UKC

Was out the other day playing on a route by myself. Set up a top rope and climbed it usin a grigri to self belaying. I know this has been discused before, with the general idea being it is best to put a knot in the rope every so often as the grigri might not catch if you fall on it slowly. My question is, what is the chance of the device breaking? also how strong a is the plastic lever? Did not feel uber strong when I was lower down, might have been my overactive imagination thou!

In reply to Markwww: gri gris can be used as an autobloc method. providing that you have control of the dead rope at all times i see no need to tie any knots. if you need both hands then tie a knot.

im not sure how durable they and can only suggest that they are as safe as all other gear. personally i think all the conversation around the gri gri being potentially unsafe is because some people do not know how to use them correctly.

In reply to Markwww: I doubt Petzl have released information about breaking strength in the manner in which you are thinking (sliding down the rope and slamming into a knot you tied, presumably) as this is not the intended use of the piece of equipment so I think the only way to find out would be to test some grigris to destruction which I suspect is difficult, expensive and probably dangerous

I wouldn't worry too much about the plastic lever, if it does break the unit will function as normal and you can probably still get down by just pressing hard on the bit the lever attaches to. If in any doubt, try it without using the lever.

In reply to Markwww: Thanks for the advice. I thought I was safe, otherwise I wouldn't have been doing it, but there is always that nagging thought. Although I did not have one hand always on the dead rope! Do you realy need this?
Didn't think to use it without the lever! probably quite tricky as the device blocks off hard when I fall, being a slight fatty. Will try it next time.
Perhaps I should invest in one of these shunt/ascender type gadgets?

In reply to Markwww: Give me a call have a shunt in garage you can have a go with

In reply to Markwww:

even though it is a auto locking device i would not trust it completely. If you was to lean forward and catch the device therefore unlocking it you would ultimately lower very quickly if a knot was not there. i always use the same rule as for a prussik and this is to never trust a prussik.

A good habit to get into is to look at a particular system and think, "if this failed what would happen?" if its a dangerous outcome then i would highly recommend that you introduce something into the system to reduce the severity or to simply backup the system. obviously climbing is a dangerous sport regardless, and everything done should be realistic. if you backed up everything then you would have an enormous rack and spend most of your time setting up.

use your common sense.

regards

In reply to dbell67: Cheers, was not planning on climbing much though in the next couple of weeks, what with exams looming! Then back to Edinburgh. Was doing Goodnight Irene - did it clean! The E5 variation on the other hand was a whole different kettle of fish!

In reply to shkinitrep: Totally agree with what you are saying. Will be making slight adjustments to my setup next time. I tend to spend a fair amount of time backing things up, the result of playing the what if game too much! Like you say common snse needs to prevail. Thanks

In reply to shkinitrep:

If I'm doing this I put a clove hitch on my belay loop under the gri gri and keep adjusting it. This is both a back up should the gri gri blow (although I have never heard of this happening) and will lock the gri gri off should the caming action not do it.

In reply to nikinko:

I'm planning using some of my 'no partner' time more wisely by looking at some routes. I'm not going to call it headpointing but more like just getting time with hands and gear on rock.
I was planning using the gri gri on the belay loop and then a shunt above it on a sling.

In reply to nikinko: yeah thats ok, bit of a pain i imagine having to adjust the clove hitch all the time. each person has their own preferences i suppose.