I disagree... I've used this for three years and use it to belay from above all the time! You must never let go of the break strand no matter what Assisted Breaking Device you use!
Curious if you ever got a chance to use the Beal Birdie and its comparison to these two units??? My main want would be most consistent device to pay out slack for lead with with fewest chances of hangups (or requiring to keep your thumb in a certain spot like the GriGri). Seems like GriGri is further behind in that aspect than those two devices?
I have actually played around with a Beal Birdie, I forgot to make a video about it though. Basically it's the same thing as the Lifeguard, feels and looks exactly the same, if you want something that works the best for paying out slack, I would go with the Grigri + (out of those three devises.) the Birdie, Lifegaurd, and regular grigri have about the same resistance with the assisted breaking devise, but the grigri + in lead belay mode the cam has the least amount on resistance.
@@ryantilley9063 thanks for the response. i guess what i meant to ask was which device is the most ATC like with the added benefit of assisted braking? ive had partners who've greatly short roped me and have had to fiddle to unlock their grigri while i'm on lead which is something id love to not give another climber ($hit happens sometimes!). i know if you pay out a big bit of slack on a grigri without depressing the cam (or whatever it is), the device locks. i guess that's truly what I'd love your thoughts on - which device is best at paying out a big amount of slack without possibility of locking or requiring a trick to keep something disengaged - much like an ATC would act? grigri plus on lead mode, life guard, birdie. thanks ryan!
@@ccolagio_ I haven't used the Beal Birdie yet, but I've been climbing a bunch recently with both the gri gri plus and 2, and the mad rock lifeguard (which brought me here) the answer to your question hands down is the Lifeguard. You can yank big armfuls of rope through the lifeguard when paying out slack to your leader without it locking up. It feeds like an ATC. The grigri does have much better modulation in lowering, but man it does not pay out slack as nice. Even holding down the cam lock with my thumb, even a small twist in the rope can give me a slight hang up while giving rope to the lead climber. I know that's partially rope dependent too, but I've been climbing onna variety of ropes lately, brand new to used and 9.5 to 10.2 and the gri gri never feeds super smooth on lead belay
Ya I have used the birdie a bit, I would say that lowering and rappelling with the mad rock is the least amount of friction, the birdie does a pretty good job of allowing you to find the sweet spot with lowering but it's a bit more strenuous to keep it there if you were rappelling on the device. The grigri has a really good sweet spot for lowering and rappelling. What I've done recently for rappelling on these devices is use a Petzl Freino carabiner: www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Carabiners-and-quickdraws/FREINO So that it adds another bend in the rope and gives me a little bit more friction while rappelling. I also use some belay gloves to keep my hands from heating up too much.
Thanks for all the reviews, some really useful insights. In short, is it worth buying anything other than a Grigri? I'm fairly new to outdoor climbing and looking to buy my first assisted braking device.
PotatoSalad11 I would say that a Grigri would be a very good first assisted breaking devise, and out of all the devices that I’ve reviewed so far the Grigri would probably still be my recommendation. The other gadgets that I’ve looked at are either to gimiky or have some pitfalls. What are you looking to climb? I would say a grigri would be good for if you are looking to do a lot of single pitch climbing, but if you want an assisted breaking devise for multipitch than a giga- jul is the better way to go because it has more versatility. Let me know if you have any questions and thanks for watching!
@@ryantilley9063 thanks very much! It will definitely be mainly single pitch (I live in the UK so big walls aren't really a thing here!). I'll go ahead and order a Grigri then :) Thanks again!
Sorry man, without watching you belay I can’t really help you narrow down how to avoid short roping, but having a little more slack between you and the climber is usually a good way to avoid activating the cam when the climber pulls slack. As long as the cam doesn’t get activated then you should be able to keep up with the climber pulling slack. Of course you want to avoid having so much slack out that you risk a ground fall if the climber does fall. Hope that helps a little
Thanks for all the reviews. They are nice to listen to and you go into great detail. I'm not sure of the comparison with the Grigri+ is right. I think the device was a copy of the grigri 2 - which has exactly the same specs and a very similar handing. Anyway :) Would you like to do a review of the new Giga Jul? I'm curious about your opinion on it. Thanks a lot!
Thanks, I think your right the Life Guard is more like the grigri 2 than the plus. I do plan on doing a review on the giga jul real soon, It's just taken a lot more testing a playing around with it for me to get all my thoughts together on it.
Ya I used the cinch like once, and do plan on doing a review on it as soon as I get my hands on one. It is similar to the grigri in that it has an assisted breaking feature, however its because of the geometry that it has the assisted breaking rather than a caming unit that pitches the rope. So it may be different in terms of handling and lowering ect.. either way that is on the list of devises to review!
I disagree... I've used this for three years and use it to belay from above all the time! You must never let go of the break strand no matter what Assisted Breaking Device you use!
Of all the auto-braking devices you've used, which one releases the most smoothly for self descent, as in saddle hunting? Thanks very much!
I think the devise that lowers the best in my option is the grigri, It has the most amount of play in the lowering leaver compared to other devises.
ruclips.net/video/m6r5Ow3p1Mg/видео.html says the quietness of the Lifeguard is more important in that application
Curious if you ever got a chance to use the Beal Birdie and its comparison to these two units??? My main want would be most consistent device to pay out slack for lead with with fewest chances of hangups (or requiring to keep your thumb in a certain spot like the GriGri). Seems like GriGri is further behind in that aspect than those two devices?
I have actually played around with a Beal Birdie, I forgot to make a video about it though. Basically it's the same thing as the Lifeguard, feels and looks exactly the same, if you want something that works the best for paying out slack, I would go with the Grigri + (out of those three devises.) the Birdie, Lifegaurd, and regular grigri have about the same resistance with the assisted breaking devise, but the grigri + in lead belay mode the cam has the least amount on resistance.
@@ryantilley9063 thanks for the response. i guess what i meant to ask was which device is the most ATC like with the added benefit of assisted braking? ive had partners who've greatly short roped me and have had to fiddle to unlock their grigri while i'm on lead which is something id love to not give another climber ($hit happens sometimes!). i know if you pay out a big bit of slack on a grigri without depressing the cam (or whatever it is), the device locks. i guess that's truly what I'd love your thoughts on - which device is best at paying out a big amount of slack without possibility of locking or requiring a trick to keep something disengaged - much like an ATC would act? grigri plus on lead mode, life guard, birdie. thanks ryan!
@@ccolagio_ I haven't used the Beal Birdie yet, but I've been climbing a bunch recently with both the gri gri plus and 2, and the mad rock lifeguard (which brought me here) the answer to your question hands down is the Lifeguard. You can yank big armfuls of rope through the lifeguard when paying out slack to your leader without it locking up. It feeds like an ATC. The grigri does have much better modulation in lowering, but man it does not pay out slack as nice. Even holding down the cam lock with my thumb, even a small twist in the rope can give me a slight hang up while giving rope to the lead climber. I know that's partially rope dependent too, but I've been climbing onna variety of ropes lately, brand new to used and 9.5 to 10.2 and the gri gri never feeds super smooth on lead belay
@@nhodorek excellent. Thank you very much! I've not seen the life guard out in the wild and now im super excited to try it!
Two questions, currently thinking of buying one of the auto blockers, have you tried the birdie and how are they all of them in the absail?
Ya I have used the birdie a bit, I would say that lowering and rappelling with the mad rock is the least amount of friction, the birdie does a pretty good job of allowing you to find the sweet spot with lowering but it's a bit more strenuous to keep it there if you were rappelling on the device. The grigri has a really good sweet spot for lowering and rappelling. What I've done recently for rappelling on these devices is use a Petzl Freino carabiner: www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Carabiners-and-quickdraws/FREINO
So that it adds another bend in the rope and gives me a little bit more friction while rappelling. I also use some belay gloves to keep my hands from heating up too much.
@@ryantilley9063 perfect, thank you ever so much.
nice review ,thanks Ryan
thanks for the review
Thanks for all the reviews, some really useful insights. In short, is it worth buying anything other than a Grigri? I'm fairly new to outdoor climbing and looking to buy my first assisted braking device.
PotatoSalad11 I would say that a Grigri would be a very good first assisted breaking devise, and out of all the devices that I’ve reviewed so far the Grigri would probably still be my recommendation. The other gadgets that I’ve looked at are either to gimiky or have some pitfalls. What are you looking to climb? I would say a grigri would be good for if you are looking to do a lot of single pitch climbing, but if you want an assisted breaking devise for multipitch than a giga- jul is the better way to go because it has more versatility. Let me know if you have any questions and thanks for watching!
@@ryantilley9063 thanks very much! It will definitely be mainly single pitch (I live in the UK so big walls aren't really a thing here!). I'll go ahead and order a Grigri then :) Thanks again!
i have trouble short roping on this device any tips?
Sorry man, without watching you belay I can’t really help you narrow down how to avoid short roping, but having a little more slack between you and the climber is usually a good way to avoid activating the cam when the climber pulls slack. As long as the cam doesn’t get activated then you should be able to keep up with the climber pulling slack. Of course you want to avoid having so much slack out that you risk a ground fall if the climber does fall. Hope that helps a little
Thanks for all the reviews. They are nice to listen to and you go into great detail. I'm not sure of the comparison with the Grigri+ is right. I think the device was a copy of the grigri 2 - which has exactly the same specs and a very similar handing.
Anyway :) Would you like to do a review of the new Giga Jul? I'm curious about your opinion on it.
Thanks a lot!
Thanks, I think your right the Life Guard is more like the grigri 2 than the plus. I do plan on doing a review on the giga jul real soon, It's just taken a lot more testing a playing around with it for me to get all my thoughts together on it.
Great job👍
What’s the difference between the lifeguard and safeguard??
from my knowing the safeguard has got no spring at all inside the breaking mechanism. so it engages instantly. therefore not for sportsclimbing.
have any experience with the cinch? similar to the grigri
Ya I used the cinch like once, and do plan on doing a review on it as soon as I get my hands on one. It is similar to the grigri in that it has an assisted breaking feature, however its because of the geometry that it has the assisted breaking rather than a caming unit that pitches the rope. So it may be different in terms of handling and lowering ect.. either way that is on the list of devises to review!