2017 Belay Device Review: Trango Vergo

The Vergo locked quickly and firmly, according to our tester who used it while training mileage on gym routes. While it lowered, fed slack, and caught falls smoothly, this device shines in the ergonomics department. The Vergo is designed to sit horizontally when in use, and testers found it was a natural position that “caused a lot less short-roping than other devices.” Thumb and pointer-finger grooves helped testers hold the device correctly. This required some adaptation, as most devices recommend holding the brake side of the rope and only touching the device to feed slack quickly. Once testers learned that aspect, the Vergo “made complete sense and was practically flawless.” Plus, even if testers pinched the device as hard as possible, they couldn’t override the camming unit. Loading the rope was “a bit bumbly” because testers had to move the plates and handle out of the way. Testers found the method of unlocking the device after short-roping the leader to be challenging because of the nuanced movement, but short-roping was a rarity.