catbirdseat Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 I broke the trigger wires on my orange Alien for the second time in two months. This last time was the result of the cam walking into a wider section of crack and inverting when it was fallen on. As you know, Aliens do not have stops to prevent inversion. This got me to thinking about what cam would or could replace the orange Alien. Zeros don't go that large and neither do BD C3 cams. Metolius TCUs are a candidate, but aren't quite as good in shallow horizontal cracks. Any ideas? It would be cool if WC Zeros added a couple more larger sizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderfour Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 Why not a C4? Orange is a 0.5 or 0.75, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcoe Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 Metolius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
counterfeitfake Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 ball nutz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted January 15, 2007 Author Share Posted January 15, 2007 Why not a C4? Orange is a 0.5 or 0.75, right? Assume the placement is a shallow horizontal with a sharp edge and a fall on a C4 would kink the stem. The C4 would hold without breaking, but would have to be retired because of damage to the stem. What would you use in this situation? A solid stem Friend with a Gunks tie-off would be a good choice, perhaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderfour Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 You are making an example of a specialized placement for which Aliens were ideal. For any horizontal, I would be more than happy to place a U-stem DMM cam. I wouldn't retire a cam because of a kinked stem (I have many kinky cams). If there was fraying, I would retire it. Even then, I would rather risk damaging a cam in lieu of tying off a forged friend short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcoe Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 ball nutz Must be stacking several together? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary_Yngve Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 red TCU DMM 1.75 4CU brown tricam you're concerned about min-max range and width (perhaps both including and not including stems) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 i would get a green camalot. think about all your climbing that you will do. how often will you place that piece in a very shallow horizontal slot, VS all other placement types. Even if you did place the green Camalot in a horizontal placement, and DID fall on it, and that did bend the stem, and you did replace it.... it just seems more logical to buy some pro based upon how you'll use it 99% of the time, not some very unlkely scenario. If you were constantly placing that sized piece in shallow horizontal cracks, and falling on it, then get a tricam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted January 18, 2007 Author Share Posted January 18, 2007 I have the green Camalot, but not the brown tricam or the red TCU. I think I'll get the red TCU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary_Yngve Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 you'll find the red tcu to be somewhere in between a red alien and orange alien. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevbone Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Metolius I agree with Bill. A orange Metolius is my double for my orange alien. Its slightly bigger but it has worked for many years for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary_Yngve Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Nope. An orange TCU is slightly smaller than a red alien. http://www.clydesoles.com/Front/Camsbrand.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevbone Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Nope. An orange TCU is slightly smaller than a red alien. http://www.clydesoles.com/Front/Camsbrand.html Did you read my post. I stated it has worked as a double for ME. I am able to place the orange alien in places the orange tcu will not fit. So the alien gets smaller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary_Yngve Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Most people use the term double for a piece that overlaps substantially in size with another piece. The orange TCU and orange alien have no overlap. You may as well say that the black alien doubles for your jolly green giant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevbone Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Most people use the term double for a piece that overlaps substantially in size with another piece. The orange TCU and orange alien have no overlap. Did I say orang alien? My bad...I ment to say RED alien. I have used my red alien as a back up to my orange TCU (actually quad cams, I cant stand TCU's) for years. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tradclimbguy Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 Another Orange Alien, duh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted January 18, 2007 Author Share Posted January 18, 2007 (edited) I believe my question was what cam to get if I DID NOT want to replace the Alien with another Alien. My orange unit is in fact repairable. I won't be buying any new Aliens any time soon. They need to improve the design by putting in cam stops. A friend of mine sold off all his Aliens for this reason. I won't go that far, but I think lack of stops is a weakness for use in free climbing. It's probably not such an issue in aid climbing, for which Aliens were designed. I'm taking this incident as a learning experience and intend to be more careful to properly inspect my cam placements before trusting them. Edited January 18, 2007 by catbirdseat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tradclimbguy Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 I understood the question, I still think your ONLY option is to replace an apple with an apple and an alien with an alien, then again maybe you'd like an orange or a side of hashbrowns Forget adding stops to the aliens, its a design used only when the cam isn't properly loaded and doesn't even work if you aren't lucky and the cam jams on the way out of the crack. I guess I just worry about placing the cam tight enough or slotting it like a nut that I don't care about having stops. If my placement is undercammed I consider it marginal whether its an alien or BD and don't plan on the BD sticking just cause of the stops. Truly I don't think you've got an option here. Zero's don't go big enough and while I have lots of TCU's they don't flex and grip the same as the aliens for horizontals. I guess I just see all the crap thats happened with CCH as total BS by a lot of people who don't know what they are doing. Compared with 90% of the garbage I led on back in the day even the "defective" aliens kick way more ass, I'm just sick of people dumping on them probably because I luv em soooo much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 You know why Zeros don't go that big? Cause regular Tech Friends work just fine in that size. Get a Friend. Think that size is the 1.5 or 1.75. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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