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8.9 mm rope: okay with Grigri 1?

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 ericinbristol 30 Mar 2012
I'm about to get a Mammut Serenity Superdry 8.9 mm single rope for redpoint attempts. What have people's experiences with such a skinny rope and the Grigri 1? I've got a Grigri 1 and would rather not spend on a Grigri 2. Guess I will find out shortly what it is like but I'd be interested to hear from others in the meantime. I know the Grigri 1 is not officially advised for use with skinny ropes.
 TobyA 30 Mar 2012
In reply to ericinbristol: People do use thinner ropes than recommended with grigris, but Petzl say don't and there's probably a good reason for it. The Serenity is much under the suggested size as well.

I have the serenity - it is a thin rope, I guess you won't be working anything with it - it won't last long if you do. So why not just get a cheap light grippy belay plate to use with it (if you don't have one already) for when you try to send? Use the grigri with your working rope. The ATC Sport is only 15 quid, weights next to nothing and is designed to hold skinny ropes as well as fatter ones.

Besides anything else, most people can feed for clips quicker using a reverso or ATC guide.
In reply to ericinbristol: Here I go again marketing for Mammut. Try the Mammut Smart. Cheaper, lighter and more intuitive to use than the GriGri. My 9. something or other handles like a dream with it and my friends were so impressed with it's handling that they bought one while were out in Orpierre last year.

Al
 AJM 30 Mar 2012
In reply to ericinbristol:

I've used a 1 with the Beal Jokers before and it works although it is pretty slick - you notice it very definitely when lowering. I think if I got something that thin my other half would probably request/require me to get a 2 with it for peace of mind...

Toby - can you really feed slack faster with an ATC? For me it's the grigri by a mile - you just yank an armful out and bingo!
 Kemics 30 Mar 2012
In reply to ericinbristol:

Belayed for sport with a 9.2 and a gri gri 1. Defnitely felt a bit slicker than when using old furry 10mm sport ropes but did work.
 TobyA 30 Mar 2012
In reply to AJM:

> Toby - can you really feed slack faster with an ATC? For me it's the grigri by a mile - you just yank an armful out and bingo!

Absolutely. My friend Tony - who I think you know through fit club? - has really got into redpoint quite hard, and when he is trying to redpoint I often pick my ATC guide over my grigri 1. I find it grabs when you try to pull through fast and I have to do the thumb on cam thing. Obviously when your mate is working the route and messing around for ages, the grigri is a godsend, but on an actual attempt I know I can do a better job belaying with an ATC.

I've only use a grigri 2 for a long weekend (actually mainly trad climbing - but granite cracks in Bohuslan, so sort of like sport and my friend also had a lovely new rope which was something like 9.4 mm. Together they were just perfect. Superslick feeding but always locked up when you wanted it too. Would like one but can't really justify the cost.

Another mutual mate of Tony and Me, Erik, has the Smart and really rates it. I've not tried it though.
 RBK 30 Mar 2012
In reply to ericinbristol: As above I've used a 9.2 with a Grigri 1 and whilst it was ok I wouldn't do it again. When 'locked off' the rope would actually creep very slowly through the device and lowering was ultra-slick. For actually holding a fall it's fine thanks to the shock loading but with more gradual forces you need to be very careful indeed. Essentially the whole thing is extremely unforgiving and a 'continental' approach to Grigri use could quickly give you a problem. Personally by the end of the week I was climbing much better back on a 10mm without the nagging worry!
 AJM 30 Mar 2012
In reply to TobyA:

Never met in person but yes - TonyB right?

I tend to use a thumb on cam approach but with the rope between the grigri and my hand so that whether I grip or let go it will still lock. Although with the Joker on either a 1 or 2 I didn't need to hold the cam down at all - super rope feeding! So tempted by an 80m super thin rope, may invest when I am in France...

Hope you're doing well. Bohlisan, incidentally, looks cool
 Quiddity 30 Mar 2012
In reply to TobyA:

> Absolutely. My friend Tony - who I think you know through fit club? - has really got into redpoint quite hard, and when he is trying to redpoint I often pick my ATC guide over my grigri 1. I find it grabs when you try to pull through fast and I have to do the thumb on cam thing. Obviously when your mate is working the route and messing around for ages, the grigri is a godsend, but on an actual attempt I know I can do a better job belaying with an ATC.

This used to be the case for me too. I think the thing that changed was the amount of time I spent belaying people onsighting and making RP attempts with my grigri 1 - you get slicker and slicker with it as you get used to the spring tension in the cam (a bit like getting used to how fast you can pull a car seatbelt without it locking) until you are able to yard out armloads of slack pretty much on demand without it locking up. I think the mechanics of it mean that I am now able to pay out slack faster than I used to be able to with an ATC. Definitely very knacky though.

I assume you are using the 'new grigri belay technique' as per this video? Means you can touch the cam with the thumb of your right hand while still holding the dead rope in that hand. Often the cam only needs the tiniest bit of pressure to make a big difference in pulling slack through.
youtube.com/watch?v=aSVchbjVKLE&
 TobyA 30 Mar 2012
OP ericinbristol 30 Mar 2012
In reply to all:

Thanks for the input. I won't be using the Serenity for working routes, that's for sure. I much prefer a fat rope anyway for working routes: so much easier to pull up on it. I've got an ATC-XP and a Guide, so that option's there. I have got so used to my GG1 that I feed out faster with it than my ATC-XP (as someone said earlier, it's a real knack), and I use the latest recommended technique which works a treat. As for a bit of slippage while lowering or slumping dejectedly onto the rope, that's fine with an alert belayer (I only have alert belayers) and anyway not that different from an ATC-XP (okay, a bit different but you know what I mean). So, looks like the GG1 will do, and get a GG2 if I feel like splashing out.
OP ericinbristol 30 Mar 2012
In reply to Gaston Rubberpants:

Interesting. Never tried the Smart but not a problem as I am a GriGri fan anyway. Also, it helps to use a belay device that everyone around me uses: means people are comfortable to share e.g. if someone forgets theirs.
In reply to ericinbristol: The other option is to buy a Petzl Freino krab - http://www.petzl.com/en/pro/special-aluminum-carabiners/freino.

They are a great bit of kit and make lowering on skinny ropes with an original GriGri dead easy and super safe.

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