so close to being good.
by anonymous on 02/20/2018I gave this device an entire climbing season after inadvertently tossing my gri-gri 2 down an endless crevasse. Let's be blunt shall we. This could easily have been the best outdoor assisted breaking device on the market (for ropes of the right diameter). I love everything about lead belaying
with this device, especially for multipitch when you don't have the mobility to move around and hop to provide that dynamic sport belay. Also, the build quality is without equal... BUT the Anti-Panic system is garbage and renders the device WORTHLESS and UNSAFE while lowering.
Yep, the antipanic kicks in at very, very light weights. sometimes rope drag will set it off. You'll be sitting there resetting the anti-panic again and again. feathering the lowering lever, trying to get the tension just right before the anti-panic trips yet again. You climber will repeat themselves: "lower". There is no override of the anti-panic system via the lever. You have to physically defeat the cam by pulling the trigger with your index finger with no mechanical advantage so smooth controlled lowering is both physically challenging and difficult to achieve. I feel like I'm trapped between giving a jerky, armature lower that bounces my climber every two inches all the way to the bottom or straight up dropping people. There is no sweet spot.
Who knows, maybe I got a dud and my anti-panic wasn’t put together quite right. but for $200 a pop, why should that be my final opinion of the device.
If anyone from camp is reading this - if you make a version without the antipanic system, I'd fall in love. As is, it sits in my gear closet awaiting the next gear swap.