Sturdiest

The Edelrid Eddy is the heaviest, priciest device in this review. But where it misses in these categories, it’s a hit with durability, simplicity, and suitability for less experienced climbers. The gym is the Eddy’s native habitat. Belaying with the Eddy uses a natural-feeling hand position, very similar to using a tube-style device, and it feeds and takes in rope easily for toproping and
leading, even with crusty gym ropes. For lowering, the Eddy uses a lever much like the Grigri, but includes a built-in “panic brake” that engages the braking mechanism if a belayer tries to lower too quickly; the belayer must return the lowering lever to the braking position to “reload” the device before he or she continues lowering. This feature and the somewhat fi nicky push-button opening for loading the rope into the Eddy might annoy a climber familiar with other devices. But the panic brake could be a comfort for anyone climbing with a beginning belayer. Most of the device is constructed of steel (except the aluminum brake lever), which accounts for the Eddy’s heft, but also makes it likely to last much longer under heavy use than other devices.