Stats| Weight | 225 g | | Max Diameter (mm) | 11 |
| Petzl Gri Gri
4.5 out of 5 based on 72 user reviews.
Cred: 40569 | | Review by marks on Mar. 31, 2007 |
| Good for sport climbers. A must have if your partners like to hang dog all day long. |
| Way to heavy and does not permit (easy) dual rope rappels so I do not recommend it for multipitch or trad use. |
| Trango Cinch is lighter but the handle is a little more difficult. |
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Cred: 1700 | | This is pretty much the original self-locking belay device. It's extremely easy to use and a nice tool to have on your rack. |
| It is a little heavier than other devices on the market. Also, people who use this may experience a feeling of cockiness. Don't get cocky while using this. Self-locking should mean carelessness on the belayer's part. You should use this with just as much care as when using an ATC or a non-self-locking device. |
| There are other self-locking devices that are more light-weight but this one got the ergonomic design down first. |
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Cred: 922 | | Excellent for aid climbing belays when your belayer falls asleep on that 4 hour lead. Great for top rope soloing, solo aid leading, solo climbing (note solo climbing not acknowledged or encouraged by Petzl). Use it as an alpine soft knot (adjustable). Good learner belay device (extra backup in the system). |
| Only suitable for sinlge ropes 9.7 - 11mm. No good way to make it auto feed when soloing (without modification). |
| IMO best auto belay device, but the Trango Cinch is out there as well |
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Cred: 426 | | SAFE for the kids to use. When it's my arse on the rope I want to be able to climb without worries of my kids getting distracted by bright shinny objects. It's a great relief and easy to use. |
| I find using this device to belay a lead isn't as easy as a ATC. I personally like using a ATC better for belays and rappelling. |
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Cred: 507 | | A great piece of kit, especially where you have a belayer who may or may not be up to the job. Also very useful for abseiling in situations where you have to go "hands off" perdiodically, such as reversing solo lead pitches. |
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Cred: 2509 | | it's classic, it works, it's reliable. Remember to be attentive, it's automatic but not idiot proof. In toprope sessions with learners this thing becomes indespensible.
This has a variety of uses if you are willing to learn different setups including hauling, rescues, and an autolocked top belay for 1 follower. Easy to release and easy to use. |
| it's heavy, but we all know that. I will still carry it sometimes on long climbs with an atc or 8 for rappells. |
| still the best in it's class. |
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Cred: 601 | | Handy in various situations. Although it's not hands free, it's the next thing to it. Good for long top rope sessions, and handy for self rescue. |
| heavy, bulky, & expensive. Only made for bigger ropes. |
| plate (tube) device like BD ATC or Petzl reverso |
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Cred: 881 | | -locks well
-feeds well (if you use it properly)
-good for backing up ascending ropes on steep traverses. (aid) |
| -teaches Noobs bad habits if not taught correctly.
-heavy
-does not supplement tube style device. (no device does) |
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Cred: 556 | | Very simple instructions when using, so good for beginners who belay with the appropriated instruction before using. An extra piece of redundancy is the right situations is always good to have. |
| Grigri us Heavy, ropes in the low 9mm range may not bight well, and icy ropes do not work well with this at all. |
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Cred: 1306 | | Review by MikePB on Feb. 27, 2011 |
| Stops falls great. Adds a bit more safety in case your belayers attention drifts. Good for taking up rope belaying a second up. |
| Expensive
Heavy
Can't do double ropes
Lowering is a bit awkward
Only works with bigger ropes |
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Cred: 441 | | Just about idiot-proof. Just about. |
| bad-habit forming, especially when doing long belay sessions in the gym. And heavy |
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Cred: 12 | | great auto locking belay device! great for begining climbers as well as seasoned veterans. small images make it very easy to tell in which direction the rope feed in/out goes. |
| the grigri is a little pricy, but i highly reccomend every climber having one. |
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Cred: 92 | | Auto Locking ability makes me feel a little more comfortable when being belayed by novice belayers |
| Can be loaded incorrectly... haven't done it or seen it happen, but apperently its caused some pretty serious issues |
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Cred: 180 | | Literally one of the most idiot-proof devices on the market (there are some clever idiots though). If something is wrong, just let go. it will do the rest. Makes gym climbing/route setting a breeze. |
| The fact that it has the idiot proof label. It makes the belayer lazy and careless, just because they have this device. |
| an ATC and proper training. |
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Cred: 189 | | Review by jwidm on Mar. 20, 2009 |
| I love this when belaying people that are new to climbing or anyone working on something and doing a lot of hanging. It's also nice to hand to a second and feel a bit more confidence in places known for falling objects that if something happens to your belayer your probably locked off. |
| Heavy. I don't use to belay leaders on trad because the only way to give a soft catch is to jump in the air. |
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Cred: 128 | | Gri-Gri 2 is lighter than original, accommodates 8.9-11mm |
| Requires finesse to prevent unintended engaging of cam. Modified belay technique helpful for lead belay (hold cam with brake hand to give quick dump), technique discussed on website. |
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Cred: 158 | | -Safer than a traditional belay device (if you know what you're doing)
-Makes belaying more enjoyable
-Better for lowering than the Trango Cinch |
| -Rated for 10-11mm ropes (works with 9.8m)
-GriGri2 is out |
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Cred: 9 | | Works well for hangdogging, even on multipitch trad. I use it when multipitching with newbies, so I can always lower them off. It is hard to do this with other devices that are better suited for the application such as the BD ATC Guide. |
| Agree - far too bulky and heavy, but it has its pros! |
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Cred: 422 | | Review by roytse on Aug. 09, 2008 |
| Sturdy. Unbreakable. Awesome. Simple to use and self explanatory. Self-braking mechanism is smooth and reliable. |
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Cred: 1073 | | Very safe and very easy to use. I use these all the time in the gym but not so much outside. |
| Heavy if you're gonna use it outside. |
| Learn how to use an ATC. Much more control. |
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Cred: 496 | | im sure they're fine and work for everyone else just not my style. ive never had an issue with one |
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Cred: 1096 | | Simple to use. I purchased one when they first came out and it has proved useful over the years. |
| It a bit bulky I suppose. |
| I would like to check out the Trango cinch. |
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Cred: 15 | | I love this device for use in rope ascension. It is also fantastic when you need both hands free while suspended mid rappel, such as for rescue or tactical scenerios. Great range of usable rope diameters. |
| It is a bit jerkey compared with non-auto devices until you get used to it. |
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Cred: 629 | | Just purchased and used the new GriGri 2. Its a great device with an even smoother action than the first one |
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Cred: 26 | | can only use with ropes greater than 10mm |
| none..nothing else compares to this established piece of hardware on the market |
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Cred: 357 | | Perfect for catching sport falls and letting your partner hangdog. |
| Heavy, doesn't take skinnier ropes or allow for double-rope raps. |
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Cred: 315 | | nice smooth belay, great for belaying light climbers; LOVE mine for solo |
| none, but I'd ask for rope guide around the area of the axle of the lever |
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Cred: 27 | | es bien bueno para top rope por que lockea automatico. |
| aveses da problemas cuando se esta lidiando porque le puede trancar en un dinamico o movimiento rapido |
| cualquier otro para liding |
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Cred: 17 | | Review by jman3 on Mar. 03, 2011 |
| Easy to use, good for gym climbing, works well with extremely worn / frayed ropes |
| heavy, promotes laziness / carelessness |
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Cred: 42 | | good device for belaying someone who hang dogs alot |
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Cred: 497 | | great piece of equipment, easy to use, dependable |
| lots of climbing gyms do not allow them |
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Cred: 454 | | sometimes gets caught up with larger diameter ropes. |
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Cred: 5 | | Perfect for beginners learning to use belay devices with the added safety of being able to make a few mistakes as it automatically locks off. |
| Lowering people can be hard on the hands if they are heavy, need to controll the descent rate with the camming lever which can be tricky to master. |
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Cred: 815 | | Nice when belaying my larger friend working a route. |
| Heavy. Can't rap on two stands. |
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Cred: 99 | | Unsafe for beginner belayers, Heavy, Expensive |
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Cred: 54 | | everyone who uses it must be trained extra |
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Cred: 831 | | invaluable device for a day at teh crag |
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Cred: 51 | | Hard to "give" fast on Sport routes |
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Cred: 190 | | If you are going to climb, buy one of these. |
| Only being able to load one rope |
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Cred: 12 | | Smooth ride and easy to use |
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Cred: 23 | | don't be foolish and set it up backwards |
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Cred: 46 | | not so good for lead climbing |
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Cred: 5 | | good for sport climbing and aid climbing situations |
| wouldn't recommend it for trad climbing. and it cant be used for double rope belays or rappels |
| Trango tooth for trad climbing or bd atc |
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Cred: 9 | | can't use on smaller diameter ropes |
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Cred: 22 | | Better than ATCs, auto-locking. |
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Cred: 12 | | Nice for the indoor gyms. |
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Cred: 18 | | Not as great as I had hoped, but still very functional |
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Cred: 36 | | Rock solid and proven design |
| In desperate need of a keeper cord. I've mod'ed mine to add one. |
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Cred: 11 | | i have enjoyed my gri gri for quite some time. i dont think there is a better tool out there. |
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Cred: 26 | | autoblock. multipitch use. |
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Cred: 15 | | Review by glenni on Aug. 06, 2008 |
| You have to know how to use this one! |
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Cred: 99 | | not as good as trango cinch |
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Cred: 20 | | Review by bendor on Jan. 19, 2011 |
| Great for a hang dogging partner. |
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Cred: 0 | | amazing device. so many uses |
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Cred: 0 | | Review by bigdub on Aug. 11, 2010 |
| easy to use good catch safe |
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