Gear Review
Black Diamond ATC Belay Device
Great For Beginners
By Eric McCammond
Ranked #73 - Belay and Rappel Devices
October 31, 2008
I just started climbing fairly recently. I took a belaying course where we were taught belaying with a Grigri. I personally did not like the Grigri as it takes quite a bit of time to get a feel for it and accurately control descents. So, when I bought my own gear, I followed alot of online advice and purchased this. I use a 10.5mm rope and this works great. Secure and easy to control; I can't imagine a better set-up to learn on. I've taught a couple of friends with this device and they like it too. I think it says alot when I trust this device in the hands of a rookey belaying partner while I'm hanging from the wall. Plus it weighs almost nothing compared to other devices.
View Details: Black Diamond ATC Belay Device
Helpful Votes: 2 Yes
Change me.
1 Comments Last Reply: November 9, 2009 By: Paxton
While i won't use a Gri-gri, I don't have any problem with it except for this: some of the most dangeous behavior I have seen climbing was climbers who learned how to belay with Gri-gris and could not use an ATC properly. I'm talking about belayers taking their brake hand off of the rope. Eric of course I'm not saying this is you, but your review made me think of this. Gri-gris work great in the gym and in SOME straight-up sport climbing situations, but once you get into the real world, i.e. multipitch climbing, any place you might possibly have to rappel, or even if you need to borrow a belay device and surprise! everyone has ATCs, you have to actually belay instead of letting the device do it for you. In my opinion, everyone should learn how to belay with an ATC, then move on to fancy automatic devices when they have the technique down. Teaching someone to use only an automatic belay device then turning them loose in the hills is a recipe for disaster.
Helpful Votes: 2 Yes