UKC

I recently bought some Alien Cams and was using them yesterday. I noticed that the shape of the trigger wires (with a bend in them) meant that I couldn't slide the tiny black cam into a sort of passive keyhold slot placement. When I got down from the route I found that only the smallest two sizes have this bend in the trigger wires, the larger size (and I assume other larger sizes) do not.
I played around but couldn't really see a good reason for this bend. If it were removed, the area behind the retracted cam lobes would be narrower, allowing a greater variety of placements.

The only reason I could think of for it being there is that it increases the mechanical advantage in retracting the lobes with the trigger. Is this why they are designed like this? It seems kind of surprising because I woudl have thought that even without the bend, pulling the trigger back would not be particularly difficult.
Has anyone tried straightening out the wires to see what happens?

In reply to henwardian:

Which aliens?

Pictures?

What do you mean by passive keyhole cam placement?

In reply to henwardian:

I see what you mean...

I doubt removing the bend will do anything other than weaken the trigger wire.

Are you sure you should be using Aliens in a passive way? I didn't think they were rated that way?

In reply to Smelly Fox:
I don't think they are. Can you explain to me.

Edit: Nevermind I don't have a set so I don't understand

In reply to FreshSlate:
If you had one in front of you it would make sense, a little hard to explain otherwise. Henwardian's explanation was no better than I could do.

In reply to Smelly Fox:

As far as I was aware Aliens do not have the wee stops on their lobes (as for example camalots do) and therefore are not rated for passive placements.

In reply to Smelly Fox:



There have been a few failures that way, where the cams inverted and the placement popped out. Definitely not recommended on a cam without cam-stops, and i would even think twice on one with them.

In reply to henwardian:

Sorry, can't put photos on right this moment.
Can try explaining the placement better though:
The slot was horizontal on the cliff and open at one end. The back of the slot was wider than the front. My plan was to pull back the cam lobes and slip it into the slot sideways (place it horizontally). It didn't work because the trigger wires would not pass by the narrower opening of the slot. The intention was not so much to use the cam purely passively but to have it placed with the lobes retracted (active) with the additional reassurance that even if the active nature of the placement failed, the cam could not come out of the front of the placement. I do quite like placing cams in constrictions because it makes me feel safer

A micronut might have fitted in the placement if I had messed about it a bit more.

In reply to henwardian:

Yep that makes more sense

Let me know how bending the wires back to straight works out for you, but I probably wouldn't bother. I've had my blue and black aliens for about 10 years now and never seen this as a problem before...

I'm sure if you really had to use a small cam rather than a nut in this kind of placement, you could just force it in at the time. Th wires aren't that stiff.