What’s the status/trustworthiness of fixe aliens?

As the title states-are standard fixe aliens good to use or should I stick with x4’s?  I love aliens and love the old design but have heard they aren’t the most reliable  even with fixe manufacturing them. Thanks!

Not interested in the new mastercams-I like a thumb loop.  

Your solution is the Totem Basics hands down.

Totem basic.

Aliens rock, don't worry about a thing!

They're great until they explode. But don't count on Fixe to stand behind their products, the customer services is fucking bullshit. Totem basics have had fewer manufacturing issues but are currently on recall. But at least you can count on Totem to stand by their products.

I don’t want gear that “could explode” or that are having recurring recall issues- Guess I’ll have to stick with x4s.  Bummer.   Not that x4s are bad-just wanted to get aliens again.

Fixe Aliens are my go-to for small cams. I regularly take falls on them and other than the soft lobes mushrooming (part of the design), they've been great. I will say that I've broken trigger wires on two cams that are about a year old. Grinding through offwidths is probably the culprit. I use and abuse my cams so if you're regularly falling and hanging on Fixe's version you might be replacing them after two- three seasons. I can't speak for the longevity of other brands but I've climbed with the Totem Basics and they seem to be of high quality IMO. 

I'm looking forward to the day that one of my Fixe or CCH Aliens explodes / otherwise fails catastrophically. Should be exciting. I also have some Totems, and they haven't exploded yet either.

akafaultline wrote: I don’t want gear that “could explode” or that are having recurring recall issues- Guess I’ll have to stick with x4s.  Bummer.   Not that x4s are bad-just wanted to get aliens again.

For what it's worth, x4s were reputed to occasionally explode several years ago. Honestly I would probably feel equally confident climbing above an x4 or a totem basic, although I prefer regular totems or my WC zeros in the smaller sizes. 

Love aliens. Don't love Fixe. Totem Basic.

They dicked me when I had a product issue. I sold the rest of mine. Fuck them.

John Wilder wrote: I thought Totem had put production of the Basic on hold since their recall?

As much as I like the aliens and climb on my old ones regularly, between the Totem recall and the Fixe recalls, not to mention the original CCH recall, I just can't in good conscience recommend buying them. Too many manufacturing issues for my taste.

Oh, didn't even know there was a recall! Looks like mine are not in the recall date range... whew! I love my basics.

I have the Fixe Alien Revolutions and love them so far. I use both the x4's and aliens. I haven't whipped on them yet but I did weight the black alien once to see if it would hold and it did no problem. I would trust the black or blue alien over the .1 and .2 x4, but the .3 x4 is pretty bomber though. Also, the heads are slightly smaller on the aliens so they will fit in more restrictions than the x4's. Fixe's customer service does suck but the new Revos are good quality and seem durable so far. My only gripe with the aliens is that they hang slightly lower on my harness then the other cams. I had ordered through campsaver and had them check the cams before sending them out to make sure there weren't any manufacturing issues beforehand.

Skip the fixe aliens.   Buddy had a new alien fall apart after being placed like twice with no falls.....   They are not doing anything about it.   Dangerous.

Why doesn’t fixe address this issue. I’d buy totem but it seems like they are out of stock everywhere-so fixe is the only option.  Is totem going to start being available again?

eli poss wrote:

For what it's worth, x4s were reputed to occasionally explode several years ago. Honestly I would probably feel equally confident climbing above an x4 or a totem basic, although I prefer regular totems or my WC zeros in the smaller sizes. 

X4's never exploded as you put it. Every single one was user error.

rocknice2 wrote:

X4's never exploded as you put it. Every single one was user error.

ah okay. thanks for that clarification. 

You could always get the few years old mastercams (still new in stores) with the thumb loop and re-sling then for cheaper than new x4’s. I dig my mastercams quite a bit and actually traded the only x4 I ever bought.

Maybe I had traded it on superstition but I just did not trust that cam as much as the dollar sign told me I should

unlike fixe, totem admits when they have a problem and recall their product. recalling products is a sign of a good company, not the other way around.  still waiting on that black totem basic though...

Jake Thomson wrote: unlike fixe, totem admits when they have a problem and recall their product. recalling products is a sign of a good company, not the other way around.  still waiting on that black totem basic though...

So is this really still an issue with the newer Fixe Aliens? Saw some reviews from Jam 2018, and they loved them. 79 rating comparing to 70 for x4’s. Pretty thorough one from Outdoor gear lab. 

Totem basics seem to be done and over with. Nothing for over a year from them.