UKC

So the Beal Birdie, is it any good in a bellringing system or should I stick to the GriGri?

In theory they should be the same right? Looking to spend my xmas pennies on a new Birdie, but want to make sure it can do the jobs that I need it to do during my instructor sessions.

Has anyone used one during an instructor session in a bellring/group system, how did it hold up? Were there any weird quirks that made it different to a GriGri system?

Thanks in advance, Happy holidays all  

In reply to LewisFisher:

I've been wondering the same. In some ways it might be better because the rope is supposed to come straight out rather than over a friction plate. But I couldn't work out if you'd have enough friction with a bell ringing angle. If you do try it out could you let us know how you get on? 

In reply to LewisFisher: whats a bell ringing system? 

In reply to LewisFisher:

No idea about bell ringing but I've been using the birdie since last summer and much prefer it to a grigri for everything, 

In reply to wbo2:

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N65WVYeogO0/TTjDntcJtoI/AAAAAAAAAI8/RMJPnU36Dj4/...

In reply to LewisFisher:

I have had a Birdie for a year or so and really like it but there are several little quirks that I would say do not recommend it for group/beginner sessions.

The rope can flip around while lowering and I have found that the best 'deadhand' position to prevent this is either really close to the device wearing gloves or by creating a pulley by using a carabiner below . both require some experience and indeed the former method actually teaches bad practice for people using other belay devices. It can be very slick and unforgiving. My wife hates it! 

I originally bought it to enable my wife to pay out slack without the snagging that sometimes occurs with a grigri, but she never uses it, although I do like to belay leaders with it.

It is to be fair a well made piece of kit and at least here in France slightly cheaper than a grigri but not for group use. (Indeed is a grigri?)

by the way the pix is  from Cliff Lowther's Roxcool site  https://www.roxcool.co.uk/

In reply to LewisFisher:

If you're bellringing with a group, I'd be tempted to keep it as simple as possible, and that's just an ATC or similar plate.

In reply to LewisFisher:  thanks, I've done this for belaying a speed climbing comp. We used a gri gri and it was ideal

In reply to Jamie Wakeham:

I wouldn't use a standard friction plate - the orientation means you get almost no braking from it. 

I had a go using a BD Pilot for bell ringing the other day - it was good on the way up but quite slick on the way down so make sure you're tailing. 

In reply to AndyRoss:

Depends on the rope, and also the client weight needs to be taken into account.  With smaller children and fat (10-11mm) ropes with a reasonable amount of wear, an ATC is pretty much perfect.  I can see that with adults, or thinner/newer ropes, more friction will be needed.

In reply to Stairclimber:

Thanks for the advice! The bellringing system I am referring to would mean that I (the instructor) would be solely in control of the device and system during lowering, and so I don't think the lack of experience / bad practice would be too much of an issue for the group members.

The deadhand position however, is the worry I had with this piece of kit compared to the grigri, so thanks for the insight with that!