Totem now making aliens?

http://www.totemcams.com/content/index.php?id=1&se=3&su=1307635863

Looks like you can buy them for 60 bucks in October. I thought a different company had picked up the design... maybe it was sold twice? That seems illegal...

I wonder if totem cam company picked up the idea from this thread...

cascadeclimbers.com/forum/u…

I don't know why they think that their "flexible trigger wire ropes" are better than the individual wires. This poor trigger wire design is where my aliens are falling apart. This is the better design: barrabes.com/imagenes/revis…

Hmmm....

Both Totem and Fixe are in Spain, so maybe one is making them for the other?

the flexible wires allow the lobes to engage at much different angles. this is one of the things i really like about my "normal" totems. whether the connections hold together, that seems like something that can be made to work with proper R&D.

Regardless of design, I'm interested to know what the deal is with two different companies saying that they will be selling Aliens soon. Both in Spain but as far as I know they are two very different companies.

It's weird totem is only making certain ones, and leaving out the gray?

maybe fixe is making certain sizes and totem the other sizes?

There was no "design to sell", in other words, there were no current patents in place to prevent anyone from building identical units.

The whole "CCH for sale" thing was slightly comical because of this (especially the asking price), when the only assets that were actually worth anything were some raw materials stock, a few easily replicated CAAD files, a bunch of old well used and outdated CNC machines, and a bunch of random tools and assorted junk.

If someone wanted a quick start to putting out a cam with that design, then the assembly sequence, materials sourcing list, and CAAD files for the few parts made in-house (lobes, trigger wire puller block) would be valuable. But they were trying to sell the old ass CNC machines, random homemade crap tools..all their junkshow as a package, and wanted a guarantee that the Alien name would carry-on.

Fixe/Faders got taken on that deal (if they coughed up anything near the asking price), there was just no "there" there.

That's interesting Will. I don't understand why it was such a big deal if it was just some component drawings...

Was the asking price so high for the name "Alien" to go along with the cam? I noticed the totem cams are called "basic cams" they make no mention of aliens and compare them to a traditional flexible cam. Possibly Fixe bought it from Nadia so they can label them as "Aliens"?

People pay for name brands all the time. Maybe the same case here?

Ice4life wrote:People pay for name brands all the time. Maybe the same case here?

Sounds like the deal. I think Totem should rename them "Illegals" cams.

And what would happen if Totem submitted a patent for their "basic cams"?

Matt N wrote: Sounds like the deal. I think Totem should rename them "Illegals" cams. And what would happen if Totem submitted a patent for their "basic cams"?

That would depend on whether or not there was anything in the design that was patentable, and from the looks of it there isn't since they appear to be a copy of an existing, out of patent design. BTW, CCH's patents only covered the springs and sheath trigger; not the entire design.

Matt N wrote: Sounds like the deal. I think Totem should rename them "Illegals" cams. And what would happen if Totem submitted a patent for their "basic cams"?

This post is halarious since there is nothing preventing any company from making an alien knock off legally, and there is also nothing that would allow for a patent of something that is not new. The patents that CCH had expired years ago making any knock off legal at that point.

GrandeCorda wrote: Look at the strength ratings. 1000 lbs difference and lower on the new Green Green CCH = 2500 Green Totem = 1573 Yellow CCH = 2700 Yellow Totem = 2023 Red CCH = 2700 Red Totem = 2472

Neither strength rating nor quality control was a strong point for the original Aliens. Totem's ratings are probably just more realistic.

rgold wrote: Neither strength rating nor quality control was a strong point for the original Aliens. Totem's ratings are probably just more realistic.

On ST thread...
The Totem ratings are on CE test conditions (1/4 cam closure).
CCH Alien ratings are on 80% cam closure conditions.
That's the difference. - totem designer Mikel

See the video here
youtube.com/watch?v=KhiDrkp…;feature=youtu.be

kennoyce wrote: This post is halarious since there is nothing preventing any company from making an alien knock off legally, and there is also nothing that would allow for a patent of something that is not new. The patents that CCH had expired years ago making any knock off legal at that point.

I was going for an illegal alien reference. Missed it, I guess. Carry on.

I'm not sure that any of the supposed "improvements" totem is making are actually unambiguously better than the original design.

Now it's Fixe vs. Totem producing virtually identical products on paper. I wonder which is going to be more reliable?

I was kinda hoping they would show some whippers where the cam doesn't explode in that informational video. The guy placing gear started looking a bit shaky and I expected they were sending him to fall-city.

I was thinking the same thing when I watched it.

Jonathan Callahan wrote:I was kinda hoping they would show some whippers where the cam doesn't explode in that informational video. The guy placing gear started looking a bit shaky and I expected they were sending him to fall-city.

I think they had to edit out the whipper. When the head popped off the cam and he decked...