From sport cragging to multi-day ascents, the GriGri almost always plays a role. Still, this is the belay device that I (and my fellow testers) reach for most often. The GriGri 2 is also much more expensive than an ATC, although it’s almost always on sale somewhere. Like many aspects of climbing, it’s a trade-off. But it belays well from above, and multi-pitch is often where the GriGri’s safety and versatility really shine.
It does add a few ounces and require throwing an extra ATC on the back of your climbing harness. In practice, I think the GriGri is often still worth it as a multi-pitch belay device. To make matters worse, the GriGri is nearly double the weight of even the ATC-Guide. And if you like to belay with half or double ropes, you’re hosed.įor some climbers, that’s enough to count the GriGri out as a multi-pitch device. There’s one major disadvantage to the GriGri, and that’s its inability to handle more than one rope.
Atc guide rope plus#
Plus it just belays well, feeding slack smoothly and catching falls effortlessly. On epic days it’s a safeguard against mental fatigue. If the leader is hanging out projecting, it takes strain off the belayer. If he hadn’t been using a GriGri, his climber would have decked. But should something happen to a belayer - and despite our best efforts, things like rockfall happen - a GriGri won’t drop the leader.Ī friend of mine once got yanked into a roof while belaying a steep sport climb, leaving him concussed. Petzl is very clear that the GriGri should not be treated as a hands-free device, and it’s certainly not an excuse for shoddy belay technique. The great advantage of the GriGri over a tube-style device is assisted braking. The differences in score came down to which devices were most functional over the widest range of circumstances. Testers had their favorites, but all these devices are capable (and they’re all a massive improvement over a Munter or a hip belay). You’ll notice that the lowest scoring device in this review, the ATC-XP, still gets an award nod.
In the right circumstances, just about all of them excel in one way or another. Here’s an unusual confession: there’s a case to be made for all of these devices. The GriGri 2’s closest competition often comes from tube-style devices like the ones reviewed here - or its new-fangled sibling, the GriGri +. But the attempts always run into trouble at some point - the Trango Vergo has been plagued by recalls, and the Mad Rock Lifeguard didn’t quite match the GriGri’s usability. Other companies have been trying to match the GriGri’s functionality for years, and they’re getting closer. It brings an added level of safety while remaining versatile and usable. The GriGri 2 has been a leading device on the market for years, and for good reason.
The winner is a trusted classic: the Petzl GriGri 2. Belay devices are one of the central tools of climbing, so we took our six favorites to the cliffs for a showdown.
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