Complete Guide into Belay Devices - Differences and Efficient Usage | Ep.6

Super helpful. I learned Slip Slap Slide from some old dudes teaching a community college course back in 2004, and I used it for a long time with tube style devices. Only when I went back to school and took another climbing class in 2015 did someone teach me PBUS. The instructor wasn't that put off by Slip Slap Slide, he'd seen it used for a long time, but he asked me to use PBUS because it was "better". I didn't really get a satisfactory answer on why it was better until now. Thanks!

What are your thoughts on stepping forward to give slack (fast) or backwards to take slack? Ofcourse doesnt apply to mutli-pitch but for belaying from the ground.

Love this series! So well made and informative. I used this series as a supplement when I was learning top-rope climbing!

Thanks!

New Subscriber. Love all your video's very great details. Thank you. Keep up the great stuff. And keep safe

When full belay device comparison video??

Hello, your videos are really great and made with great attention to detail. Thank you very much for that.
I'm interested in your scales, I've been looking for a long time with which you can easily and without much effort tinker a simple test station and the values can also get via Bluetooth on the phone.
Maybe you can post a link...😉

i learned for tunneling that you shoudl imagine your holding a coin at all times and the coin may not fall down, because if it would, your climber would too

Hey Ben, late to the party, awesome video!

On choice of devices video: I had a near-accident with a Jul2, since belayer was holding the rope a little too high. That lead to some research, and decission for the Grigri. Takes quite a while to really ingrain the Gaswerk method, best decission for sport climbing. On trad still some tube (2 ropes, weight, hands free belaying from below).

Great video, thanks!

Thank you great video and i learn a lot from u 🙏

What about Figure 8 ?
(Munter hitch etc)

Thanks
Great Video!!

I started working at a sport climbing gym a couple months ago, these vids have been a great resource for helping out our members!

New subscriber! Your video was very good. Thank you!

Danke!

Question: When I first started learning to climb back in 1969, there were no belay devices. We belayed by putting the rope around our waist below whatever harness we had. And if the belayer was on the ground, the belayer was anchored so there was no chance of "changing positions". I see from this video and from observing belaying at a climbing gym I just joined that the belayer is never anchored. Why is that?

I would definitely appreciate a buyer's guide, especially as a starting climber who mostly wants to get practicing indoors as safely as possible

What’s the number 1 rule? Wear trousers with flies or buttons at the front? 😂

The double fisherman's knot may cause trouble: Due to ist quite symmetric shape when pulling a rope after abseiling it might get stuck if being blocked by an edge. In contrast the (simple) sack stitch knot has a tendency to roll sideways offering its »smoother« side to an edge.

You recommend the figure of eight knot. Really? In my experience it is soooo hard to untie following a hard fall. On contrast the tucked bowline is well tested for climbing and sooooo much easier to untie

Your awesome man! Really appreciate all the great info and you taking the time to educate all of us noobies….for free 🤯. Your a great human lol This series just got you another subscriber.

Great content. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. As a novie climber that is stepping into rope climbing (of course guided and supported by experienced trainers) your videos complete my knowledge and makes me aware of important detials. Much appreciated!

What brand and model is your force meter?

Great ❤

Dziękujemy.

None of those devices make any sense in real world climbing. Too big, to complex, too heavy, and way to distractingly ugly.
An ordinary 10mm thick 45mm diameter plate of aluminum with two rounded slots of 0.5mm greater diameter than your chosen rope (doubled on itself) will suffice to allow a 60kg climber with poor hand strength to arrest a 130kg climber in a factor 2 fall —if the 60kg climbers harness is tied to a daypack full of rocks. Off course that factor 2 fall is at the limits of the rope, and ought to be avoided. But still they happen which is why we climb on stretchy high diameter rope that can absorb a lot of energy. But the same two hole plate (using the smaller hole) can be successfully used to reliably arrest a sub factor 2 fall.
My super micro belay plate has just one slot and less metal volume than the rope loop passed through it. As long as it is never permitted to get too hot to handle it works very effectively to allow two finger braking (or thumb and forefinger). One handed breaking is second nature to me. The only thing I needed to teach students was not to bother gripping the live side (loaded) of the rope except to feed out to a the lead climber. Walking their fingers on the brake side was a skill they taught themselves when they realised the lead climbers require just the right amount of slack to be continuously maintained. All that ever took was a brief, “look how I do this exercise to improve my finger strength. And they would practice with both their dominant and off hands, alternating while they safely belayed.

The fancy smancy belay device designs you have demonstrated are good for only two things -spending money, and showing off. And maybe a 3rd thing - perhaps use as a jumar.

For €500 I will make you an ugly, complex safe belay device that a 3 year old could learn to use as long as they are sitting on a 100kg bag to which their harness is attached. It will have no cams, no fiddly bits and almost zero moving parts, and will do no harm to the child’s bare hands. (Most of the fancy device will be devoted to ensuring tiny fingers do not get stuck in the holes under any circumstance where the holes have live rope passing through). For €1000 I will make it in pretty colours. For €1500 I will make a device that plays a tune, and glows in the dark.

You briefly mentioned the ability to slide some rope in tube style devices to make the catch dynamic. I have been searching to see if this method is safe - it’s quite popular in sport climbing over here. But unlike the other two dynamic belaying methods which have so much content, you can barely find the sliding method being mentioned!

Your instruction videos are the best, thanks for sharing.😀

I would definitively love an in depth and objective review of the benefits and drawbacks of the various devices

Hard is Easy, thanks for the vids (plural), very informative. I would like to ask a question about friction control. Say you have two belay devices made for different rope diameters, for example a BD ATC Guide (8.5 mm - 11 mm) and a BD ATC Alpine Guide (6.5 mm - 9.0 mm). Do both devices give you the same friction if used with the same rope (e.g. with a 9 mm) ?

Dude! The sound affect for #2 had me rolling throughout the entire video.

I like the click-up. You quickly get used to unlocking it intuitively in case it locks by accident, while feeding rope or so.

Also I did a lot of research beforehand, as I was deciding between Grigri and Click-Up. The Grigri seems to be designed in a way that encourages users to get into sloppy behaviour over time. There are tons of cases where a Grigri failed due to wrong usage.
The Click-Up seems to me much more straight-forward and foolproof in that regard.

best video I have seen so far. Thank you

Can you do a tutorial on the Giga Jul?

I would trust my life climbing with you. Excellent video and education.

Thanks!

Can u do 8 ring belaying too which is old classic way?

Always put your right hand below the hip when u are belaying?

Singing rock Rama proved to be the best belay aid for us. It is a copy of Mammut smart or Black diamond Pilot. My son, who provides me with belaying, once let go of both hands from the rope. He was startled and confused, and if it weren't for the semi-automatic safety device, I would have fallen from six to seven meters to the ground. It was in an indoor climbing wall.
Otherwise, many thanks for the great videos, very useful especially for us beginners.

Your videos worth a lot more than all the climbing courses I’ve taken… huge thank and I hope this channel will continue!

I have had the Mammut Smart device fail on me in two different scenarios. Not just failing to lock, but locking in such a way as to reduce friction almost entirely. Thank god I had on gloves and was only lowering the climber so I had time to do a hip/leg wrap. If the climber had fallen I could not have caught him. In the second instance I was dropped three bolts from a take at a bolt by my belayer. She managed to knock it out if it’s bad lock position and stop me from hitting the ground. I refuse to use this device now. It’s dangerous.

I use a fourth way with the tuber. Just swap hands, no sliding. Left hand up, feeds down the rope, right hand pulls forward. Then just put the left hand down, the right hand goes on top, right hand feeds into the device, left hand pulls down, then you move the right hand down and are back at the start. You always have a hand firmly grabbing the rope beneath the tuber. It’s not a complicated movement, both hands can do it.

forMe,GlovesWouldBeMandatoryInTheseActivities.

....WOW!!!! THANK YOU , FOR SO MUCH HELPFUL INFORMATION!!!... I NOTICED THAT THE WOMEN HELPING (BELAYING) IN YOUR CLIPS, WERE EITHER NOT WEARING GLOVES, NOT WEARING SAFETY GLASES, ..SOME HAD NO SAFETY HARD-HAT,... AND FEW WERE MAKING ANY EFFORT TO OBSERVE THE "CLIMBER!!! PERHAPS THESE ROOKIES NEED TO BE SCOLDED, OR, MADE TO CLIMB WITH A SIMILARLY LACKADAISICAL PARTNER!... THAT WAY, THEY CAN ONLY HURT EACH OTHER!!!...

Not a climber (yet) but that subscribe reminder got me brother. Take my subscribe, too funny.