ATC-XP

IMO, everyone should learn on a non-assisted device first to build strong brake-hand-always-on habits, and then if assisted braking is desired, get a Grigri because it's more or less the standard ABD. I started on a BD ATC-XP, which worked very well. I would recommend a two-lane device, and to get a

Oh my God, I had this bullshit happen in real life. I was ice climbing (well, top-roping in the Ouray Ice Park) with my wife belaying me. Long story short, some dude walks by and accuses her of having an unsafe belay. In reality, she was properly using a BD ATC, but he insisted BD stopped selling th

I stick to screwlocks for basically all my carabiners (save for a couple small wiregates I have for clipping shoes/chalk to my harness). For a belay device, assuming it's an ATC style, get a round stock carabiner - ie it looks like it's made of a cylinder of metal instead of the flattened profile th

I reread you post and just wanted to add one little bit of rappelling advice. Generally, when rappelling into water, you will want to NOT use a friction hitch backup. Especially if it's moving water or if don't know how deep it is. Imagine floating in the cold water of Mystery spring trying to untie

Huh! TIL! My black diamond ATC-XP is much easier than my petzel grigri was