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panacea82
Nov 17, 2008, 5:44 AM
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I was thinking about getting 2 Aliens and was wondering what 2 sizes i should get. I am thinking a red and a green. All i have on my rack as of now cam wise is a set of C4's up to #4.
or
Should i save that money for doubling up on C4's right now?
Or get Mastercams?
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caughtinside
Nov 17, 2008, 5:51 AM
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what's the smallest C4 you have?
Personally, I'd say get green and yellow. Then get red.
However, if you only have a single rack of cams, but a set of nuts, I'd probably suggest getting a second .75 and 1, because the nuts don't cover those sizes as well.
Mastercams are good, but they are the second best small cams out there IMO.
Aliens
Mastercams
Zeros
C3s
TCUs
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panacea82
Nov 17, 2008, 5:55 AM
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I have .3-#4 C4's. Yes i have a set of nuts and a 1.5 tri-cam. I am going to get a few hexes in the .75 to 1 range to cover that range. I am mostly climbing in WNC and TN so hexes and nuts work well but i need to double up on smaller cams.
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j_ung
Nov 17, 2008, 6:27 AM
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caughtinside wrote: what's the smallest C4 you have? Personally, I'd say get green and yellow. Then get red. However, if you only have a single rack of cams, but a set of nuts, I'd probably suggest getting a second .75 and 1, because the nuts don't cover those sizes as well. Mastercams are good, but they are the second best small cams out there IMO. Aliens Mastercams Zeros C3s TCUs
You really think Mastercams are that good? I still haven't used them yet, and every time I see them in the shop, I have a five-minute internal battle about whether or not I should buy some and whether or not I really need any more cams. So far the I-don't-need-them J_ung has won every argument, but it may only be a matter of time. BTW, I ended up selling the C3s I bought from you. 
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petsfed
Nov 17, 2008, 6:46 AM
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j_ung wrote: caughtinside wrote: what's the smallest C4 you have? Personally, I'd say get green and yellow. Then get red. However, if you only have a single rack of cams, but a set of nuts, I'd probably suggest getting a second .75 and 1, because the nuts don't cover those sizes as well. Mastercams are good, but they are the second best small cams out there IMO. Aliens Mastercams Zeros C3s TCUs You really think Mastercams are that good? I still haven't used them yet, and every time I see them in the shop, I have a five-minute internal battle about whether or not I should buy some and whether or not I really need any more cams. So far the I-don't-need-them J_ung has won every argument, but it may only be a matter of time. BTW, I ended up selling the C3s I bought from you.
I have overcammed and nearly fixed every Mastercam I've ever placed. Unless you're already good with the cam angle on Metolius cams, you will hate them. Especially if you're already habituated to Aliens. I've placed many other brands of small cams. Mastercams, TCUs, and the little Powercams are the only ones that EVER give me trouble. Considering that they all have the exact same range, that should probably tell you something.
If you're looking to start with aliens, go yellow and smaller, then silver, red, gold. In that order. Silver is basically a .4 c4.
/owns zeros. Loves them
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j_ung
Nov 17, 2008, 6:52 AM
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I figured as much, but I'm a Metolius user from way back, so no issues there.
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panacea82
Nov 17, 2008, 7:44 AM
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Thanks just the info i was looking for
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scotty1974
Nov 17, 2008, 8:08 PM
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I have a few of the mastercams in the 3 smallest sizes, so I can only speak on those. They are ok, but their range is really small. I'm aware that is part of the Metolius design, but I like my old BD, pre C4 single stem in the red and yellow best. Maybe the larger sizes are better???
(This post was edited by scotty1974 on Nov 17, 2008, 8:47 PM)
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shimanilami
Nov 17, 2008, 8:31 PM
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IMO, get the green and yellow, then red, then blue.
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billcoe_
Nov 17, 2008, 9:22 PM
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shimanilami wrote: IMO, get the green and yellow, then red, then blue.
My thoughts as well. BTW, I love the Metolius as well, but give a slight edge to the Aliens, and the Master Cams sticking isn't a myth:-)
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tedman
Nov 17, 2008, 10:50 PM
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eh, love me my mastercams, have 0-4. no problems, and no worries about them exploding on me.
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kennoyce
Nov 17, 2008, 10:59 PM
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good to know, the reason I don't have any is that I always just figured that they'd explode on me.
Now for the real question. I know that I am the minority, but I can't stand aliens. As far as small cams go I like TCU's (metolius of course). So if I were you I would get a yellow and orange TCU. but thats just me, most people swear by aliens.
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petsfed
Nov 18, 2008, 1:31 AM
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kennoyce wrote: good to know, the reason I don't have any is that I always just figured that they'd explode on me. Now for the real question. I know that I am the minority, but I can't stand aliens. As far as small cams go I like TCU's (metolius of course). So if I were you I would get a yellow and orange TCU. but thats just me, most people swear by aliens.
One of my roommates swears by Metolius cams, and he climbs a hell of a lot harder than me. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm not good with them.
I'm still gonna get a set of mastercams once I've finished off my second set of zeros. But I'm not gonna like it.
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angry
Nov 18, 2008, 1:57 AM
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petsfed wrote: kennoyce wrote: good to know, the reason I don't have any is that I always just figured that they'd explode on me. Now for the real question. I know that I am the minority, but I can't stand aliens. As far as small cams go I like TCU's (metolius of course). So if I were you I would get a yellow and orange TCU. but thats just me, most people swear by aliens. One of my roommates swears by Metolius cams, and he climbs a hell of a lot harder than me. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm not good with them. I'm still gonna get a set of mastercams once I've finished off my second set of zeros. But I'm not gonna like it.
But what would your other roommate do?
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petsfed
Nov 18, 2008, 5:55 PM
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angry wrote: petsfed wrote: kennoyce wrote: good to know, the reason I don't have any is that I always just figured that they'd explode on me. Now for the real question. I know that I am the minority, but I can't stand aliens. As far as small cams go I like TCU's (metolius of course). So if I were you I would get a yellow and orange TCU. but thats just me, most people swear by aliens. One of my roommates swears by Metolius cams, and he climbs a hell of a lot harder than me. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm not good with them. I'm still gonna get a set of mastercams once I've finished off my second set of zeros. But I'm not gonna like it. But what would your other roommate do?
I dunno. He's selling me a C3 he won in a raffle because he doesn't climb anything that requires such small gear. And when he does, I'm leading, so we're using my gear anyway.
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evanwish
Nov 19, 2008, 2:00 AM
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scotty1974 wrote: <snip> I like my old BD, pre C4 single stem in the red and yellow best. <snip>
yeah i have the old red one too.. the 0.1 it sucks though, it is definately not narrow enough
[its obvious why they went off the market]
its a sturdy piece when you accually find a crack deep enough for it..
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caughtinside
Nov 24, 2008, 8:05 PM
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j_ung wrote: caughtinside wrote: what's the smallest C4 you have? Personally, I'd say get green and yellow. Then get red. However, if you only have a single rack of cams, but a set of nuts, I'd probably suggest getting a second .75 and 1, because the nuts don't cover those sizes as well. Mastercams are good, but they are the second best small cams out there IMO. Aliens Mastercams Zeros C3s TCUs You really think Mastercams are that good? I still haven't used them yet, and every time I see them in the shop, I have a five-minute internal battle about whether or not I should buy some and whether or not I really need any more cams. So far the I-don't-need-them J_ung has won every argument, but it may only be a matter of time. BTW, I ended up selling the C3s I bought from you.
My experience with the mastercams is pretty limited. I've only used a few on other peoples racks. I probably like them because they feel more like aliens than the zeros.
one thing someone showed me is that the trigger assmebly on the master is a little weird. Because the wires are pretty stiff on the trigger, if you do a weird inverted placement in a vertical crack, then weight the piece, the trigger will pull itself and the cam will come out.
An aid climber told me that, demoed it for me, and told me he took a whip because of that. Personally I've never made such a placement, and I don't aid much, so whatever.
But I'm back to buying aliens, I think the new ones are safe, your mileage may vary.
Surprised to hear you sold those C3s. As a TCU guy I thought you'd dig them. I've never been a TCU guy, but i might revise my list to put TCUs above C3s. I think the trigger action and cost are superior on the TCUs to the C3s, even though the C3s are narrower. $70? Give me a break.
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