C3's

[miller]

I wasn't sure, had my doubts, loved my Aliens...but I finally gave 'em a try - and dang, these things rock! A bit spendy (the only downside) but probably my new favorite small cams.

 

[NYC007]

what do you like about them?

[corvallisclimb]

what size range of aliens do they cover?

[NYC007]

I think black or blue up to yellow

[jordop]

Does the incredible trigger stiffness ever ease up? Jessus

[olyclimber]

I would like to test these things out and give a full report, but unfortunately no BD rep has contacted me yet in order to give me a set of C3s to play with.

[miller]

To try to answer some questions:

 

Yeah, they cover black Aliens through yellow Aliens. I really wish BD would make one that covers red Aliens too - they stopped one size too small.

 

What do I like about them? They're bomber - and they fit in places even Aliens won't fit, and fit well. I'm still getting used to reaching for them - but more than once already I've had a yellow Alien in pretty shallow (2 or 2.5 lobes) and then remembered my yellow C3, put it in the same spot, and it was completely bomber.

 

One thing I was initially concerned about was the stiffness of the stem. But that hasn't really been an issue. In shops, I was grabbing them in the middle of the stem (as if the cam had been placed vertically) and saying "whoa, these things are as stiff as Metolius cams". But they're not. When the head is actually loaded, that funky-shaped stem kinda twists down and they're actually pretty flexible.

 

The triggers are stiff, and they haven't let up. But I think that tension could be what helps them to stay put. I guess it could be an issue in rare cases, but for me, I haven't even noticed it yet when actually placing them on a pitch. Having said that, I don't lead 5.12 and up cracks either - in my 5.11-and-under world, I haven't been at the point where I've been so pumped/insecure that I thought the stiff trigger would be a show stopper for me.