Alien cams

So I know that alien cams are made by Colorado Custom Hardware, but what is the deal? Why are they so hard to find? No one sells them, but it seems like everyone wants them. Whats the back story that I seem to be missing?

here's a discussion

Personally I love them

The owner of the company ( and designer of the cams), Dave Waggoner, Died a few months back.
Thats why you're currently not seeing Aliens available.
There are rumors that the Cams will be manufactured again...let's hope.

josh

I heard over the weekend that there were new shipments of aliens in the Yosemite climbing store, but looking at their website, yosemitegifts.com I'm not seeing them listed. But, then again they don't list much on the site.

supertopo.com/climbing/thre…

Searching supertopo I also saw mention of it.

Here is the latest....

=
Colorado Custom Hardware

Colorado Custom Hardware is now for Sale. Company is making the famous Alien Cams. If you are interested please e-mail us cchaliens@aol.com

=

Best regards,
Nadia Waggoner
production/office manager
Colorado Custom Hardware
115 E.Lyon Street
Laramie, Wyoming 82072

Yeah the Mountain Shop has some in stock. Apparently they aren't selling that fast because nobody knows they have them (yet). If I recall correctly they have yellow, red and clear in stock.

You can buy aliens from mtntools.com 800-510-2514

sunder wrote:You can buy aliens from mtntools.com 800-510-2514

Have you actually seen them?

Thanks.

Max Lurie wrote:So I know that alien cams are made by Colorado Custom Hardware, but what is the deal? Why are they so hard to find? No one sells them, but it seems like everyone wants them. Whats the back story that I seem to be missing?

There's a lot more to the back story than has been posted to this thread.

The short version is this: their quality control process was piss poor to start with, and then they outsourced to keep up with demand, and had even poorer QC on the guy who was helping manufacture them. The issue was compounded by the fact that it is impossible to look at a finished cam and tell whether the braze that attaches the stem to the head was done properly.

This led to several accidents and some bad press. CCH handled the whole thing very poorly, attempting to cover up the issue with denials and accusations, until several gear shops ponied up the $$ to test their own stock and prove the problem.

Finally, a recall was implemented.

Still, these problems seemed to affect a very small proportion of their cams. Then some cams were found to fail in the same way, outside the range of the recall.

Then issues were uncovered with the way the cam lobes were drilled, such that a much larger proportion of cams may not have a constant cam angle.

And then, most recently, the owner died.

All this, in just the last few years.

Still, the Alien remains the best design for a small cam on the market, so what can you say?

GO

GabeO wrote: There's a lot more to the back story than has been posted to this thread. The short version is this: their quality control process was piss poor to start with, and then they outsourced to keep up with demand, and had even poorer QC on the guy who was helping manufacture them. The issue was compounded by the fact that it is impossible to look at a finished cam and tell whether the braze that attaches the stem to the head was done properly. This led to several accidents and some bad press. CCH handled the whole thing very poorly, attempting to cover up the issue with denials and accusations, until several gear shops ponied up the $$ to test their own stock and prove the problem. Finally, a recall was implemented. Still, these problems seemed to affect a very small proportion of their cams. Then some cams were found to fail in the same way, outside the range of the recall. Then issues were uncovered with the way the cam lobes were drilled, such that a much larger proportion of cams may not have a constant cam angle. And then, most recently, the owner died. All this, in just the last few years. Still, the Alien remains the best design for a small cam on the market, so what can you say? GO

So, I would say that this thread will now hit 17-pages but I think that this topic might be a bit tired. But...then again, maybe not.

Cheers,

ShibbyShane wrote: Yeah the Mountain Shop has some in stock. Apparently they aren't selling that fast because nobody knows they have them (yet). If I recall correctly they have yellow, red and clear in stock.

The Mountain Shop (in Fort Collins) is out of stock also.

John McNamee wrote: Have you actually seen them? Thanks.

I was just talk to the owner last week about them they are getting shipment but not enough to fill there demand so they are back order a couple of months.

An i own a full set of aliens and love they... I will take a fall on them any day!

John McNamee wrote:Here is the latest.... = Colorado Custom Hardware Colorado Custom Hardware is now for Sale. Company is making the famous Alien Cams. If you are interested please e-mail us cchaliens@aol.com = Best regards, Nadia Waggoner production/office manager Colorado Custom Hardware 115 E.Lyon Street Laramie, Wyoming 82072

Hey John,

where did you see this? I'm on the CCH site and it's lacking that small point. email?

The press release was sent to Chris Mac from Nadia Waggoner

supertopo.com/climbers-foru…

Guy H. wrote: The Mountain Shop is out of stock also.

As of when? They had them in stock as of last Saturday (3/27).

There are 12 on ebay right now.

cgi.ebay.com/12-un-used-new…

Guy H. wrote: The Mountain Shop is out of stock also.

I do believe that he is referring to The Mountain Shop in Californie....

Phoenix wrote: I do believe that he is referring to The Mountain Shop in Californie....

Indeed I am. The one in Yosemite Valley.

Got me three Aliens a few weeks ago from Mountain Tools.com, out of Redding, CA I believe. When I ordered they had yellow, red and gray.

Mt Tools site today says 'currently not shipping this item'. So I guess they still have them, but maybe the sale of items is now legally held up by the pending sale of the company? Good luck in finding some. I"ve got me an old first generation Alien that still works fine.