much easier in my opinion for descending than the grigri and many other devices. you squeeze the the handle and it allows you to control the speed of your descent (you can get cooking on this thing if you're not careful, i don't mind it though). this is THE iconic caving device, and works extremely well in descent. not my cup of tea for ascending stuff though. overall, everyone needs one if all you do is cave or abseil. i've had good experience with mine.

I liked the stop descender it has pretty kewl features it has a stop latch and can hook onto a biner or snap onto a rope with ease. functionality of this piece of equipment seems flawless and i liked the lil diagram stamped into the side plate. always good to have a quick reference! as far as flaws there where a few things a didn't like. first i couldn't draw rope through the devise in reverse even after releasing all tension. the second is a fatal flaw if used with a biner and for some reason you must make an assent other biners attached to the harness can contact the locking devise creating a potentially dangerous situation. best bet always test your rig and work out bugs at low altitudes.