Smart 2.0

Most of the comments thus far aren’t aware of the differences between a standard ATC, and an ATC Pilot. You can’t go wrong with a grigri or Pilot but the Pilot is the better option for most first devices IMO. Unless you’re gifting it to someone. My recommendation is not as a former Black Diamond rep

There is no right answer because you are looking for an assisted belay device for the wrong reasons. The extra layer of assistance is a huge and non-negligible help for a person who can belay but is momentarily caught off-guard (not paying attention), incapacitated, or the situation escalates (eg a

Left handed belay instructor here… Like it or not, the industry is moving towards assisted breaking devices, so don’t buy an ATC. On toprope, you can actually apply some pretty slick left handed technique with a GriGri, but not so much when lead belaying. Any of the geometry assisted devices (BD Pil

I like the mammut smart 2.0. I think it's normally 50 bucks, but REI has it on sale etc. It has no moving parts in it but uses an interior pinching surface that interfaces with the rope and caribiner to assist lock if the rope starts feeding too quickly (someone is falling). With a single mechanism

This happened to me before - lowering a heavier climber and I got my hand stuck in the ATC and it was so painful. I got an auto braking device (Mammut Smart) which feels a lot like an ATC but has the auto brake similar to a grigri. I personally don't like a grigri because it is harder on lead belay.

edelrid pinch is another option for assisted braking that’s slightly more similar to a tubular device in rope handling things like the mammut smart system do some braking but is geometry assisted not cam assisted (or passive vs mechanical?), probably very familiar to tube style but some more assista

Yeah, silly me for not mentioning my belay device. I use Mammut Smart 2.0, from the manual it says: "To guarantee optimum functioning of the Smart 2.0, the use of a Smart HMS or a similar symmetrical, round-profile HMS carabiner is recommended." What bothers me here is the phrase "symmetrical, round

The standard advice is to “just get a grigri” since it is genuinely the best device for most climbers. It would help in answering if you shared why the grigri doesn’t work well for you. If it is range of motion for shovel feeding slack, then you may have to stick with unassisted devices like the rev

I have the Mammut smart and find it slightly better as it has break assist for a little extra peace of mind especially with weight differences. It doesn’t lock off like the grigri but works exactly the same as the ATC

I use a smart alpine, which is a twin-tube version of the Mammut Smart. There is an odd motion that you can do where the curve of the belay biner can bind in the device, locking it up and preventing rope from traveling in either direction in it. I think it is better to have the wider belly, as well