So, now, anyone that has aliens, has to share with their partner the detailed history of their aliens. "I bought mine in 1999, and the last time they were tested they were negative and that was six months ago, so, its safe"

Horse shit.

Camalots, 4CUs, 3CUs, Zeros, and Friends.

I agree with strat. It really doesn't matter when you bought your Aliens, if they've been fallen on, if they've been pull-tested by CCH, of if you trust them. CCH has shown repeatedly in the past two years that they have little or no concept of things like QA/QC, six-sigma, ISO9000, or public relations. There have simply been too many questions at this point. Even if you bought yours many years ago, remember that CCH knew even less about QA/QC practices then.

The best thing that can happen now is that a company who knows what they're doing buys the design and rights from CCH.

well i can tell easily by looking at the photos that unit seemed to be overheated at the braze joint where the cable was broken.

unlike the aliens (rockwell hardness dimples) which were braze failures due to cold braze joint from quenching. those had a nice clean smooth braze surface around the cable. this new failure has rough edges around the cable which went into the cable housing. the cable is in a cone shape which would be typical heat pattern using an induction unit.

2nd look at the photos looks more like a shallow cable placement in the housing

Actually, I was looking at the claim again;
Since January 2006 every main cable is tensile tested using an Omega electronic strain gauge to measure the load. The .33 through 1" main cables are tested to 1750 lbs and the 1.25 through 2.5 are tested to 2400 lbs. After testing they are stamped (Tested) on the cable eye to indicate the test was made. Ultimate strength of a 3/4 Alien is over 2700 lbs.

It doesn't say they test the actual cam, just the main cable. The pictures on the site show them pull testing strands of cable only, no cams. So what does the "tensile tested" stamp really indicate?

My concern now is that while I've fallen on many of my aliens, I've never taken the big one on them. Maybe I've been squeaking by... just under the threshold. The green, my favorite, is rated 9KN. How much have I really loaded it? Will it really hold 9KN, or fall apart at 5KN?

EXACTLY! That's why a post like Smike's- who claims that his has been tested- is so troubling. Tested under what conditions? 140 pound climber oozing onto a cam with a three foot slide/fall on 8mm doubles or 240 pound climber taking a 10 foot fall on an 11mm rope?

Alien lovers should just pray that Petzl licenses the Alien patents and puts them into production with real manufacturing standards. The only thing that CCH is doing by continuing to f this up is running down the value of their brand and probably the $ they can get for licensing the patents. Do they have patents?

Sam …ya of course Its not based on anything scientific.(and thank god its not based on my spelling) My post is that ‘my’ assumption on ‘my’ aliens is that I will continue to use them based on what I’ve seen them go through (which includes several whippers at 15’+ with someone a lot ‘larger’ then me). If someone doesn’t want to use them, no prob.

One thing is clear CCH is a Fu*# up as company in the way it has dealt with each situation (scary that its even more then one) I agreed 30000% that someone with the means to produce a trusted product (Petzl, BD, etc..) needs to come out with an equivalent or by the rights to the design and make it right)

Metolius, this Autumn.

Well, it might. If your Aliens were purchased when it was basically a one-man shop and that man knew how to braze and assemble a quality product.


Agreed. The issue of CCH being able to keep up with orders has been around long before we started seeing quality control problems. The former problem was almost sure to lead to the latter as long as CCH internal policies remained the same even though the company grew.

TS

The alien in that picture is brand new! For christ's sakes, it still has ridges on the lobes! You can't really trust your Aliens until you have fallen on them enough times to have smooth lobes. Does anyone else's Aliens look that clean and nice?? Look slike they took it off the rack, snapped the cable off it, and put a couple of burrs on the cams.