RRC Archives

I concure regarding the one handed placement ease of the Metolius. I reallylike the U body on the metolius. I just bought the #0 for an up comming out west trip and its super smooth. I have BDs from .5 to 2 and like them, but have had issues with the wires getting kinked over time. Nothing like a kinked up trigger wire when you NEED a good piece. the U body seems to keep the trigger wires from getting twisted or slipping to be uneven on the trigger bar. back in the day BD had U bodies on their smaller cams, I don't know why they changed them. weight?

I have the U shaped .5 and .75 camalots, and like them much better then the single stem in that size. And, way back in the day, the camalots had the U shape up to the #3, I think.

Wes

I have the tcu's and the small aliens and I have to say that 90% of the time I go for the aliens. I think the main reason is that I feel the trigger on the tcu's can be a pain. It seems stiff and awkward, especially for deep placements. If the placement is back inside of something it is hard to keep the trigger pulled, especially if the rest of your body is also in an awkward position. They are also harder to remove.

With the aliens, however, you just point them toward the crack and they jump right in by themselves.

Oh, I also have the microcamalots. I had and used these first but now prefer the aliens. They are easy to place though. Part of the preference for the aliens over BD micros is the narrow cam width profile of the aligns. The very flexible stem of the alien and the ease of sliding it around and behind a constriction are also sometimes desirable properties.

This is mainly for free climbing though. For aiding the tcu's are very nice because of their short stem and narrow width which makes up for some of the other issues.

I've got Metolius, BD, and Aliens. I probably prefer Metolius the most, I like the 3-cammed ones without teeth because I can stuff 'em deep in a crack and they won't get fixed. The BD's are nice, but a bit harder to place and the teeth seem sticky. If the placement is a very shallow horizontal, I kinda like the stickiness and the stem being a little floppy over an edge so they won't lever out.
I don't really care for Aliens because they flop around in your hand and if you place them deep in a flaring crack, you really can't reach the tiny trigger without a nut tool. For aid, they're great due to the narrow profile and sometimes they're the best for a weird pocket in the Red.

Crankmas wrote:the blems can sometimes be a little short of quality

What is a blem?

(Cosmetic) Blem(ish) aka seconds
I have bought many blem biners for about 5 bucks each from Northern Mountain Supply. There is nothing physically wrong with them - most just had the letters on the spine stamped crooked.

i just put in my order today for my new rack!!!!!
i will now have a set of tcu's (00-2) and bd camalots (.5-4) and ten neutrino carabiners! they should be in middle of next week!

man i sure do love cashing savings bonds intended for college to pay for climbing gear!