very flexible, walk little and are easy to place. You have to take care that the wires on the back side of the lobes do not get into contact with the rock, but this is surprisingly easy to avoid. Placements on only two lobes are not meant to protect against falls, but does easily hold the bodyweight of two persons. So what is not good? The price; including shipping and customs it is a 1000NOK (130EUR) a piece - also the mechanism seems somewhat more complex and vulnerable than in traditional cams. Having earned a position as part of my standard rack the durability question will soon be answered. As of now two thumbs up and big grin for TotemCams! Five sizes with weight 75-132g, covering cracks from 13.8 - 52.5mm.