Aptly Named

By Andrew McLean Ranked #113 - Belay and Rappel Devices November 1, 2010

An improvement on the standard ATC, but also requires a bit of thinking. I belayed two following climbers with this the other day which was pretty cool, but something I seldom do, but I could see how it would be very useful for guiding, which is perhaps why it is called the "ATC Guide." To set it up for two followers requires that it is hung from the anchors (not your harness) and it needs to be at an appropriate height, or it is difficult to feed. Standing on a ledge with the ATC at chest level is ideal. If it is lower or higher, it can be difficult to feed. On my first belay I accidentally fed the rope in backwards and although it still worked, it was obviously hard to feed in/out rope (the notches grab). I got it right on the second belay and the beauty of the device became apparent - you can belay two climbers on two different diameter ropes and lock either one off while still reeling in the other. Pretty cool. For belaying a leader, you need to change it over from the anchors to your harness like a regular belay device and of course, you should only be belaying one leader at a time.

The ATC Guide also works well for rappelling with different sized ropes.

The beauty of this device is that you can almost climb as fast with three people as with two because both followers can come up at the same time.

View Details: Black Diamond ATC Guide

Helpful Votes: 0 Yes