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By Shane O'Donnell Ranked #156 - Belay and Rappel Devices May 10, 2010

I learnt how to belay on a BD ATC on a climbing trip to Jasper, and there is a reason that it has a 5 star rating with 40-odd reviews. It is essentially idiot proof. It feeds the rope as good as any other tube device, brakes as hard as it needs to be, and offers a relatively soft catch overall. The finish is very durable, holding up against scraping on the rock and general mountain tomfoolery, but the rope channels finish rubs out quickly. Extremely simple to set up for a rappel, I also learnt how to rappel on one of these. I have moved on, preferring a GriGri since I climb primarily sport, and bionking my partner back up to his bolt is a lot less work. But that doesn't mean that the ATC is off my harness. I keep it with me at all time, and use it frequently for rappelling and to belay to keep my technique up to snuff.

This is highly recommended as a stepping stone for beginners. Buy an ATC, and after you are competent enough on it, then you can decide to move to something else that could make your belay easier for you, or stick with this classic.

View Details: Black Diamond ATC Belay Device

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