UKC

Hi,

I've had one of these for a month now and I'm well impressed. The small wiregate holds the carabiner nearly on your belay loop and it's really quick and easy to clip in and out.

I think it's a lot better than those ones with the plastic that clips across the middle.

http://www.rockrun.com/rock-climbing/hardware/carabiners/edelrid-hms-strike...

In reply to treforsouthwell:

I had one too, but got rid of it - I found it too small for trad climbing. great for indoors, but not so good outside. The anti-rotation 'gate' did work well.

In reply to treforsouthwell:
These seem to work pretty well for about half the weight
http://dmmclimbing.com/products/phantom-screwgate/

In reply to treforsouthwell: If you want a dedicated belay krab like that which can't cross load (and is ideally suited to climbing wall use) and are willing to pay a premium for it, then I would have thought a BD Gridlock Magnetron would be the option of choice.

In reply to treforsouthwell:

I've used a DMM Belaymaster at the wall for some time now but outside I found that the plastic clip was liable to getting pulled off the krab during a climb, so I switched to the Black Diamond Gridlock when it came out and I really like it.

In reply to treforsouthwell:

Ahem, got one for sale (see FS forum), if no luck will use it in time to repkace DMM belay master. Think they both work well indoors. DMM one can be a pain for trad/half ropes...but then you can pull off the plastic bit, replace it later.

In reply to The Ex-Engineer:

I think I prefer a normal crab shape to the gridlock as it looks awkward but I haven't tried it myself.

In reply to LizS:

I've used a belay master fir several years now and don't think I've ever had the clip come undone during a climb, indoors or out. To the OP, where the Belaymaster is better than the Edelrid IMO is that it 'tells you' if the screw isn't done up, since you can't close over the plastic clip unless the locking 'nut' part is fully screwed up. Badly explained but I'm sure you get the picture.

In reply to Fraser:

I've got the belaymaster and the slider version of the Strike HMS http://www.edelrid.de/en/sports/hms-strike-slider-fg-oasis.html The belaymaster is super safe for the reason you state, but it can be extra faff, particularly when you're tied into double ropes and there is a a lot going on down there. The Strike I guess is marginally less secure but less hassle. For winter climbing I tend not to use either of them, as the plastic bit (belaymaster) or the metal bit (Strike) on those two are both a hassle with gloves on.

In reply to TobyA

Gridlock, complete pain in backside

More generally

Is cross loading actually that problematic?, only references to problems, I can find, involve fig 8's

Phantom screwgate whopping 9 kn across gate, no expert but understand that's nearly a tonne force, sufficient to blow other bits of the safety chain.

In reply to TobyA:

Fair points re the faff of the Belaymaster. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever used one with twin ropes!

In reply to Fraser:

The Strike seems fine with twin ropes, after all the ropes are going through the wider part at the top. The only hassle is if you want to belay from the fig-8 loop bringup up the second as both ropes only just fit under the wiregate clip.

Honestly I'm not worried about the cross loading, it's more that isn't nice not to have to keep re-orientating your belay device when you are belaying from below.

In reply to TobyA:

Do you feel happy using the slider for a belay krab? I've got a couple of the smaller sliders, and use them for clipping the gear when building belays, but keen to know how you feel about using it in a situation where there's no redundancy, like the belay krab.

In reply to John Kelly:


Personally I found that using a DMM Sentinel the krab would nearly always rotate. Not too much of an issue sport climbing, but using double ropes on trad I found belaying to be quite jerky, and awkward.

I now use a Grivel Clepsydra (http://www.grivel.com/products/rock/carabiners/30-clepsydra_k10g). It's relatively cheap, always locked, and the gate makes sure it doesn't rotate.

In reply to John Kelly:






The main reason for using this type of karabiner is when belaying with things like the Magajul, ClickUp etc, if the karabiner rotates the blocking mechanism is prevented from working. and you get virtually no braking effect.

In reply to jimtitt:
The main reason I use a Belay Master for single pitch sport and a CT Concept for trad is that, if anything goes wrong because of the krab, it is the person you are belaying that suffers.

So it is selfish / (insert other words ) not to use the best available, even if it is a bit of extra hassle.

13.16 edit for grammar

In reply to John Kelly:



Disagree. The least faff-y of all the systems and the one I've got is still going after about 1000+ pitches worth of belaying. Can't fault it.

In reply to jimtitt:

I've tried mega and micro jul with a range of ropes and biners, not convinced but completely missed this way of failure, my error.

In reply to RyanOsborne:

My thoughts are you can forget to do a screwgate up, even worse the screw can be 'up' when the gate isn't closed thus stopping the krab from closing at all. Of course that should never happen just as long as you check, but I guess it does happen occasionally. So the Slider mechanism might not be a strongly closed as a screwgate, but it closes every time automatically which a standard screwgate doesn't. Swings and roundabouts etc.

In reply to Rick Graham:

Agree you should use best available, we just differ in our opinions, to be fair not tried CT kit

In reply to John Kelly:


I hate belay krabs rotating.

Tried the BD and DMM captive offerings, did not get on with the BD.

CT were the first manufacturer ( I think ) to produce a HMS with the extra gate , genius.

In reply to Rick Graham:

i'll have to give it a whirl - the captive biner seems sense, i just haven't found a system that suits me

In reply to John Kelly:

try the CT Concept. It'd fantastic. I think, as Rick says, that it was the first on the market. only issue is the screw on the gate that can stick once in a while. Maybe try then Edelrid Strike. It looks nice and is cheaper than the Concept