Large CCH Aliens/ clear thumb loop

Hello MP,

I came across some Aliens and was curious about some specifics. Some of the thumb loop covers are solid colors while some are transparent colors. Does anyone know the difference? Are the transparent looped ones an older production run? I was also wondering what the value of these larger Aliens are since I rarely see them on MP.

Thanks,
Shelton

Large Aliens

The transparent loop is usually from older production runs in the smaller sizes. In those two bigger sizes, I've only ever seen transparent.

The orange finds some great spots that the equivalently sized .75 Camalot can't do. Aric seems to believe that something like ALL the orange aliens ever built have a mis-drilled axle hole. That means that your magic orange that goes everywhere will not necesarily go where your friends will. I have seen this on the Optimator in IC. I have one orange that goes in. My other won't.

For the purple, it is basically a really wobbly #2 friend. The clear is a 2.5. They work great and I like how the rack better than friends. You don't need to sling them as often as camalots because they are longer. They really don't bring much to the game in the long run.

For value, they are mid to late 90's. They sold for about $56 and were sold to REI, friends, and anyone who could talk a good game for $27. Given today's offerings, you would be lucky to get $30 any of them.

I don't know what your current rack has but they are great cams that work and place well. You might end up finding more value in just using them rather than giving them away in some sale.

nicelegs wrote:The transparent loop is usually from older production runs in the smaller sizes. In those two bigger sizes, I've only ever seen transparent. The orange finds some great spots that the equivalently sized .75 Camalot can't do. Aric seems to believe that something like ALL the orange aliens ever built have a mis-drilled axle hole. That means that your magic orange that goes everywhere will not necesarily go where your friends will. I have seen this on the Optimator in IC. I have one orange that goes in. My other won't. For the purple, it is basically a really wobbly #2 friend. The clear is a 2.5. They work great and I like how the rack better than friends. You don't need to sling them as often as camalots because they are longer. They really don't bring much to the game in the long run. For value, they are mid to late 90's. They sold for about $56 and were sold to REI, friends, and anyone who could talk a good game for $27. Given today's offerings, you would be lucky to get $30 any of them. I don't know what your current rack has but they are great cams that work and place well. You might end up finding more value in just using them rather than giving them away in some sale.

Thanks for the reply nicelegs. The sets I picked up go: Red, Brown, Purple, and Clear at the bigger end. I noticed there is a large gap between Red and Brown. I know you mentioned the Orange size, and looking at an old (but more recent than my cams) size chart it appears the sizes go: Red, Gold, Orange, Purple. And indeed my "Brown" cam seems more close in size to the Orange.

Do you know if Brown was replaced by Gold and Orange to fill in the large gap I mentioned? Thanks

Shelton Hatfield wrote: Thanks for the reply nicelegs. The sets I picked up go: Red, Brown, Purple, and Clear at the bigger end. I noticed there is a large gap between Red and Brown. I know you mentioned the Orange size, and looking at an old (but more recent than my cams) size chart it appears the sizes go: Red, Gold, Orange, Purple. And indeed my "Brown" cam seems more close in size to the Orange. Do you know if Brown was replaced by Gold and Orange to fill in the large gap I mentioned? Thanks

Somewhat. Basically, it was clear plastic tubing that was dyed on site before it was added to an almost finished cam. Sometimes it came out darker than others. That softer material was also prone to breaking apart. It was eventually replaced by the much harder opaque tubing. So yeah, brown is old orange.

As for the gap, there shouldn't be a huge one. The red is (was) considered 1" and the orange 1.5. The gold was supposed to be in the middle. The everpresent problem of misdrilled oranges made this more theory than reality. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit (or do). I can't understand why they could never consistently jig this one. The gold was a 1.25 friend kinda cool but I never felt that gap. Again, I think I may have the only properly drilled orange in existence.

I lost my other orange this summer when I placed it in a spot the other would have been fine in.

One other thing. The webbing is all clearly original. The ones with the H pattern are pre 2000. Maybe as old as 1990. The other ones have the same webbing that was used until CCH left us. Check the triggers, you might find a date. You also might not. They definitely look pre 2003 so they shouldn't fall apart. Check for dimples and the date though, just in case.

nicelegs wrote: Somewhat. Basically, it was clear plastic tubing that was dyed on site before it was added to an almost finished cam. Sometimes it came out darker than others. That softer material was also prone to breaking apart. It was eventually replaced by the much harder opaque tubing. So yeah, brown is old orange. As for the gap, there shouldn't be a huge one. The red is (was) considered 1" and the orange 1.5. The gold was supposed to be in the middle. The everpresent problem of misdrilled oranges made this more theory than reality. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit (or do). I can't understand why they could never consistently jig this one. The gold was a 1.25 friend kinda cool but I never felt that gap. Again, I think I may have the only properly drilled orange in existence. I lost my other orange this summer when I placed it in a spot the other would have been fine in. One other thing. The webbing is all clearly original. The ones with the H pattern are pre 2000. Maybe as old as 1990. The other ones have the same webbing that was used until CCH left us. Check the triggers, you might find a date. You also might not. They definitely look pre 2003 so they shouldn't fall apart. Check for dimples and the date though, just in case.

Thanks again. That was precisely the info I was looking for.

nicelegs wrote:Aric seems to believe that something like ALL the orange aliens ever built have a mis-drilled axle hole. .

Well, dunno I'd go so far as say "all", but frankly I've never seen one that was drilled correctly, whether in person or a correctly taken side view pic. Personally, given all the hubbub about it ages ago I'd think if such a creature existed one would have turned up. If someone knows of one, I'd love to see it.

Points to nicelegs for the very cool Aliens history. Thanks for posting it for posterity.

What would a mis-drilled axle look like? Both of my oranges seem to have holes at the same location in all of the lobes.

Huh. Well how about that! Going through my notes I found an Orange Alien that was actually drilled pretty close! It was Sample 2 in the testing I did at Rock and Snow ages ago. No date stamp, believed to be mid-90's. Effective Cam Angle at Various Positions:
Red: 16 + 6.5 = 22.5 Degrees
Yellow: 16 + 2.5 = 18.5 Degrees
Blue: 16 – 0.5 = 15.5 Degrees

This clear one, which was brand new and had a 5/08 date stamp, was *far* from correct. Effective Cam Angle at Various Positions:
Red: 16 + 7.0 = 23 Degrees
Yellow: 16 – 5.0 = 11 Degrees
Blue: 16 – 9.0 = 7 Degrees



These measurements were done with the Cam Fitter on DorringtonClimbing.com. Unfortunately it seems to have gone offline, and I'd rather not bug him about it again.

FWIW: The cams of the "orange" that I've had for decades are the same size as those of a 1.75, not 1.5, Friend. The "orange" tubing on the thumb loop is so dark, it appears red.

George, you are pretty much correct about your sizing. Seeing as a 1.75 friend is essentially the same as the .75 camalot. I only called the orange 1.5 because that is what it is called. It's definitely a bit bigger than the 1.5 friend.

Thanks Aric. The Cam Fitter seems to be a bit more in depth than my visual inspection ;)