|
wk127001
Oct 23, 2008, 4:01 PM
Post #1 of 20
(2493 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 24, 2008
Posts: 8
|
So I've picked up most of my cams for my first rack and was wondering if there was any gap in coverage between the Yellow Alien and the Purple Camalot. If there is what cam should I pick up to cover it?
Also, anyone got a recommendations on biners for racking cams? I'll probably just end up with hotwires unless someone has a better suggestion.
|
|
|
|
|
vegastradguy
Oct 23, 2008, 4:07 PM
Post #2 of 20
(2478 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 28, 2002
Posts: 5919
|
not any real gap thats worth noting. the gray alien does fit in some spots better than either (as it is in between the red and yellow alien), but i wouldnt waste the money on it- the gap is miniscule and a couple inches up or down in the crack will usually result in a solid placement for either cam.
|
|
|
|
|
climbinginchico
Oct 23, 2008, 4:08 PM
Post #3 of 20
(2477 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 24, 2004
Posts: 3032
|
The gap is minimal, but that's why they made the grey alien. Red alien is equivalent to purple (.5) camalot. Yellow, grey and .4 C4 are just different enough that I have all 3. Well, that and I'm a gear whore. 
|
|
|
|
|
kmc
Oct 23, 2008, 4:11 PM
Post #4 of 20
(2469 views)
Shortcut
Registered: May 24, 2006
Posts: 252
|
the sizes for aliens (that I carry) go blue to green to yellow to gray to red
The purple camalot is the roughly the equivalent of the red alien, so the grey alien will fill that void nicely.
Of course, many will tell you not to go with aliens any more due to the quality control issues. I am not going to argue either way if Aliens are OK or not. I dont know what color it would be, but im sure that the new master cams by metolius will have similiar sizes. If your in love with your aliens, like many of those that use them are, I picked up a couple of the master cams and they feel solid and place in the same narrow placements as the aliens.
~Kevin
|
|
|
|
|
climbinginchico
Oct 23, 2008, 4:13 PM
Post #6 of 20
(2467 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 24, 2004
Posts: 3032
|
Oh and on the biners question, I've got a couple hundred hotwires. They are a great biner. Those WC heliums sure are sexy though. If had a crapload of cash I would have replaced hotwires with those. I also like the OZ, or if you're OCD and need color coordination you can get the neutrino rackpack.
|
|
|
|
|
wk127001
Oct 23, 2008, 4:21 PM
Post #7 of 20
(2453 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 24, 2008
Posts: 8
|
I'm totally ocd. I thought about getting the neutrinos but then I realized they wouldn't go well with my aliens so I'll probably end up with the same color hotwire for everything. I'm an everything has to be the same or match kind of person and especially with my gear I want consistency and general uniformity.
The funny thing is, in my profession people who are anal and ocd is pretty common, I don't even notice it any more.
Oh and thanks for the advice guys, I'll probably go pick up a grey alien this weekend.
|
|
|
|
|
punk_rocker333
Oct 23, 2008, 4:28 PM
Post #8 of 20
(2441 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 9, 2004
Posts: 387
|
Orange tcu or mastercam will fill the gap nicely. Can also usually find a good deal on them too. Oh, and how will neutrinos not go well with your aliens? At any rate, the hotwires are a great biner.
|
|
|
|
|
climbinginchico
Oct 23, 2008, 4:32 PM
Post #9 of 20
(2423 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 24, 2004
Posts: 3032
|
If you're looking to get a bunch of hotwires, I recommend going directly through BD. They took care of me when I wanted certain quantities in certain colors, and matched a sale price. All I had to do was ask nicely and let them know that I was purchasing a bunch of cams from them at the same time. Took care of me. BD is easily one of the best companies I have ever dealt with.
Also, I believe the WC prowire is available in colors more akin to aliens? Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but they are basically the same as a hotwire, if you really want to color coordinate.
|
|
|
|
|
ckirkwood9
Oct 23, 2008, 5:02 PM
Post #10 of 20
(2394 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 10, 2004
Posts: 262
|
i bought a boat load of mad rock wiregates (they come in silver and red). They look cool, rack extremely well are SUPER light weight, and have saved my butt on a few falls while trad and sport climbing without any issue.
AND they're way inexpensive.
I use all red to rack my aliens and all silver to rack my camalots.
|
|
|
|
|
maxtrax
Oct 23, 2008, 6:39 PM
Post #11 of 20
(2342 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 29, 2006
Posts: 38
|
Orange tcu would fill that gap very nicely, on longer (granite) routes I usually carry two of them. My rack goes purple-yellow C3 camalots (gray-yellow tcu's or ~black-yellow aliens), orange tcu, .5-4 C4 camalots with various doubles and a few triples in WC tech friends and zeros and it seems to work very well for alpine and crag climbing in Washington and B.C.
As far as racking 'biners go, the hotwires are great especially if you will be clipping directly to the cam w/out a quickdraw/other extender. Personally though I do a lot more alpine climbing than trad cragging so for me everything is racked on Mammut Moses carabiners, same size as the BD oz with 1mm larger gate opening and weighs 1g less. Then I have WC heliums on the rope end of all my slings/quickdraws.
This setup works very well for me although for harder trad climbs or winter climbing where size/utility of the biner (ease of clipping, using with gloves, etc.) is at a premium over weight I'll use heliums or hotwires for my entire rack and leave the moses' at home (yes, I'm a gear whore). YMMV.
|
|
|
|
|
lemon_boy
Oct 24, 2008, 3:49 PM
Post #12 of 20
(2230 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 12, 2002
Posts: 287
|
orange tcu is what you want
|
|
|
|
|
wmfork
Oct 24, 2008, 4:40 PM
Post #13 of 20
(2195 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 4, 2006
Posts: 348
|
vegastradguy wrote: not any real gap thats worth noting.
The grey camalot is a touch larger than the yellow alien and the purple camalot is a touch larger than the red alien, so the gap btw yellow alien and purple camalot is a bit larger than it otherwise would be. If you have either the grey camalot or the red alien (for doubling up or what not), I wouldn't worry about it. As it stands, I still wouldn't worry about it too much.
The orange metolius (#3) is an obvious in between size, but I found it to be vastly inferior to CCH or BD cams in that size. If you must, I'd recommend getting the TCU: it's cheaper and the narrower head fits in the one or 2 spots an alien wouldn't fit as well.
|
|
|
|
|
Gmburns2000
Oct 24, 2008, 5:19 PM
Post #14 of 20
(2162 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 6, 2007
Posts: 15266
|
would be brown if you don't have it when you need it.
|
|
|
|
|
mattm
Oct 25, 2008, 9:04 PM
Post #15 of 20
(2097 views)
Shortcut
Registered: May 20, 2003
Posts: 640
|
Grey Alien or Orange in Metolius is what you want.
Biner wise, there is no finer OCD fix than a rack of DMM Colored SPECTRES. The prowire was nice as well but SPECTRES are the new cats meow.
You need the orange color though and that can be had with some BD hotwires currently. Get them now before BD releases the "green is the new orange"
|
|
|
|
|
wk127001
Oct 25, 2008, 9:07 PM
Post #16 of 20
(2094 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 24, 2008
Posts: 8
|
Oh good call on the hotwires, and yeah I just picked up a grey alien so I'm all set. I'll check out the DMMs too.
|
|
|
|
|
hosh
Oct 25, 2008, 10:08 PM
Post #17 of 20
(2061 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Dec 15, 2003
Posts: 1662
|
climbinginchico wrote: If you're looking to get a bunch of hotwires, I recommend going directly through BD. They took care of me when I wanted certain quantities in certain colors, and matched a sale price. All I had to do was ask nicely and let them know that I was purchasing a bunch of cams from them at the same time. Took care of me. BD is easily one of the best companies I have ever dealt with. Also, I believe the WC prowire is available in colors more akin to aliens? Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but they are basically the same as a hotwire, if you really want to color coordinate.
In connection with BD being a great company to deal with, I ordered a few cams from them a while back (#0.75, #1, #2, #3). They shipped all 4 cams in one box. I paid, all was well. Then, a few days later, another box arrived in the mail with another 0.75. I called BD to let them know that they double shipped and to get return information. The kind woman on the other end of the phone apologized for the confusion, asked me to hold while she checked the shipping information, then vanished for several seconds. She got back on the phone confused, asking me what the problem was again. I told her that they double-shipped the 0.75 and was wondering what they would like me to do in regards to returns. She said according to their shipping information, they did *not* double ship the 0.75, as only one was sent to me. I told her that two showed up in the mail and she reassured me that that was indeed not the case, only one arrived at my house. I could almost hear the wink over the phone. I thanked her for her time... So, for the record, I only got *one* 0.75 C4... 
hosh.
|
|
|
|
|
mattm
Oct 25, 2008, 11:44 PM
Post #18 of 20
(2034 views)
Shortcut
Registered: May 20, 2003
Posts: 640
|
wk127001 wrote: Oh good call on the hotwires, and yeah I just picked up a grey alien so I'm all set. I'll check out the DMMs too.
Oh, and for any weird ones like and offset alien, I used a silver Helium and then colored the top BOTH colors with Sharpies. You'll have to redo it every season but nothing says "SWEET OCD GOODNESS" like looking down at a blue/green biner and grabbing said alien FAST.
|
|
|
|
|
wk127001
Oct 26, 2008, 12:27 AM
Post #19 of 20
(2018 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 24, 2008
Posts: 8
|
You are my racking hero.
|
|
|
|
|
|
