PETZL Grigri Plus Belay Device - AW19

Product Information

Petzl GriGri (available starting in 2019) is best if you want to save weight and money, and are confident in your belaying skills so you don’t need any extra safety features of the + version. Note: This is a confusing name, think of it like a GriGri 3. The total range of the GriGri + isn’t all that much wider — now extending down to 8.5 mm — but it has been optimized for ropes between 8.9-10.5 mm. While lead climbing, belayers should stand beneath the first bolt or piece of climber protection. In lead falls, the forces generated can pull the belayer toward the first clipped bolt or piece of gear. Be sure that the path between the belayer and this fixed point is safe and clear. 3. Never Take Your Hand Off the Braking Strand This device has just one place for installing rope and it can't be used in climbing with half rope. The main argument in favor of the GriGri + is its fancy new safety features. The most notable of these are a new “anti-panic” lowering feature and the addition of a dedicated belay mode for top-roping.

Petzl’s newest GriGri takes the body of the GriGri 2 and adds an updated cam (the same cam as the GriGri +). Over the years a great many manufacturers, Petzl included, have strived to make their equipment lighter and lighter, smaller and smaller. The plus side is that everything weighs a fraction of what it used to, which is great; the downside is that - in the case of some products - it has made them harder to use. I certainly found this to be the case with the transition from the original GRIGRI to the GRIGRI 2, where its smaller size seemed to have a detrimental impact on the functionality and it was more fiddly to use as a result. These are worthy traits — basic safety improvements are the core of climbing technology. Even though we didn’t love all aspects of the device, the innovative features are impressive. VersatilityGriGris have a built-in plastic handle that allows for smooth and safe lowering. You should have verbal confirmation from a climber before lowering them whenever possible. Will it make our lives 1.5 times better in the meantime? For the right buyer maybe, but for most, probably not. Best Uses The first is the most important to avoid and the other two are more annoyances that can be resolved: –

The Petzl Grigri+ Belay device with assisted braking, compatible with a broad range of single rope diameters, for both gym and crag: Belaying is all about attention. While using a GriGri, every climber holds the life of their partner in their hands. The other form of bloat is the obvious one: the price. All the features of the GriGri + come at a roughly 1.5x price increase which is hard to stomach.

The Bottom Line

This device is not suitable for left-handed belay technique. There is a sharp edge on the side that will fray rope if used left-handed, but a smooth flange to protect the rope while belaying right-handed. However, there are special techniques that allow left-handed belayers to use this device, like reorienting it to face the other way. [5] This is the one design feature we felt that Petzl botched. The GriGri 2 has a large curved tab down the length of the face-plate, which allows the device to rest on the index finger of the belayer’s right hand. Anti-panic handle: if the user pulls too hard on the handle, the anti-panic function engages and stops the descent. Walk around any popular climbing crag and gym, and the majority of the belayers you see will be using a GriGri. This is due in large part to the fact that this device basically invented the active assisted braking market, and captured most of the share long before many other alternatives entered the ring. That said, as countless spin-offs from other companies have tried to improve on the GriGri, it keeps getting better, and this newest version is no exception. It is honestly hard to detach our experiences with the GriGri from the over 20 years that we have spent using one. Climbers who don’t feel like the extra features of the GriGri + are worth the extra weight and bulk (and price)