ATC or Grigri? #climbing #belaying

[kieranmoore]

You said that a GriGri automatically brakes the decent. This is incorrect. It is an assisted braking device.

[metaller]

Never say that a Grigri is automatically breaking.
It's not.
With new and/or thinner ropes (still well within the specs of the device) it will only lock as long as you hold the rope safely in your hand.
And especially new climbers/belayers tend to let go of the rope to grab it closer to the device to pull more rope through.
Go watch Hard is Easy 's Video on that topic

[kidi]

Safety is priceless.
Grigri is not foolproof, true. But anyone can and will make mistakes. When that happens - when your belayer gets distracted, gets slammed into the wall or takes a hit on the head from a falling stone - one of these devices has a decent chance to save your life, the other is guaranteed to fail.

Human error is almost always the #1 cause of accidents, even in the most safety aware fields. Always assume people will make mistakes and give yourself as many safety nets as possible.

Finally, the gri gri can fool people into a *false* sense of security. It can make you feel like it will always catch, and you're holding the rope for the protocol. If you feel like your belayer is one of them: the solution is to either educate them or stop climbing with them. I'd definitely won't feel safer if someone like this was belaying me with an ATC instead of the GriGri.

[stsam]

Assisted breaking this is a REALLY important distinction

[heroncrofts]

I worked at a climbing summer camp for kids and the thing I noticed most was that the ATC was better for belaying kids because it's easier to feed the rope through when they're too light to come down easily, I prefer the grigi for anyone more adult sized

[samsondrake]

You totally forgot rappelling on the atc. And also the Gri Gri generally teaches bad habits like not keeping your hand on the brake, because if/when someone goes outside and they have a smaller rope it’ll potentially slip right through the Gri Gri.

[thomasprior]

It comes down to preference. I'm more than familiar with both devices and own both. I will generally use an atc for just about everything however on occasion a grigri is pretty nice when your heavy friend is projecting a route and sitting on every clip. Sometimes I just feel like Belaying on the grigri but generally the atc is first and I only use the grigri if I have a specific reason. However if there's anyone particularly new to climbing and I don't have a backup belayer I'll teach them on a grigri due to the redundancy of the assisted locking system assuming they keep hold of the dead end

[bercast]

The better belay device is the one you master the most

[jimmylovescake]

I had both, preferred the ATC as a trad climber because of the weight. On my experience GriGri are not fail safe and allow poor belay technique.

[Dualbarley]

Just get a hybrid. Black Diamond Atc-Pilot. Absolute dream to belay with. And super safe. I ones made an error, were i had too much slack in the brake hand.
The Black diamond one just blocked instantly. Without me putting tension.
Soo nice

[pedrohack]

assisted breaking tubular devices are the best. Black diamond pilot is so easy to use and safe

[theicechinchilla]

Higher belaying fatigue my ass. There is no resistance when you're belaying someone up. I always feel the grigri adds a level of friction when you're pulling out slack. There's also zero effort involved in holding someone in the break position.

[OutdoorSpice]

Grigri and Megajul for life. After dealing with fall an 10 meter. I prefer not dying bc of human belaying mistake without any back up breaking system.

[idiotsandwich]

I normally used an ATC but my friend bought a grigri. It looks nice and all but in the beginning, there’s a new learning curve in how to use it. Also, its not 100% self breaking.

[George-nxzu]

ATCs are now completely banned at the Cliffs LIC (soon to be Movement) gym near me in Queens

[razarraz]

I prefer gri gri for general climbing and rope work, not lead climbing.

I know the gri gri is not 100% going to catch a falling climber, but I prefer having even a 10% more chance to be caught than just hitting the bottom on a non assisted breaking device like a bug

[CaptainFlips]

It's a tough one for me. I prefer the consistency of an ATC. The simple design makes lead climbing a lot less cumbersome and it's easier to opperate with older or thicker ropes. That being said, when your partner is working on their project for 20-30 minutes, you really don't want to be holding them up for half that time. And in that kind of scenario, loosing focus is easy and human, having a GriGri (or similar) do most of the job for you is a big plus in safety. I just got myself the Edelrid Pinch. It seems like a better and more reliable (and thus less agressive) approach to the GriGri design, even if just slightly. I'll have to test it out some more and see.

[adammcneill]

the grigri is an "assisted breaking device" not automated

[gladperson]

For something that can be life or death don't cheap out

[jacechristian]

I don't trust the grigri. I feel like it has been overly marketed for beginners and as others have mentioned may teach bad habits. I know a few people my age who had severe injuries while climbing and all of them were the result of a grigri, either a mechanical malfunction, or belayer error. I won't be belayed on a grigri especially by someone who tells me it's "automatic" because it's not. It's an assisted braking device. I would much rather give someone a quick lesson on using an ATC before they belay me, even if they have never used one before.