I don't get why a company like Metolius doesn't buy them out, use their designs, and build them properly.

Does anyone know if the earlier Aliens (1999,2000) underwent any sort of testing? Any QC issues for those earlier years?

Well, Nadia @ CCH seems to be under the impression that they've been encouraging customers to send in all units not stamped Tensile Tested, but damned if I've ever seen anything that didn't say just ones that fell within the recall (and I follow RC, MP, ST, Gunks and keep an eye out for these sorts of things). Heck, even their original recall and subsequent addendum say only send ones within the recall period.

I emailed back emphasizing that their paperwork clearly states earlier units are uneffected and need not be tested and that it would be good for them to publicly state (possibly a second time...?) that all units not stamped Tensile Tested should be sent in.

It also seems that she missed the point that the Purple exhibited a new failure mode not covered by the recall and would not have been caught by their testing. I reiterated this point and strongly encouraged her to begin an investigation about it.

I don't think there's much more I can do about this, except wait and see if they get a clue and do something about it. Since they haven't asked for me to send them back (you'd think that would be their first response), I'm going to go ahead and do some hardness testing on the lobes and axles.

-a.

I don't know whether to laugh or be upset. Email from Nadia (Waggoner) is that I can call Dave and talk with him if I want.

Funny, I seem to recall doing exactly that, in addition to sending all sorts of documentation. I find the complete lack of interest in a failure predating the recall by 2 years and another but completely different type of failure during the recall period astounding.

Sigh.

I'll have the pics and whatnot posted tomorrow, but most likely will only be posting them to RC as I don't want to answer questions on half a dozen different forums. I'll post a link here when they're up.

I think someone asked a similar question earlier in the thread, but Aric, do you have any idea what the most recent manufacturing date is for a failed alien?

edit: OK, so I re-read this thread and it looks like it was you that asked the (somewhat similar) question that I refer to above.

Yup Joel, I think it was me... :-)

I've heard of other failures but don't recall ever seeing hard evidence of it. I've also heard of cams being sent to CCH for testing and coming back with seemingly new stems using the old sling, tubing, axle, trigger and lobes with no mention of there having been a problem or failure, but again I've not seen it in person and don't personally know the person who made the post.

That said in one of the emails from Nadia today she stated that they can and have replaced the stems on Aliens if it is asked for, but she made no mention of whether this has ever been done without informing the cam's owner.

Its way past bedtime now, so I'm turning in. I kicked my report over to the other Mods on RC for review and will probably have it posted ~noon EST tomorrow (which is really today, seeing as its almost 1am here....)

no one would ever buy cch's design. they are made very cheaply due to a variety of factors. if a company like metolious were to make them, they would cost $100. it pays to own a company in laramie.

I think the actual numbers I heard were that if they were made in China and imported, they couldn't be sold for less than $120-$130.

Redneck meth-heads are more econimically viable than outsourcing in this case.

I wonder if the reason there are no pre recall failures (that I know of) is that so few people fall (just take) or that a lead fall generates <5kn so it stays together.

I'll probably whip on mine yet again today.

Are you implying that I sleep, Mr. Mitchell?

Hey guys,

Just made the report live: link

Quick question. I climb on both Aliens and TCU's so I don't feel that I have much of a bias (I really do like Aliens a lot). That said, the quality control at CCH freaks me out a bit. Sending CCH my 5 year old'ish cams for them to do pull testing doesn't make me feel any better, I guess because in essence you are asking the manufacturing company that you don't totally trust, to check their own work.

My question then is, does anyone know of a place where you can send your cams to be pull tested that is NOT CCH? That would be great info.

Thanks.

Thanks for the info. Russ.

It is amazing how far we have come. When I first discovered the brazing issue over two years ago, I was met with immense skepticism, called a liar, accused of photo shopping pictures and said to have a personal grudge against CCH. Very few of the climbing community believed that it was true that a cam could break, and even worse, true of there beloved Aliens. My one and only goal in sounding the alarm was to raise the issue and keep climbers safe. I believe I have done that. It makes me happy to read the previous 2 pages of this thread and see no finger pointing, no name calling, and best of all, climbers coming together to keep others safe.

Aric, thanks for taking the time to pull test. Obviously there are still plenty of unsafe cams out there. Good luck getting a legitimate response.

Russ, thanks for pull testing when no one would.

I caught a lot of flack for not giving CCH time to handle the issue two years ago and for posting here and on RC.com. Looking back at the whole debacle, I wouldn't change a thing, because I believe the one goal was achieved, raising awareness and keeping climbers safe. If it had to be done online to be achieved, than so be it.

Thanks for letting me clear my head,

Kevin

Aric,

Sorry, I just got to read your report. Although the aliens that you tested may have failed, I just wanted to let you know that the first one was not a brazing failure. It looks to me like the cable broke. Below is a photo of an alien when the brazing fails. When that happens, there is no cable left in the head.

Kevin

blown up alien Submitted By: Kevin Sainio on May 20, 2009