Seeking cam historian. How old are these Aliens?

Hi,

I've acquired these two aliens, neither of which have date stamps on them, and I'm curious as to how old they might be. Assuming they are not ancient, or around the age when they were recalled, where's a good place to get them reslung/ repaired? Let me know if you need to see more photos.

Blue Alien

Jon, Those are nice looking aliens!

I believe I have the same generation green alien, I bought it new at nNeptune Mountaineering in 2013. I don't know if that helps.... anyways, green aliens are where its at!!!!!

I believe I'm seeing part of a date stamp on the trigger bar of the blue unit.

Off hand, they don't look that old to me. The green one is quite recent; it has the "beads" at the ends of the trigger wires.

I like the reslinging that Dave Caccia does. Link: facebook.com/Cacciaequipment/

The green appears to be post-CCH based on the trigger bar and the trigger sheath. I wouldn't bother getting the green reslung unless you think it's been exposed to chemicals or significantly exposed to UV.

A great place to get cams reslung is here . They're local (US) and they offer a variety of options including custom lengths and colored bartack. Plus it's always nice to support a small climber-owned business.

Blue is date stamped right on the trigger bar. It's half visible right in your photo. Post a better photo of the stamp and someone can help you decode it.

The green looks to be the same as the 2005-2007 CCH aliens. Again, post a better photo of the trigger bar. Both sides (top and bottom). I bet there's a date stamp there.

Both are likely made by CCH, but the blue is most certainly the older of the pair. The metal-woven sheath covered by the "Aliens" sewn-on label is typical of earlier models sold by CCH. I believe that CCH switched to the woven-fabric only sheath before stopping production, so the green could have been made by either CCH or later manufacturer. Either way, I would guess 10 years old for the green, and possibly 15 to 20 years old for the blue.

C Runyan wrote:Both are likely made by CCH, but the blue is most certainly the older of the pair. The metal-woven sheath covered by the "Aliens" sewn-on label is typical of earlier models sold by CCH. I believe that CCH switched to the woven-fabric only sheath before stopping production, so the green could have been made by either CCH or later manufacturer. Either way, I would guess 10 years old for the green, and possibly 15 to 20 years old for the blue.

• it's a perfect match for my Totem Basic

Gunkiemike wrote:I believe I'm seeing part of a date stamp on the trigger bar of the blue unit. Off hand, they don't look that old to me...... Link: facebook.com/Cacciaequipment/

I think GunkieMike called it. The green was probably made after 2011 by Fixe (since it doesn't say "CCH USA" on the the trigger), and the blue is a CCH cam -- probably from '98, as you say.

I just checked my two sets of CCH Aliens (one old set, and one really old set), and both versions -- the ones with the metal sheath and the ones with only a nylon sheath -- have "CCH USA ALIEN" stamped on the trigger.

take a pic of the KN rating on the bronze crimp

the green alien is likely fixe

;)