Gri Gri vs. I'd ......seeking opinions ....

Altissimus

Altissimus

TreeHouser
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I'm a climber who acomplishes 98% of my access SRT using the Gri Gri plus handled ascender ... overall I'm pretty happy , I do miss the one handed rappel capabilities of my old DRT with Taut line or Blake's hitch especially when I need a small adjustment to make a cut. G.F.B says there is a sweet spot in the I'd ....in his working climber video ...anyone out there use'm both ???? Dave
 
In nearly all rope descending devices based on metal pressure and friction points and that are activated by lever action the rope must be tended by another hand. I have yet to use any one device single handed without going into a jerky or uncontrolled descent.

Now with a taut-line hitch, Blake's, or practically any variation of prusik, a climber can feather the descent in full control with one hand on the knot. I speak primarily when either is used for double line technique. In SRT it's another thing. But even still I have yet to use any descending device in SRT that can be feathered like a friction hitch.

There's got to be one out there.
 
Lumberjack says he gets a one-handed feather control descent out of the I'D...I do not; the sweet spot is just to narrow for it to work well one-handed for me.

I speculated that since Carl weighs a solid 100 pounds more than I do, that the sweet spot for him might be wider, and he agreed that it could be so.

In other words, if you weigh 250+, you might get a smooth descent one-handed with an I'D.

I get the same action from the Gri Gri as I do with the I'D...same as Jerry described.
 
Jerry, the rack gives easy one-handed descent, with perfect speed control. The RQ3 rescue 8 does it well, too.
 
You're right, B. Though I was referring more along the lever activated gizmos.

Out of all of them I liked the Petzel Stop the best. The last few years I've used the Anthron. It's OK, but slow with any line over 7/16.

Interesting that Carl can one hand the ID single handed. I would have though the opposite. Did you ever read what Storrick had to say about the ID? It's not surprising. The same questions came to my mind when I first set up and used the device. It's no more than a Gri Gri, but some kind of clutch is under the cover you can't see or mess with.
 
It is supposedly possible to feather the Unicender on a single line, but the price prevents me from researching that personally.
 
It is Leon, we saw that in use at our last chapter conference. Very nice piece of incredibly expensive metal friction device.
 
Burnham said:
Jerry, the rack gives easy one-handed descent, with perfect speed control. The RQ3 rescue 8 does it well, too.
Click to expand...

Burnam thats a bit over the top.

But i suppose with 600 feet of rope below or more is doesent get any better than the rack.
What kind of decent did you have in mind , coming out of a cali tree i suppose.
You are so well respected .
Rack ? One handed ?
It takes three hands just to rig.

I guess in a perfect situation you are correct.

However i think as the future goes , most climbers will use small dia. ropes.
And more gri gri , type decenders and obviously acenders.

One of our climbing bros just soloed the N face of the Dru in Chamonix.
5 mill cord was course de rigure.
Oh yeAH bABY :O
 
darkstar said:
Burnam thats a bit over the top.

But i suppose with 600 feet of rope below or more is doesent get any better than the rack.
What kind of decent did you have in mind , coming out of a cali tree i suppose.
You are so well respected .
Rack ? One handed ?
It takes three hands just to rig.

I guess in a perfect situation you are correct.

However i think as the future goes , most climbers will use small dia. ropes.
And more gri gri , type decenders and obviously acenders.

One of our climbing bros just soloed the N face of the Dru in Chamonix.
5 mill cord was course de rigure.
Oh yeAH bABY :O
Click to expand...

:what:
 
I use the Petzel Stop as well, at least for making long descents. Out of all the lever action descent devices, I find it to be the smoothest. Gri Gri is to herky jerky for me and tends to kink the rope on long ascents. The ID is what we used for Tower rescues when training becauase it's pretty much idiot proof. It is smooth wants you get it activated. let go it locks, pull to hard it locks. Sometimes finding the sweet spot can be a pain for some. I can run my Stop one handed if I want but, prefer not to.

I guess my question is, why did you switch from drt to srt?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #12
..thanks to all who posted .... the answer is easier ascents.... I can get to the work quicker with more energy left for rigging and cutting ....
 
I find that true also, Dave, but will switch over to drt once I reach the tie-in. How often I've actually done it is another thing though. Only in high tie-in points scenarios.
 
VerTrue Burnham. I believe they make two different models.
 
Hes radical. My bro soloed the same route almost as fast .
Naw man none of us rock climbers front point up trees with loose bark and all , however its been done .
Just usually using a top rope.
Anyhow we have the new spider and its awesome.

I always prefered a 9 mill and a gri gri.
Its just whatever you are most comfortable with IMO.
Gri Gri will slip in a heart beat on a slippery 9 mill .

Thats a great Video huh and a good story to.
 
I've had the chance to try out the Gri Gri, the I'd, the Stop, and the Unicender. Of them all, the only one that allows smooth one-handed control is the Unicender, but to get this in SRT you have to use it in the "squeeze to stop" mode with the rope wrapped around the handle. In this mode, if you let go you fall. Probably because I've always used a friction hitch in DdRT, I personally prefer a "squeeze to go" method where if you let go you stop. Still though, the Unicender is the only device that works equally well for ascending and descending, works in both DdRT and SRT, with both 7/16" and 1/2", and can be easily installed midline (maybe even with one hand with practice).
 
Maybe after Wespur sells some more for him he might be able to afford that. I was very encouraged to hear he finally got insurance. Its tough for us 1 man bands:|:
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #24
you must mean "One Brand Man" as well ... anyways I would be especially interested in the I'd if it's the1/2" ...I will PM you my address .... DAVE
 
The CE and UL Certs are way over priced just to break test something and say it's OK. Unfortunately so many of the retailers will not carry products that haven't passed the Certs. It's a bum rap for the small guy and then some big outfit ends up stealing the idea.

Carry your own insurance helps, but you'll never get the volume sales. Though for a small niche market it's a toss up sometimes.

Real tough call.
 
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