UKC

Assisted-braking belay devices are popular for indoor and outdoor sport climbing, adding extra braking in the event of a fall and for lowering off and top roping. In this comparative review seven of the currently available models go head to head.

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In reply to UKC Gear:

You probably didn't mean to say assisted "breaking" in the picture captions

In reply to UKC Gear:

https://www.alpinetrek.co.uk/mad-rock-lifeguard-belay-device/?aid=a1b9e1b75...

15% cheaper than Gri Gri, 10% lighter and less bulky

In reply to UKC Gear:

Bought a click-up based on your recommendation in a previous article - been very impressed with it.

In reply to UKC Gear:
What about the Edelrid Eddy? IMHO its better and more fool proof than the Grigri. Though heavier and looking a bit aged. (Like me).
The click-up flattens your rope and puts proper twists in it. Though agreed it works very well.

In reply to Ian Carr:
Yes I like the Eddy, smooth paying out once you get used to it and locks off at both ends of the lever range when lowering, so safer. However most people who've tried mine didn't like it as it takes a bit of getting used to, particularly as you belay back to front (dead rope comes out towards you). Very good once you've got used to it though.

In reply to UKC Gear:

For climbing wall and single pitch sports climbing use many people I know have switched to the click up. I like it too and may switch to is for sports use (I still use an old device as for trad). I've never got on with the gri gri.

In reply to UKC Gear:

Sooo... I love the info in that review, loads of it! Big thumbs up, can't stress that enough... but i'm suprised you didn't have that little madrock thing in there cause that feels pretty functional and light. (sorry i don't know what it's called)

I just have one question... why can't you call a gri gri auto locking? cause honestly... it is. Don't most of the problems with people f*cking up with gri gri's come from when there's a human touching one of them instead of letting the mechanism do it's thing? hence the over pull fail safe's in industrial equipment.

Where as the mammut thing I think (I'm that sure) is an assisted braker... well that's how it feels to me when i use it. Although maybe that is just because it looks like a device i need to keep my hand on. And maybe the click-up is an assisted breaker because it doesn't lock if someone falls while the belayer is paying out slack (doing the funny twisty payout movement), even if you pull the rope into the lock off postion after, it doesn't stop... my friend found out the hard way (yes belayer had lots of experience, blah blah blah).

Don't we have auto locking devices and assisted breaking devices and if the word litigation didn't exist we could all be passed on the information we require to understand the difference. Come on! Tuck your skirt in strap that gri gri on, get your mate up the wall, let go of everything, 'ave a big old lob and you'll all be fine. Dunno about the rest of 'em, i'd probably hold on... but i don't know... cause no one can every really tell me the real truth.

In reply to Skyfall:

I've never used the Click Up, but my experience of being belayed with it - by experienced people familiar with the device - was one of being constantly, brutally short roped. It seems to lock up rather easily and then be slow and fiddly to unlock. One of my regular climbing partners who had one has, to my considerable relief, switched to a grigri.

In reply to johnnytwo:

Most, sure, but not all. For example might not lock without a brake hand if it's loaded gently, as might happen if somebody clips then leans onto the rope rather than falling. Or in some weird orientations if you're using it for self protection on a fixed rope and you manage to fall upside down.

In reply to UKC Gear:

A small correction:-

"With conventional belay devices, the degree of braking applied during operation is almost entirely due to what position the braking rope is held in, and how hard it is gripped in the belayer's hand. An assisted-braking device is one that offers an increase in the braking action when the device comes under the sudden load of a fall, and may also have a lock to aid smooth lowering off."

Some of the devices provide a certain amount of braking but under higher forces the combination of the assisted braking and the manual braking is considerably less than one would achieve with a normal belay device.

In reply to johnnytwo:

>Don't we have auto locking devices and assisted breaking devices and if the word litigation didn't exist we could all be passed on the information we require to understand the difference.

We have manual assisted locking and manual belaying bevices, those are the two categories for certification. The test for the first category is hands-free locking and the standard for the others isn´ t.
The GriGri and Matik are the first category, the rest aren´ t.
Make of this what you wish

In reply to Misha:

Plus 1 for the Eddy, wish I had bought one instead of GriGri 2. I LIKE the Eddy handle being opposite direction, and it feels really robust.

Getting used to the GriGri slowly ("had to" buy one for CWA use).

In reply to AlanLittle:

My experience is the exact opposite. From my experience the GriGri locks up quicker (at least with the belayers I was with) than the Click-Up.

Some things that make a difference in my experience:
- If you hold the dead-rope on the Click-Up too tight it locks-up quick. Have a bit more slack in that hand and you'll be fine
-pay attention when belaying! (on both)

In reply to JR_NL:


I guess it all depends on how you use GriGri. I know it's not Petzl's recommended method, but I put thumb on the cam and index finger on the bottom part of grigri - I basically pinch it with these two fingers. That way I never let go of the dead end of the rope and grigri never locks up when giving slack.

In reply to Removed UserZebdi:

I never made friends with the GriGri so I never use it, but I guess both the GriGri and Click-Up have their own way of working with them and as long as you follow it it works fine.

In reply to UKC Gear:

I've been testing the GriGri plus and it's great except with kids on a fluffy centre rope. They're too light to lower without constantly going past the anti-panic mode on the handle so you need to override it all the time. With an adult weight it's perfect.