Jul 2

The edelrid jul² is way cheaper than a Grigri. You dont need 12 quick draws and you can share then anyway. Same for the rope. Isnt there Indoor climbing in the US? Here in Europe you wont need quickdraws or ropes because they are provided by the hall or can be rented out.

Steel vs aluminum, so this is quite normal. I use a steel carabineer with the jul2, my partner uses one of those edelrid carabineer with a insert. That seems to work too, no wear at all. If the carabiners geometry doesn't fit the Jul, it can easily dent it like in you picture, steel is way harder th

Edelrid's Jul family is The Way. Jul 2 is single strand, and shares geometry with the dual strand Mega Jul. These tend to give the best lockup with most ropes, but it depends a lot on the carabiner, too. Skinnier biner stock tends to lock up tighter, but I get good results with an Edelrid Bulletproo

Edelrid Bruce for the mega jul 2, any small offset D for the Grigri. You do not want to use an HMS. Petzl suggests the sm'd

i agree in principle but with a few caveats. in recent years the grigri has become sort of the defacto standard in a lot of places, and you may find that potential partners are more comfortable being belayed on grigri, especially by a newer belayer. many gyms require it. on a personal note i wouldnt

If you only ever plan to do single pitch climbing with anchor hardware, it's fine. Very similar to the Ederlid Jul2, Ocun Bow, and Mammut Smart. However Petzl Grigri or Edelrid Pinch are better at locking off the rope if your partner is projecting and hanging lots, or if you have a weight difference

It’s not the tools fault. You switched to a new device that you’re not used to and now you’re having problems because you’re either not trained or not practiced enough with it. Don’t blame the tool, especially when you’re a new user of it. FYI, I proficiently use a Mammut SMART, Edelrid Jul2 and Gig

My current gym requires some level of assist (even with top rope which is 99% of what I do) so I can't use my ATC. I don't love my GriGri as a leftie. Briefly tried an Edelrid Jul 2 and that seemed comfortable though I wondered if the way it works to break also eats away at the carabiner. If you hav

What's your favorite for top rope? My current gym requires some level of assist (even with top rope which is 99% of what I do) so I can't use my ATC. I don't love my GriGri as a leftie. Briefly tried an Edelrid Jul 2 and that seemed comfortable though I wondered if the way it works to break also eat

I think a lot of dislike for the grigri from people who originally learned to lead belay on an ATC comes from just not having enough practice with it to belay smoothly. I was a grigri hater for years (used an edelrid jul 2 as my ABD for a long time) and have switched to the grigri as of a couple yea