Offset aliens

Hi all, What size offset aliens do you find yourselves using, im looking at getting 5 out of the 6 set.

All of them . Can't go wrong with the set . Although I find I don't use the smallest one very often .

so bigger 5 sizes out of the six would be more useful or could i skip the smallest two sizes IYO? and if I were between these or the offset master cams but already had a set of tcu's what would u recommend? The mastercams are $47 a piece the aliens on special for $54, if someone could speak to what i should grab at this point in time the Ma dukes is ready to spend some fat coin for x mas and im trying to stock up on the good shit while the gettin is good, thanks all.

Depends what you need them for. Personally I would get doubles in normal (non-offset) small cams before I'd buy offsets. I have a set of mastercams 0-4 and a set of aliens black-gray. I think the aliens complement the mastercam (or TCU) sizes nicely. If you already have a silver (00) TCU I might skip the black alien and get a red one instead unless you climb a lot of really thin stuff.

If you already have doubles in small cams and want offsets for somewhere like Yosemite with lots of pin scars then the sizing recommendation would be the same (skip the smallest if you have to choose).

I've never used offsets in either but personally I tend to prefer my aliens over the mastercams. No real reason though just preference.

Hand.jammin wrote:so bigger 5 sizes out of the six would be more useful or could i skip the smallest two sizes IYO? and if I were between these or the offset master cams but already had a set of tcu's what would u recommend? The mastercams are $47 a piece the aliens on special for $54, if someone could speak to what i should grab at this point in time the Ma dukes is ready to spend some fat coin for x mas and im trying to stock up on the good shit while the gettin is good, thanks all.

Depends on where you do most of your climbing. Assuming you're asking about them because you climb in an area that favors offsets (J-Tree, Valley etc) then several CAN be useful. My thoughts:

-The Fixe Black/Blue size is a specialty piece IMO. Aid climbs and certain free climbs but because of its wider head width, its usefulness can be limited in shallow placements (where you often see tiny flares). That small and I often was using a DMM Peanut rather than the Black/Blue

- Keep in mind the Blue/Green has a wider head width than the others because it lacks internal springs.

-If you opt Fixe the Yellow/Grey and Grey/Red weren't original sizes. They were added after the fact when the Grey was really a hit (as it should be). I never really wanted the Grey hybrids though finding the original Blu/Grn, Grn/Yel, Yel/Red run fine for the vast majority of my needs. Up to you if you need those extra two cams.

- Consider the Totem Offset Basics as well. Totem tweaked the sizes slightly to eliminate the need for a grey size. They also developed the blue size with an internal cam spring so the Blu/Green Hybrid has the same narrow width as the larger offsets.

- If I were to give offset recommendations to a friend today I'd say get Totem Offsets B/G, G/Y, Y/R AND then get the BD X4 Offset .5/.75 due out this spring. I've often wanted one size LARGER Hybrid cam (much more so than the Black/Blue). The .5/.75 will be a nice extension on the top end.

I use the smallest one the least.

ok thanks for the feedback this is making my decision harder then i anticipated. I do have a full set of tcus to the smallest size and a full set of master cams to the smallest size, i wanna get the offsets precisely for climbing in the valley, josh, and tahquitz ive already encountered several situations where they wouldve come in handy. That said I am still relatively new to trad but while my mom is willing to drop some coin for x mas i wanted to stock up for future endeavors. it sounds like either way the smallest size is the least useful, but let me ask does anyone like the offset mastercams? they seem to have a good value right now or is that extra ten bucks well worth the aliens? or should i mix and match? thanks for the advice guys.

Don't mix and match. Offset cam placements are trickier than typical cam placements - important to get familiar with one manufacturers cams.

I have climbed the captain three times, and used both the Metolius as well as Alien offset cams. I have an allegiance to the Aliens, although the Mastercam offsets are also very nice pieces.

Climb on. Wally

also anyone have issues with lobes metal detiorating fastly ? or is this only if ur chris mcnamara and live on a big wall?

Get the blue/green, green/yellow, and yellow/red Totem Basics and maybe a black/blue alien. Then get doubles of the green/yellow and yellow/red
Nothing wrong at all with aliens, but the Totems have a slightly narrower head, are cheaper and just seem like an upgraded alien.

For granite finger cracks, the blue-black can often be placed in between your locks so that you don't hose yourself. I like that piece.

I'd get
blue-black
blue-green
yellow-green
yellow-red

They grey hybrids are a waste of time because you could probably fit a non-hybrid most anywhere that they would fit.