RRC Archives

Anyone tried this device? I just received one and haven't used it yet. In principle, it looks good. Impossible for an inexperienced belayer to do a "Gri-Gri Freeze" on the brake handle -- an action that has hurt a bunch of climbers. Pull too hard on the handle, and the cam is designed to kick into braking mode.

As for paying out rope quickly and smoothly to the leader -- we'll see.

Rick

I hadn't heard of it until now, but I just Googled for it, and the cheapest price that came up was $149.95. At almost double the cost of a GriGri, and about the same cost as some ropes, I bet many climbers will balk at the price. I'm interested to hear what you have to say about the ease of belaying with it, though, Rick. Keep us posted.

They will likely come down in price. There likely won't get popular at that price . . .. but then again . . . think about the grigri and the added $ that you have to put versus buying a typical basket type rap/belay device. The grigri got popular at a rather high price.

My partner was thinking about getting an Eddy until he tried one last fall. He didn't like it at all, I can't remember why. He and I have been using the Fader SUM for about two years. The SUM is the best device I have used. Feeds rope to the leader easily, no levers to hold, just position the device downward. It also forces a softer catch than most other devices. It does have two problems that I know of. It will not work woth a 1.2mm or larger rope. If the rope is marginal thickenss it will feed out fine, however, when it comes time to lower it will get stuck in the device. This can be embarasing. The SUM does not have a manual break. Its position (up=locked, down=free to feed) determins if the device is locked. If climber falls and belayer freaks out and does what would normally be a break manouver for an ATC or gri-gri, the natural bereak will be overridden and rope will pass through the device. Keep in mind that as the inexperienced belayer is erronoiusly breaking the rope is running through his/her hand. This causes lots of blood and pain. Although this is not a likely scenario it can happen. It happend to me (sort of). I was climbing with a young kid who had been climbing for a just few months and had only used an ATC. As I was being lowered from an overhanging route in the gym I noticed that I was going faster than I would expect for a new climber/belayer. the SUM does not have a free-fall mode like the gri-gri. When I got to the ground he had blood on his hand and he was about to cry. I then learned about this mode.

I used to own a gri-gri, but, I could never get used to it. Maybe it was because all of my climbing injuries have had a gri-gri at the other end of the rope.

Sorry Rick. Not much info on the Eddy.

bc

We tried one out in our gym and I hated it. First, I loaded it backwards, because it loads the opposite of a gri-gri. And then I tried to belay someone who didn't weigh very much, and it took me about 10 minuets to get him down. The same happened when he tried to lower me. We finally figured out a way to do it, but it took too much muscle then what should have been necessary. I guess with practice it would get easier, but I wouldn't care to spend that much time or money on it.

Sound's like it has some promise. The cost is a lot, but as long as you dont lose it, how often do you really expect to replace it?

bcrock wrote:My partner was thinking about getting an Eddy until he tried one last fall. He didn't like it at all, I can't remember why. He and I have been using the Fader SUM for about two years. The SUM is the best device I have used. Feeds rope to the leader easily, no levers to hold, just position the device downward. It also forces a softer catch than most other devices. It does have two problems that I know of. It will not work woth a 1.2mm or larger rope. If the rope is marginal thickenss it will feed out fine, however, when it comes time to lower it will get stuck in the device. This can be embarasing. The SUM does not have a manual break. Its position (up=locked, down=free to feed) determins if the device is locked. If climber falls and belayer freaks out and does what would normally be a break manouver for an ATC or gri-gri, the natural bereak will be overridden and rope will pass through the device. Keep in mind that as the inexperienced belayer is erronoiusly breaking the rope is running through his/her hand. This causes lots of blood and pain. Although this is not a likely scenario it can happen. It happend to me (sort of). I was climbing with a young kid who had been climbing for a just few months and had only used an ATC. As I was being lowered from an overhanging route in the gym I noticed that I was going faster than I would expect for a new climber/belayer. the SUM does not have a free-fall mode like the gri-gri. When I got to the ground he had blood on his hand and he was about to cry. I then learned about this mode.

I used to own a gri-gri, but, I could never get used to it. Maybe it was because all of my climbing injuries have had a gri-gri at the other end of the rope.

Sorry Rick. Not much info on the Eddy.

bc

sounds like a crappy device to me

but if you can't learn to use a gri-gri....aw, never mind.

I will never understand why the average climber would want such a specialized, expensive belay device. After all, all they do is belay with only one rope of limited size. ATC's belay and rappel with any size climbing rope. With a little practice you can feed slack on one rope (1st climber) while taking slack on another rope (2nd climber). I would like to see that done with any of those devices.

john e aragon wrote:I will never understand why the average climber would want such a specialized, expensive belay device. After all, all they do is belay with only one rope of limited size. ATC's belay and rappel with any size climbing rope. With a little practice you can feed slack on one rope (1st climber) while taking slack on another rope (2nd climber). I would like to see that done with any of those devices.

Your key phrases are "average climber" and "with a little practice."

It is not uncommon to see experienced leaders with inexperienced belayers at the crags. And, this is the rule rather than the exception for guides. (One of the three cardinal rules of guiding taught by AMGA is that because the client is not usually skilled at belaying a leader, you are essentially free soloing.)

Now, if a device were to come along that reduces the risk of a gumby belayer making an error such as those made with Gri-Gris and ATCs, then it's worth looking into. Maybe the Eddy is a dud -- maybe not. It'll be interesting to see how it works.

A few weeks ago at ClimbTime Towers in Indy, a woman climbing nearby our party, was dropped 30 feet by an inexperienced belayer using an ATC. Her back was broken in this fall. Last year at Sommersville Lake, we watched a first time belayer freeze open the handle on a Gri-Gri while her leader fell. At the last instant, she let go the handle and was immediately jerked into orbit, as the climber stopped literally with his head inches from the ground. Kinda puts things in perspective.

Experienced belayer? No problem; use any device you're comfortable with.
Inexperienced belayer? Maybe a safer device is in order. Maybe not. To each his own.

If a $150 device were to save months of painful rehab or a life, it's a pretty darn cheap piece of gear.

Rick