UKC

I bought a new atc it was a bacsic cheap thing 'wild county vc pro II' , when im belaying with 10mm rope it jams up alot / locks when i lift up the free rope to bring through the excess from the climber. Its like the 'v' cut on it combined with the groves/ridges/friction is way to narrow . Its bad when the climber has proceeded like one meter and im still banging the atc to stop it locking instead of getting rid of the slack lol... I guess the question im asking is ...

Is this a common thing with a model like this ? Is it that this model is for thinner rope ? Is there anything i can do to stop it ? should i just chuck into the unused pile?

I payed like £20 for it lol ??

Should i use static to they have this problem with jamming up rope?

Is this just a atc (wire style) problem in general ?

In reply to redline161: climbing wall ropes are notorious for sticking...can you use it the other way up to reduce friction [read the instruction leaflet!! don't just try it!]

sometimes they take a little while to get used to

In reply to thin bob: Yeav ive tried it reverse works better for the abseil , and works good for belaying but if it locks up when using it reverse its worse lol , doesnt happen as often but its harder with one hand to hit it out lol :p .... got any suggestions for a good static atc ?

In reply to redline161:
I bought an vc pro (it's not an atc) and yes it does jam and I don't use it. I was told testerday that this is a common problem and that the atc (black diamond) version is much better.

jb.

In reply to John Mcshea:

Love your pics btw.

jb

In reply to redline161: Yeah, of get rid of the vc pro and get a black diamond atc or a dmm bug.
We had a few vc pro's at work and the retaining wire loop on the bottom came out on one side too. Never seen this happen before even in centre use of other brand belay devices, so not a good sign!

In reply to redline161:
I've got a VC Pro II as well (note, it's not an ATC!) and only use it for skinny ropes (8mm) as with anything fatter it jams all the time. Even with skinnies it jams occasionally.

In reply to Toreador: Thanks every1 for replys !! , Why is it not a ATC? lol can you tell im still a young gunn at this haha :p ( got my own stuff though and im doing oki =) ) .. as i said on yoututbe i seen a static belay device , no wire just like one mold of metal ? can any1 suggest a good one of these ? Thanks Ryan

In reply to redline161:

ATC is a registered trade name for the Black Diamond belay devices (it stands for Air Traffic Controller).
About the only one-piece plate I can think of off-hand is the Omega Pacific one which will be hard to get in Europe.

In reply to jimtitt: Woow never knew that lol , you learn something everyday :p thanks ... ahh oki ill look out for that online see if i can find something , dont see too many people using figure '8' belays (indoors im sticking too atm) why is this ?

In reply to redline161:

Figure of 8s are quite slick, and also have a habit of kinking ropes. Most people don't use them these days as they are big and bulky compared to something like an ATC. Also, some walls don't allow them.

As for your original question - my VC Pro is very 'jammy' when top-roping on a tight rope, but is genearally ok when lead belaying. I thought they had fixed the problem with the VCProII, but clearly not. I have found the the reverso range from Petzl and the ATC range from Black Diamond all work perfectly.

In reply to redline161:

Fixed indoor wall ropes get into an awful sticky state.

Read the instruction leaflet with your VC, there's more than one way to use it. There are also some tricks like using an extra krab that can help (more for abseiling than belaying) with general handling of the device and adjusting the friction. Again some reading/instruction is a good idea and you should be aware your local wall may object to anything but 'normal' use. Even just a little detail like knocking/lifting it up off the krab with your free hand each time before paying out or taking in can make a big difference to how a device works.

jk

In reply to jkarran:

With the VC pro, putting an extra krab between the device and the belay krab stops it locking (but might get you some funny looks). In general though, a bit of care in use is usually ok - the realy key is to avoid locking the device off too tightly unless you really need to, and being aware that you have to 'unlock' the device physically after holding a fall.

So, you can work with it (and I still use mine) but there are better devices out there that don't require all this faff.

In reply to Monk: Thanks for awsome responses , when i got tonight or tomozzo i wont lock down so much then , and if the climber falls ill bring the rope out of the 'V' , Im really interested to know if the non wire / plate belays do this (static or whatever there called) , because you wouldnt have the belay moving up when you bring the rope through ?

In reply to jkarran: I might get a more reliable belay device either the ATC range or the petzl reverso then use that device different ways etc , as i said ill try out some new tactics tonight with this and if it doesnt work out ill buy a ne wone :p

In reply to redline161:
I'd reccomend looking at something from the black-diamond atc range. I has the same frustrations as you with a frience wc device but my ATC-XP has allways been perfect, I have used a standard atc too which was fine.

In reply to redline161:

I've got a vc pro and it's such a common problem they should have been taken off the market and made better (how fecking difficult is it to make a tuber?).

In reply to winhill: I know ! , I dont want to sound really stupid but imagine if your using the vc pro and your climber is up i dunno a good 100 ft theres wind , exposure etc .. and it jams up and your climber is about to jump or keeps going and does another 3 meters b4 he can hear you... if he falls it could be that unnecessery extra risk , im sure people have used this outside so if it jams and your climber cant hear you shouting etc its a bad situation lol .... ( this more applies to top roping ) ... i think ima buy the black diamond range every1 seems to have positive feedback for them =).. Thanks btw poeple for all your great responses

In reply to redline161: I wouldn't put another krab in it as this can increase the friction and make the problem worse (try it first though). the easiest solution is to just lift the belay device up from the krab when it sticks.

In reply to redline161:

The Slots in the VC pro II are marginal smaller then the one in the ATC & XPC. So jam a lot on indoor ropes that are thicker for durability.

If you can get yourself a XPC, which look amazingly similar to the VC Pro but so much better, or get one made by Petzl.

As long as your climber is a few meters off the deck and the rope is not been stepped through; if they fall they will be fine as they will fall quite far but will be similar to a lead fall.

In reply to higherclimbingwales:

That depends on the orientation of the krab - putting the second krab in exactly the same place as your first krab increases the friction, but putting the second krab perpendiclar to the first prevents the locking - it's a bit like the krab that goes through the ropes when using a reverso in guide mode.

In reply to redline161:

pain in the ass. ditch it and get a reverso.

somethings are not that important, but belay devices are.

In reply to redline161:


I use an old-school unsprung Sticth, something that is nearly unusable if you're used to modern slick plates but with the right handling it's fine.

jk

In reply to redline161: Thanks all for your awsome feedback bought myseld the black diamond ATC sport and the ATC-XP ... feel free to check out my new fourum about new climbing shoes need feedback again lol thanks !!