Looks like they are on target to be released in the new year shipping on Jan 20, 08.

http://www.mgear.com/pages/product/product.asp/imanf/Metoliu>>>>>

Looks like an Alien killer to me.

Cool. I'll reserve judgment on functionality till I try them though. The C3s got a lot of hype as an alien alternative, and didn't come close to living up to it IMO.

We'll see if this thing has the range of the alien or is just another zero.

damn. they look nice. we'll see on the ship date though. I'm still waiting on the large Supercam to come out

I don't know, aliens are more of a zero considering their recalls and past history. I wouldn't trust aliens to hold a squirrel falling: used to have some, but, I've either destroyed or sold them to people who wish to risk failure. I am anxious for these to come out, I really enjoy Metolius cams, more than any other.

It seems like they have CCH's internal cam spring and narrow head, but I'm unconvinced as to the durability of the kevlar string replacement for the wires. Anybody remember Splitter 2Cams? They had the same issue with their titanium wire, it broke after a while.

I really like how much people distrust CCH now. Gear breaks, catastrophically, all the time. BD still holds my personal record for gear breaking in the field, then getting recalled (CFBP, Skylounge, O2 binding, and yes, an old dual-stem camalot (although it was a swap-meet item with an uncertain past).

In terms of range, the Master Cams are in fact much closer to the Zeros than to the Aliens. Has anyone seen their weights and strength ratings?

i dont like that super long solid aluminum head piece, it's pretty but seems like it could lever the cam out or even break in shallow placements. I wonder if metolius will ever be able to apply their DAT system to a single stem cam? now that would be impressive. And yeah, why make kevlar trigger wires when half a gram more for steel provides unbeatable durability? I don't like the parallel wires connecting the trigger bar to the lobe retraction plate... can't beat the simple symmetry of the alien's tube, not to mention the in-lobe springs that are missing here.
btw, I'm still going to buy them when they come out.

Looks like a good option on the alien front. Climbers love to dogpile on manufacturers, and a lot of it isn't warranted (what cam ISN'T going to break at a certain point?), but Metolius in my opinion makes solid gear, and I'll be considering these next year.

BTW, my roommate destroyed an orange Metolius 4cam as the bottom cam on a pitch in ONE fall, a week after he bought a new set. The upward pull jammed it against a small lip, bent the hell out of both sides of the cables near the cams, and now it won't trigger at all. Needs full u-stem replacement to work. Five foot fall, too. Gear's gonna break.

if i remember correctly, they are going to be made in the same sizes as their tcu's and power cams. i think this is a mistake. as it is, there is a dis-comforting-ing-ly little amount of overlap between each of the sizes from purple tcu to orange tcu. also, these sizes are pretty similar to the corresponding alien sizes.

it would be nice if you went to put in a blue tcu and it was too small, and a yello tcu was too big, that you could put in the new whatever-color master cam which would be sized half way between, and it would be just right. just my .02

Yes, the Master Cams, TCUs, and Power Cams have the same minimum expansions in corresponding sizes: 8.5 mm, 10 mm, 12.5 mm, and so on. The Master Cams, however, have smaller ranges than the other two lines.

In my review of the metolius offsets I briefly explained the compromise between holding power and range. Metolius feels that at the end of the day it is more important for a cam to hold than to have extra range. Check out this link for an explanation.

http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/cams_greaterholdingpower.htm

John,

I'm familiar with the tan α ≤ μ relation between the cam angle and the friction coefficient. I guess the point slim is trying to make is that he would like it better if they had chosen slightly different ranges even without changing the angles. I tend to agree, even though we are all aware that cams are not judged by numbers alone. BTW, thanks for the excellent review of the TCU Offsets.