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cortezmachine
Jan 11, 2006, 3:01 AM
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go check the websites, you wont find them.
i called rei and asked about a recall but no one seems to know anything. except that they were told to clear them from the shelves.
coincidence that probably the two biggest retailers for aliens have stopped listing them?
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tattooed_climber
Jan 11, 2006, 3:04 AM
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shit....i better place an order for mine soon in case "something" happens......hummmm....i can muster 500+ no problem..
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timm
Jan 11, 2006, 3:15 AM
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In reply to: coincidence that probably the two biggest retailers for aliens have stopped listing them?
Last week mgear_pres said that mgear was going to send a number of their alien stock off to be pull tested and the results were to be back Jan 9 (which was yesterday). I haven't seen him announce the results on this site yet.
I believe that aliens were listed on the mgear website over the weekend. I don't know about rei but I don't think that it's a coincidence that a company that was going to pull test aliens stopped selling them at exactly the same time that the pull tests results were to be known.
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jakedatc
Jan 11, 2006, 3:21 AM
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ems still has them... they're not in the loop. so does MEC.. but they're just canadian eh?
hopefully the tests come back and they release something at least definative..
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skinner
Jan 11, 2006, 4:59 AM
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hrmm.. Gear Express has all their Aliens marked as sold out with a message:
"We are sorry about the lack of availability of Alien Cams. It is really outside of our control. Please consider the Wild Country Zero Cams as an alternative. They are gaining in popularity and feature Wild Country's legendary quality."
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skinner
Jan 11, 2006, 5:03 AM
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And Back Country Gear:
"The item you selected is not currently available.
This item may have been discontinued
or maybe sold out until next season. "
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eyecannon
Jan 11, 2006, 5:07 AM
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The plot thickens!
So who wants to buy a full set of aliens cheap? :lol:
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timd
Jan 11, 2006, 5:13 AM
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The REI in Grand Junction has a whole case filled with Aliens
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jakedatc
Jan 11, 2006, 5:32 AM
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skinner G.express has had that for a long time... well before this stuff.. i looked months ago
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tim
Jan 11, 2006, 5:44 AM
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seem to be plenty of Aliens available on eBay, though... :twisted:
Personally I inspected mine, and at least the axles were drilled correctly; you could say that I have "pull tested" all except for the Orange so far. Not sure if I want to pull test that one in the usual fashion, but sooner or later I will.
Perhaps a C4 in that size is not such a superfluous purchase after all.
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paganmonkeyboy
Jan 11, 2006, 5:44 AM
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Yea Gods !! Its like some sort of bizarre twilight zone episode ! I'm not sure I'm ready to face a world without aliens !! At least the offsets - I been dreaming of a set or 2 of those...waaaaaaaaaaa !!!!!!
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jakedatc
Jan 11, 2006, 5:48 AM
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funny.. i took a look on ebay and found nothing.. search query? (i suck at those on ebay)
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poedoe
Jan 11, 2006, 5:53 AM
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In reply to: hrmm.. Gear Express has all their Aliens marked as sold out with a message: "We are sorry about the lack of availability of Alien Cams. It is really outside of our control. Please consider the Wild Country Zero Cams as an alternative. They are gaining in popularity and feature Wild Country's legendary quality."
I would take this verry lightly. I randomly check gear express and as far as I know for the past year they have been saying that about aliens on their site.
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giza
Jan 11, 2006, 5:56 AM
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In reply to: funny.. i took a look on ebay and found nothing.. search query? (i suck at those on ebay)
Aliens are still on ebay dude. Tried to post a link to a set of 4 but it didn't work. 1 day to go and the set of 4 is already at $172.50.
Anyway, I really doubt this is the end of CCH. This will all blow over and aliens will be in stock in limited quantities like they usually are.
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skinner
Jan 11, 2006, 5:56 AM
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In reply to: skinner G.express has had that for a long time... well before this stuff.. i looked months ago
Ok, makes sense.. with the availability issue. It was that fact that they are pushing people into Wild Country, one can only assume they are out of the Alien business for good.
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timstich
Jan 11, 2006, 5:57 AM
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It should already be crystal clear why you shouldn't sit on your complacent ass pontificating from the company office that it is beneath you to test your own gear or respond to serious inquiries about it. No doubt these gear companies got tired of the back order pergatory in any case and were just itching for an excuse to shitcan the whole caboodle. Sad, really.
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jakedatc
Jan 11, 2006, 6:20 AM
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skinner if you've ever dealt with Gear express they have to be some of the best at customer service.. I'm sure they are just really sorry that they can't get the cams they know people want.. so they offer the best alternative there is.
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skinner
Jan 11, 2006, 6:31 AM
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In reply to: skinner if you've ever dealt with Gear express they have to be some of the best at customer service.. I'm sure they are just really sorry that they can't get the cams they know people want.. so they offer the best alternative there is.
I actually haven't dealt with them, but that's great to know!
I did take their offering of an alternative exactly as you explained it.
I presently own 36 Aliens and 4 WC cams. I can see that ratio changing in the future however.
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chanceboarder
Jan 11, 2006, 6:36 AM
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was in REI in manhattan beach, CA this afternoon and they had a full set sitting in the display case.
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locker
Jan 11, 2006, 6:41 AM
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I too have seen the mtgear info pointing out that they are sorry etc... concerning not having Aliens and always figured it was becuase Aliens have been somewhat difficult to get a hold of at times. I personally own a full set of regulars and offsets and love them. Never had a single problem with any of them. I think this whole thing is getting blown out of proportion personally. Hell! Climbing isn't the safesets sport. And now something crops up concerning a piece or two and it's like Chicken Little saying "The sky is falling"..............
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mofomojo
Jan 11, 2006, 6:56 AM
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Looks like backcountry gear has a couple on sale... http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/climbdetail.cfm?PRODUCTS__ProductID=CCH1000
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skinner
Jan 11, 2006, 7:14 AM
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In reply to: I think this whole thing is getting blown out of proportion personally.
Shhh. don't tell anyone that! or they may figure out that this whole thing is a conspiracy masterminded in the Aiding Forum so they could get cheap Aliens on Ebay when everyone dumps them, fearing for their lives!
Personally I would love to know the results of mgears pull-tests. Who btw.. accurate testing or not, gets a gold trophy and my business.
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sspssp
Jan 11, 2006, 4:28 PM
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In reply to: Last week mgear_pres said that mgear was going to send a number of their alien stock off to be pull tested and the results were to be back Jan 9 (which was yesterday). I haven't seen him announce the results on this site yet.
Guys, this isn't going to prove anything. Assuming the orange alien that failed wasn't a hoax (and I'm not trying to claim it was), it was because of a manufacturing defect in a hand made piece. Not a design flaw. When properly built the aliens are bomber.
So let's say one in a thousand (in actually it is probably much more rare than this) is incorrectly built. I would call this unacceptable. However, when mgear or someone else sends a dozen aliens off to be tested and they test fine, what does that tell you? Almost nothing.
Yes, if one fails the test, that would be really meaningful. But that is really unlikely. So if none fails the test, you would have to test hundreds and hundreds of aliens before you could say much with much confidence. I don't see who is going to pay for that.
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billl7
Jan 11, 2006, 4:44 PM
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In reply to: I think this whole thing is getting blown out of proportion personally.
The manufacturer already has two recent strikes against them: i) the mis-located cam axles and ii) the shitty response to the possible braze failure. IMHO, it is very appropriate for the distributors to be asking tough questions and watching to see if the next swing is a home run or whatever. Yes, I think the manufacturer's posted response is a definite indicator of their current inner work practices.
It's a slippery slope to just say: "Hell! Climbing isn't the safest sport." Besides, the manufacturers aren't making these things while they're climbing.
Bill
Edited to twiddle words (sorry, using a text-only browser)
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tgreene
Jan 11, 2006, 5:26 PM
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There are 2 very important issues that must be closely examined:
1) The accident that forced the AlaskaAir jetliner down into the Pacific coast a few years back, had a manufacturing design flaw involving a hydraulic screw system that existed in each and every one of the tail sections of that specific model of plane. Of the hundreds of thousands of flights logged w/ that model of jetliner, only once was there ever a catastrophic failure. Once the cause was established, the fleet was not grounded, but given a set amount of time to retro-fit the aircraft with a different part.
2) Knowing there are a couple valid concerns, CCH's dealers and distributors have to take a pro-active stance, in order to protect themselves in the event of potential lawsuit.
The reason I've mentioned the plane crash, is to indicate that while once we all were made aware of the possibility of climbing aboard a plane with a faulty tail system, we never really thought twice about it, and continued to do so for months before these systems were corrected. At least with trad gear, we have the ability to back up OR NOT USE a questionable piece of gear. Once you board a plane with a known defect, you're willingly running it out to upwards of 30,000 fee, at which point you're now forced to descend.
Nobody in a million years would consider free soloing climbing ElCap, placing a single orange Alien, then rapping to the bottom from it, but the logic behind faulty airliners makes just that same level of comparrison...
What I'm trying to say is; you would be further ahead to personally check the maintance logs of an airliner BEFORE your next flight, because chances are your Orange Aliens are a helluva lot safer! :idea:
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