In reply to Steve nevers:
>...seems the main advantage with the larger Totems is the large holding angle for downward flared cracks & the placing of only one pair of lobes...
>
> Guess i'm placing asking two questions:
>
> 1)...
> 2) Are the Larger ones good, but are they more useful for Aid climbing rather than trad?
The main advantage of the (non-Alien) Totems is neither of the features you mention.
The main advantage is their significantly narrower head width. If you climb on rock with irregular features, then the Totems are going to fit places other cams don't.
The next principal advantage, if we can believe the Totem engineering analysis, is that the cams have a higher holding power in all rock, not just downward-flared cracks. If true, this would be particularly useful for limestone, which has often proved slick enough to make ordinary cams rather unreliable. (I'm not aware of any head-to-head tests of pull-out loads, either in a jig or in real rock).
The next advantage is that the Totems walk less than other cams. This is because the stems are more flexible, and because of a small amount of play at the head, and finally because the narrower head width makes for shorter travel if the cam does pivot.
Usability in downward flares and in two-cam placements is of most interest to aid climbers, although free climbers will occasionally find opportunities to use these features when no protection from other devices would be available at all, realizing however that their pro is marginal.
The main drawback is bulkiness on the rack. Again, free-climbers aren't likely to have enough cams for this to matter much, but for a big aid crack it is a consideration.
The next potential drawback is relative fragility, especially in horizontal placements, in which all those wires and springs are going to be loaded over an edge. It is hard to believe that a BD C4 or equivalent isn't going to be burlier. But so far, my Totems have held up extremely well, and I hear the same thing from other Totem users.
The final issue is the perception by some that the cam is too flexible. If you place your cams by ramming them into a crack without triggering them, then this will probably be true for you. But if you use cams the way they are supposed to be used, then it has never been an issue for me.
In answer to Question 2, the larger ones are arguably the best cams on the market for all types of climbing, free and aid, and are most definitely not specialized aid pieces.
