Which offset cams would you choose?

If you could get brand new offset mastercams or alien hybrids for the same price, which would you pick?

Everyone swears by aliens, but the fact that they look like I made them in my garage kinda freaks me out a bit. Mastercams feel pretty solid to me. But the bottom line is that I don't feel I have enough experience with either type to make an informed decision. I'd love some input.

Apologies if this topic has been discussed/beaten to death before...

The BD X4 offsets are supposed to be out this spring. The standard x4s are as bomber as they come.

youtube.com/watch?v=_y-nFR3…

i personally prefer the trigger thumb catch of the MC's more than the alien loop design. I really wish they would have added that feature to the aliens. I use my MC's all the times but might get some aliens when i have an income in the distant future

I have multiples of aliens, hybrid and standard, full rack of MasterCam offset, dmm offset nut (i climb in the Sierras/Y-Valley a lot) and now having started collecting x4's (Can you say booty!) i would wait for the x-4's. Aliens have no cam stop, i love e'm, continue to carry black through orange, but i have 'umbrella'd them more than once. Might have been sketch placement, user error (mine), but i have never umbrellad either a MC or a BD. X4's place sweetly, feel as if they have taken the best of Alien and MasterCam and combined them into sweetness and light. I plan on selling my offset MC's and going x4, but the roll out has been problematic, so i am not holding my breath.

I'm not considering X4's because they're not out yet, and they'll be super expensive when they do come out. I have the opportunity to get alien hybrids or offset mastercams for the same price, and it's reasonable, so info regarding those two models only is appreciated.

They're the same price as the regular X4s. Depends on one's point of view whether that seems expensive or not.

I can't believe I prefer offset master cams to aliens for aid climbing but I do. The small camming range makes for a more precise fit when it comes to really poor placements and when bounce testing they don't "flex" as much which keeps the cams exactly where you put them in. Good for sketch placements.

I use regular aliens for free climbing and think they are the best and have nothing bad to say about the offsets. They are great as well. I don't use offsets for free climbing out of lazyness or Im a big chicken. Probably more the latter.

i generally like the MCs for soft rock and Aliens for hard rock.

Aliens for the sticky metal.

Especially, as Darren said, in hard rock (i.e. slick yosemite pin scars).

darrell wrote:I don't use offsets for free climbing out of lazyness or Im a big chicken. Probably more the latter.

What's wrong with offsets for free climbing?

A lot of my friends don't like offsets cause it takes a touch longer to figure out which side is smaller/larger.

I tag-tape mine on the fatter side, on the thumb loop, then I clip to my harness fat side in towards my body so they are typically fat side up for placing. I love offsets for free climbing.

DoesNotCare wrote:A lot of my friends don't like offsets cause it takes a touch longer to figure out which side is smaller/larger. I tag-tape mine on the fatter side, on the thumb loop, then I clip to my harness fat side in towards my body so they are typically fat side up for placing. I love offsets for free climbing.

I had a buddy who's a new-ish lead climber. He bought a set of the off set MC's. I had him rack the offsets between the cams sizes they stagger, and told him to go for the non-offset first, then see which lobes are good and which are over cammed/tipped out and go up or down offset-wise accordingly.

As for which offsets to buy, I personally think that the Offset Mastercam #0/#1 (blue/purple) is the most useful for Edo climbing, followed by the #1/#2 (blue/yellow). I've always enjoyed the Mastercam design for the areas I climb (mostly Sandstone as found in Eldo and the Southeast). But if I was climbing at Lumpy's more often (or any other granite climbing area with flared cracks/pin scars), I would probably go with the aliens,. The stems are longer and more flexible, and I feel like I can get them deeper into a flared crack for extra peace of mind.

But once the offset X4's are on the market, I'd take them over the aliens.

Aliens for everything , never had any issues with them in all the years I've used em .

Never had any problems placing them idk where the op did I find them no harder toplace than a regular cam where the situation warrants an offset . Probably the 24+ years of climbing trad and big walls .

Everyone swears by aliens because they work and they work better than anything elseOut there , I've used master cams and the offset 4cam u stem version with good resultsESP at Lumpy ., But if I look back at how many times I've placed each the alienwins hands down 100-1.

I'm not entirely sold on the x4 s if they turn out to be what I expect as far as the offset Ie .3 one lobe and .4 on the opposite side then ill skip them . I had a chance to try out the x4s befor they hit the market as I have a friend who has a full set at the time . If I didn't have aliens or master cams then I'd prolly think they were the greatest thing sinceSliced bread , now to me they seem nothing more than a knockoff/ripoff, with no real gain over anything else I already own or use .

Yes I'm a bit biased , so take everything I said with a grain of salt . Your experience might differ

Scott, you should get alien offsets, then lend them to me,

VaGenius wrote:So, you're back to zero. Everyone likes everything. This is a good thing-there seem to be no crap offset cams on the market. Whatever you buy will work fine.

Everyone likes everything, but not for everything

They are tools. They are good tools.

Buy the kind that has colors you like, feel good in your hand, look well made, seems to fit in most placements, the ones your friends have.

Then learn to use them.

They are a tool and nothing more.