Smart

I think one of the, if not the safest, device now is the Mammut smart 2.0 + smarter addon. It is easier to learn than the grigri and therefor way less prone to user error and it is my go-to device when I am teaching new people how to belay.

This might be straying a bit from the OPs original question, but in the interest of adding nuance I feel like it is worth mentioning that not all ABDs are created equal for belaying ergonomics. I feel like this debate is often reduced to ATC vs GriGri, and there are a lot more devices out there than

As someone from Europe where GriGri is still very prevalent but not a total monopoly like in the US I beg you for the love of god and your own safety and peace of mind learn a normal device like Pilot or Edelrid Jul or Mammut Smart. I see so many people use the gri and completely disregard the safet

I guess I would say you should consider moving to something like a geometric device like Jul2, Mammut Smart, BD Pilot, etc. It won’t make you any less attentive because it’s a passive device but it will offer more controlled lower and save you in the very unlikely event you lose the brake strand. Al

I really like my Mammut 40m gym rope. I feel like it feeds smoother than just about any other rope I've used. I saw elsewhere that someone recommended a 60 so you can use it when you transition to outdoor climbing, but I'm going to play devil's advocate here and recommend against that. It's a lot of

The Grigri would autoblock, and the only real problem would be if a seizure were to lock your muscles while your holding the Grigri in a open-lever position, thus allowing the rope to feed through freely. This would only be a problem while lowering your climber. You could always climb first and meas

theses days i see no good reason to use a manual tube device. yes they work fine, but you are adding risk into the system. every year there are many accidents that would have been avoided if the belayer used a brake assisted belay device. i’ve switched from a grigri over to a neox and i love it. a m