I.m using this for more than, 4 years now from mountainering to ice climbing.... it has a little learning curve but the most polivalent tool so far good video mate!!!!
If you clip a small carabiner into the small vertical hole in the mega jul, it can act a grigri style lever allowing very nice smooth lowering. I don't use the green loop for lowering at all
Hey tubegabi You are right, you should ALWAYS use a locking biner with a belay device. No exception. In our video we are using the HMS strike slider (thank you Alexandre Bonow for pointing this out). As far as I know Edelrid recommends the HMS Strike (FG) for the Megajul and the Pure Screw carabiner assist in rapelling and guide mode.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: if you actually used this device in a lead fall you would know that the comment around 1:20 is simply not true. This device is not "completely" locking when the leader falls. It only aids the belayer. You can try it yourself, get one person to hang on one side of the rope and you hang on the other with the belay device, notice that it actually lets rope through under the force of both people. Don't take your hands off the rope!
+Jared Ables This is true with skinny and dry treated ropes. There will be some slippage, yet it catches the fall. I´ve fallen on it countless times. It locks in a real world scenario.
With my ultra light 9.0mm rope it's locking really hard. As a stated in my other comment, you can't even rappel with a 9mm rope in auto-lock mode, you have to press so damn hard to release it and then you almost do a free fall - and it locks again hard.
best to use a screwgate biner for a belay device... the best one for the megajul is the HMS Bulletproof Screw FG carabiner. I use this pretty much purely for the lead climber, with my two 8.5 mm ropes. For top belay and rappel, I use a conventional BD ATC guide or similar.
HMS Strike Slider Carabiner At a weight of 62 grams, the HMS Strike Slider is one of the lightest locking HMS carabiners on the market. Due to the innovative Strike Slider locking mechanism, it's also likely the most low profile, as well as one of the easiest opening lockers I've seen. It boasts a keylock design for snag-free clipping or unclipping from belay loops or master points at belays.
I like this a lot better. Cross between a gri gri + and an ATC Pilot. I think if Black Diamond slightly altered there design, the pilot would be rappel capable (considering the design is close but no cigar). I almost wonder what came first…the pilot or the jule? 👍👍😁🇺🇸
Just got this thing and used it with a ~10mm dry treated rope. Seemed to lock well with climber weight. Lowering the climber was a tad jerky and rappelling in locking mode was very slow and frustrating. It takes a decent amount of arm force to unlock it on rap using the thumb catch but I didn't try using an extra biner as a release lever. I'll give that a whirl before I hate it ;)
I got it about two weeks ago ^^. I do agree with it's locking performace and the fact that it takes some time to get used to lower another climber smoothly. For rappelling I would recommend to use a carabiner as handle or to use it in the "tube mode", because I have heard that the green handle might break off during rappelling on some of the models from the 2013 productline. I heard that they fixed this issue, however I wouldn't risk it.
I like it too, however what I don't like is the wear off it causes on (aluminum) carabiners, especially when belaying a climber from above and rapelling with older and thicker rope. But that is just cosmetical and seems logical since it´s made from steel.
Btw. rappel with a 9mm rope is a pain in the ass if you use the auto-lock mode, releasing the lock is very exhausting, especially when you did a hard route. Also just a side note: always use a prusik!
Interesting seeing the rap. What is the rope diameter ? I found that with a 10.2 rope and a biner like the one in the vid, I'd get a vicious lockup that wouldn't release, except with much jiggling. It would then drop suddenly and lock up again. The solution was to use a (locking) biner with a rounded cross section.
Hey, the rope diameter is 9.8. If the rope is any thicker, I flip the device around to rap with it without using the locking function (like any tubing device).
Great review man, exactly what I wanted to see, auto lock working while hands-free should a rock fall on your partner, trip hit his head, have a seizure, the list goes on. Redundancy is so important, we climb were there's a lot of loose rock sometimes so these things can happen, and a grigri obviously can't handle double rope. The alternative is Mammut Smart Alpine but apparently doesn't lock as great/fast and slips while belayer hangs on the rope while it's locked. And this is much smaller. (Should grigri bring out a smaller device (first of all) that can handle two ropes? Thinking out loud)
True, this has a big ugly cross over it in the manual... Unfortunate to spread instructional video that goes against the manufacturer`s recommendations.
The instructional video on Edelrid’s site shows the carabiner the same as this video. I agree that the instructions that came with the device show it different. It is quite hard to get their HMS carabiner through the way shown in the instructions.
@@danielcole8879 from what i heard in a separate video - they changed the manual as they found that in some cases the device could spin around, and passing the beena through it prevents that. my guess he had the original manual
Tive o primeiro contato com freio , e gostei principalmente como auto travamento e também para rapelar. No início parece complicado, mas é so pegar o "jeitinho"
Federico Tonietto Green-handle-towards-belayer does not work for taking in slack. (It works fine for paying out rope and lowering). While taking in slack the device locks up, and you still need to use the green handle to release the rope.
+icychap Ahhh come on. Don´t be insulted. It sucks to use the megajul with wet or frozen ropes but that isn´t specific to the device. It is hard to feed out rope but will still lock if the ropes are wet. If they are solidly frozen it won´t be useable but that has never happened to me. Hope this is of more help ;)
+Moritz Brack Nope, not insulted. But you didn't answer the question the first time. I wasn't asking how it compares with wet ropes vs. dry ropes, since (you're correct) that's pretty much axiomatic. Nope, I was asking how THIS device does with wet or icy ropes.No worries - your second response got around to answering the question ("will still lock if the ropes are wet"), so thank you.
Great vid! But u must be a magician- haha. You made rappelling in locking mode look easy. I have a 9:5mm rope and use an Edelrid Stike biner. However mine locks so firmly that rappelling is jerky between locking and unlocking. A buddy used a fatter biner and it worked better kind of.
If you are just climbing Indoors and you are belaying a lot of top ropes than a grigri might be nicer as I guess you can go handsfree with the grigri but outside I just dont see any reason anymore to bring another belay device but the megajul.
Excellent review. Thank you. I've heard that certain center carabiners don't work well with it. Would you possibly have a suggestion of a very light weight locker that would accommodate it well, and still allow the device to lock properly?
pulling up the rope when belaying the second from above, with the device setup so it autolocks if he falls. can be done with petzl reverso, ATC guide etc. makes for much more relaxing and safe belaying on multi pitch routes.
Where do I even start. NO locking carabineer, no prusik for rappel, hands of the rope too many times and WRONG way of rigging for guide-mode (enough to look into the instruction that comes with Mega Jul to see that this is what they say is INCORRECT. I wouldn't like to learn from this video if I was a beginner. Please remove this video or correct the mistakes, otherwise this is just misleading. Having said that, I love using Mega Jul, I have been using one for the last 5.5y. Find the proper instruction videos on youtube page of Edelrid or in the instruction that comes with the device.
I.m using this for more than, 4 years now from mountainering to ice climbing....
it has a little learning curve but the most polivalent tool so far
good video mate!!!!
If you clip a small carabiner into the small vertical hole in the mega jul, it can act a grigri style lever allowing very nice smooth lowering. I don't use the green loop for lowering at all
Hey tubegabi
You are right, you should ALWAYS use a locking biner with a belay device. No exception. In our video we are using the HMS strike slider (thank you Alexandre Bonow for pointing this out).
As far as I know Edelrid recommends the HMS Strike (FG) for the Megajul and the Pure Screw carabiner assist in rapelling and guide mode.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: if you actually used this device in a lead fall you would know that the comment around 1:20 is simply not true. This device is not "completely" locking when the leader falls. It only aids the belayer. You can try it yourself, get one person to hang on one side of the rope and you hang on the other with the belay device, notice that it actually lets rope through under the force of both people. Don't take your hands off the rope!
+Jared Ables This is true with skinny and dry treated ropes. There will be some slippage, yet it catches the fall. I´ve fallen on it countless times. It locks in a real world scenario.
In my experience it locks completly with a 9,,5 mm rope, I guess it depends on the rope thickness, but jeah you should not go handsfree.
The locking function depends on the rope, but you always have need a hand on the braking rope side....
With my ultra light 9.0mm rope it's locking really hard. As a stated in my other comment, you can't even rappel with a 9mm rope in auto-lock mode, you have to press so damn hard to release it and then you almost do a free fall - and it locks again hard.
Thanks for this video, I have been looking at the Jul2 but zero videos out there showing much other than the product itself.
2:57
that's what she said
lol
I laughed harder than I should have lmfao.
best to use a screwgate biner for a belay device... the best one for the megajul is the HMS Bulletproof Screw FG carabiner.
I use this pretty much purely for the lead climber, with my two 8.5 mm ropes. For top belay and rappel, I use a conventional BD ATC guide or similar.
HMS Strike Slider Carabiner
At a weight of 62 grams, the HMS Strike Slider is one of the lightest locking HMS carabiners on the market. Due to the innovative Strike Slider locking mechanism, it's also likely the most low profile, as well as one of the easiest opening lockers I've seen. It boasts a keylock design for snag-free clipping or unclipping from belay loops or master points at belays.
I like this a lot better. Cross between a gri gri + and an ATC Pilot. I think if Black Diamond slightly altered there design, the pilot would be rappel capable (considering the design is close but no cigar). I almost wonder what came first…the pilot or the jule? 👍👍😁🇺🇸
Just got this thing and used it with a ~10mm dry treated rope. Seemed to lock well with climber weight. Lowering the climber was a tad jerky and rappelling in locking mode was very slow and frustrating. It takes a decent amount of arm force to unlock it on rap using the thumb catch but I didn't try using an extra biner as a release lever. I'll give that a whirl before I hate it ;)
I got it about two weeks ago ^^. I do agree with it's locking performace and the fact that it takes some time to get used to lower another climber smoothly. For rappelling I would recommend to use a carabiner as handle or to use it in the "tube mode", because I have heard that the green handle might break off during rappelling on some of the models from the 2013 productline. I heard that they fixed this issue, however I wouldn't risk it.
Yeah, I figured that out. Stick a carabiner in there and it works similar to a GriGri with the release handle out. I'm pretty happy with this thing!
I like it too, however what I don't like is the wear off it causes on (aluminum) carabiners, especially when belaying a climber from above and rapelling with older and thicker rope.
But that is just cosmetical and seems logical since it´s made from steel.
Thanks for video, just got one use everywhere right price , happy with it.
Btw. rappel with a 9mm rope is a pain in the ass if you use the auto-lock mode, releasing the lock is very exhausting, especially when you did a hard route. Also just a side note: always use a prusik!
Interesting seeing the rap. What is the rope diameter ? I found that with a 10.2 rope and a biner like the one in the vid, I'd get a vicious lockup that wouldn't release, except with much jiggling. It would then drop suddenly and lock up again. The solution was to use a (locking) biner with a rounded cross section.
Hey,
the rope diameter is 9.8. If the rope is any thicker, I flip the device around to rap with it without using the locking function (like any tubing device).
what if you have to jug the climber back up say if the climber took a fall and wants to get back up
Great review man, exactly what I wanted to see, auto lock working while hands-free should a rock fall on your partner, trip hit his head, have a seizure, the list goes on. Redundancy is so important, we climb were there's a lot of loose rock sometimes so these things can happen, and a grigri obviously can't handle double rope.
The alternative is Mammut Smart Alpine but apparently doesn't lock as great/fast and slips while belayer hangs on the rope while it's locked. And this is much smaller. (Should grigri bring out a smaller device (first of all) that can handle two ropes? Thinking out loud)
It's worong how you used it in GuideMode!!!!! The carabin have to go trough the Megajul and not just on top of it
True, this has a big ugly cross over it in the manual... Unfortunate to spread instructional video that goes against the manufacturer`s recommendations.
The instructional video on Edelrid’s site shows the carabiner the same as this video. I agree that the instructions that came with the device show it different. It is quite hard to get their HMS carabiner through the way shown in the instructions.
@@danielcole8879 from what i heard in a separate video - they changed the manual as they found that in some cases the device could spin around, and passing the beena through it prevents that. my guess he had the original manual
Releasing it in guide mode, to lower a second under full tension, is super-hard with the method shown.
It has been over a year from the review, any new info? problems, new or better ways to use it? Thanks for the video!
Thanks for the great review.
Tive o primeiro contato com freio , e gostei principalmente como auto travamento e também para rapelar. No início parece complicado, mas é so pegar o "jeitinho"
So that biner is a locking one? My apologies!! It looks a simple one at the video. Thanks for correction.
is possible use it like a simply tuber?belaying the leader with the green handle in direction of myself?
Federico Tonietto Green-handle-towards-belayer does not work for taking in slack. (It works fine for paying out rope and lowering).
While taking in slack the device locks up, and you still need to use the green handle to release the rope.
How is it with wet or icy ropes?
+icychap The handling of wet and icy ropes is worse compared to dry ropes. As it is with every device.
+Moritz Brack Thanks for a completely unhelpful response.
+icychap Ahhh come on. Don´t be insulted. It sucks to use the megajul with wet or frozen ropes but that isn´t specific to the device. It is hard to feed out rope but will still lock if the ropes are wet. If they are solidly frozen it won´t be useable but that has never happened to me. Hope this is of more help ;)
+Moritz Brack Nope, not insulted. But you didn't answer the question the first time. I wasn't asking how it compares with wet ropes vs. dry ropes, since (you're correct) that's pretty much axiomatic. Nope, I was asking how THIS device does with wet or icy ropes.No worries - your second response got around to answering the question ("will still lock if the ropes are wet"), so thank you.
What kind of line are you using?
Great vid! But u must be a magician- haha. You made rappelling in locking mode look easy. I have a 9:5mm rope and use an Edelrid Stike biner. However mine locks so firmly that rappelling is jerky between locking and unlocking. A buddy used a fatter biner and it worked better kind of.
Can Mega Jul beat auto-belay devices, like Grigri2?
The locking mechanism looks very similar but is there still any reason to go get Grigri2?
If you are just climbing Indoors and you are belaying a lot of top ropes than a grigri might be nicer as I guess you can go handsfree with the grigri but outside I just dont see any reason anymore to bring another belay device but the megajul.
you should never, ever go handsfree, even with a grigri2.
Excellent review. Thank you. I've heard that certain center carabiners don't work well with it. Would you possibly have a suggestion of a very light weight locker that would accommodate it well, and still allow the device to lock properly?
+Evan Wish You should go with the Edelrid HMS Strike Screw FG, Bruce Steel FG or Strike Slider FG. They all work great.
what is a guide mode? im complettly new....
pulling up the rope when belaying the second from above, with the device setup so it autolocks if he falls. can be done with petzl reverso, ATC guide etc. makes for much more relaxing and safe belaying on multi pitch routes.
How about a screw carabiner for belaying? Please viewers: NEVER use a simple carabiner for belaying, as seen here.
prooooooosik...
Can't hear shit on guide mode
Where do I even start. NO locking carabineer, no prusik for rappel, hands of the rope too many times and WRONG way of rigging for guide-mode (enough to look into the instruction that comes with Mega Jul to see that this is what they say is INCORRECT. I wouldn't like to learn from this video if I was a beginner. Please remove this video or correct the mistakes, otherwise this is just misleading.
Having said that, I love using Mega Jul, I have been using one for the last 5.5y. Find the proper instruction videos on youtube page of Edelrid or in the instruction that comes with the device.
😂
El peor dispositivo para rapeles....
Use a helmet! Seriously, it's weird record a video about security device without a helmet