What are better aliens or tcu's? What works the best for aid climbing? For free climbing? Also what are the best sizes to get? Much thanks. happy climbing

-- Brian (SloBRI@aol.com), June 26, 1999

Answers

Yo Brian, well I just started using aliens about a year ago, and boy let me tell you!! Tcus's are great for those really shallow placments, but aliens are a little better. They have only a single stem so they sit in pin scars and other bottle neck placements way better than the double stemed Tcu's. Also there are 4 cams instead of three to "bite" the rock, so there holding power is awesome. In aid climbing you deal with lets say less than "ideal" placements like two cammed aliens (where you only use 2 of the 4 cams for shallow placements) and it is very hard to do with Tcu's. I haven't yet switched all the way over to aliens but my rack is pretty light in the Tcu deparment. Also have you discovered the offset aliens? They almost replace cow heads!! Lots of bigger head moves are in a flared slot that offset aliens just sink right into!!! For sizes get all of them to the yellow one. aliens are heavier in bigger sizes so just use other cams for their size, and for offsets, get the first 3-4 sizes. sorry for the book, hope I helped.

-- Burt (epiclmber@hotmail.com), June 26, 1999.

I've heard that when you're aiding w/ aliens they can get thrashed really quick (from bounce-testing, etc.). Have you found this to be a big problem? If so are TCU's much more durable? Thanks.

Happy camming.

-- Brian (slobri@aol.com), June 26, 1999.

Aliens are by far the superior cam! They are small, light, and fit nicely in those blown out scars. I took a 25 foot fall and in the process blew three TCU's. When I came to a stop, I relaized what had caught me was a yellow alien that I placed with only two cams touching. From that point on Aliens are the only small cam that goes up. They do get a little trashed after several walls, but so does all the gear. Buy the Aliens!! Ronnie

-- Ronnie Miller (dylan-miller@juno.com), June 28, 1999.

I gotta go with these guys on this one. TCU's are good units for the conventional small cracks, but when things start getting funky, the Aliens come into their own. The offsets are sweet, and the black alien simply rules. Plain and simply walls beat EVERYTHING up, just do your best not to unnecessarily mangle the S@#*T out of them, and you should be alright.

Cheers! Feelio

-- Tea (mtea@ptc.com), June 28, 1999.

Aliens are the best!! Especially the hybrids for heinous flaring cracks and pin scars.

-- kip d. (kdonath@thacher.org), November 03, 1999.

Aliens have proven to me to be superior in quality and design. I've fallen and ripped other quads only to have a well placed alien come to my rescue.

-- Klingon (waynejwb@earthlink.net), November 09, 1999.

I've free climbed, and aided with both Aliens and TCUs, and for nice, vertical, parallel cracks, TCUs are fine, but so are Aliens, and for flared cracks and for placements that involve the unit's stem running over an edge, I'd choose Aliens any day. So, simply stated, put your money into Aliens for any and every cam placement. Of course, big Camalots or Metolius units are fine for the big stuff, but for small to medium size placements, there is nothing better than an Alien, even on familiar territory!

-- david cole (dcole@hevanet.com), September 26, 2000.