Solo belay device question.

[lancegranite]

Read some available info, pros and cons of different systems.

Looking for your two cents. grigri/soloist/cloves/silent partner ect.

Really, I'm just trying to talk myself into buying the silent partner, but the price tag sucks.

$243.00???

At over twice as much as the next closest device, it's a little hard to believe.

 

[underworld]

i've used the wren soloist and also clove hitches... for a couple pitches each. while the soloist is less hastle it is bulkier than the clove hitches. so i imagine that would be the big complaint of the silent partner.

 

 

[JosephH]

Talk to me about roped solo climbing...

[Sol]

i've got a silent partner that you can borrow some time for a test drive if you like.

[billcoe]

Link

 

And theres one for sale next thread over too.

 

[dberdinka]

You will never see your Silent Partner digging around in the pack for another Snickers when you're sketching at the crux. Get one and expect to invest some thought and energy into learning how to really use it (i.e. it will be a real clusterfuck at first).

[lancegranite]

I just can't help thinking that it kinda reminds me of a cowbell.

 

[chirp]

I have a soloist and a modified gri gri, and both work well. Brian McCray tweaked my Gri Gri for me and its worked pretty flawlessly. Alot cheaper and less bulky than a silent partner.

 

[lancegranite]

I was going to call Brian about this, that's strange!

 

 

[underworld]

what does the modification do? i see what it is, but can't figure out its purpose...

[JosephH]

It allows the swaged loop to be attached to a chest harness to keep the grigri oriented vertically. Though, some of us just cut the triangular tab out from the one side by the biner hole, skip the chest harness, and call it good.

[lancegranite]

Some of us just bought said SP two pages over, and for a very good price as well. Thanks for the beta!

So many times I have blocks of time off, looking for partners is the toughest part. Hopefully, this SP will help a brother out.

 

 

[JosephH]

Good for you. Hopefully it will work for you and you'll enjoy roped soloing. Let us know what you think about the SP once you get some yardage under your belt...

[lancegranite]

As long as it's easier to feed rope than with my old solo aid, that thing did not give the love freely.

[Billygoat]

Casarotto used double prussics

[underworld]

Casarotto used double prussics

 

 

built-in load limiters!!

[Moof]

My 2 cents:

 

Solo-aid:

Works great for self belay top rope using a simple chest harness (just used a double length sling in a figure 8 over the sholders). Running up slab with that was the coolest, as it was maintenance free and was like fear free free-soloing.

 

For leading it is a big PITA. You basically gotta pile slack at your feel before a cruxy section to avoid having to feed rope mid-move.

 

For Aid it is OK, but things like lower outs are less than stellar, and it does require frequent frigging.

 

Silent Partner:

 

I never liked it for top rope self belay, as you have to fall fast enough to lock it up. Basically there is no equivalent of "take", just "falling".

 

For leading it works pretty good, though I always get screwed by backup knots. I hate the lack of inspectability, not sure how well you do with the heebee jeebee's when sketching out with nobody around to hear you whine.

 

For aid it is the least hassle for leading, though is like hanging fuzzy dice off your already clogged belay loop. It sucks for lower outs, you basically need to rig a belay device below it to lower out. Not sure what you'd have to go through to lock it off for a penji...

 

*** My silent partner freaked me the frick out a few years back when it failed the thumb spin test AFTER a day of aid. Basically mine went wierd in the cold, and would not lock up within an arm's length of slack being ripped through it if it had been sitting at the wrong angle at <40F (reproduceable at home in the freezer). I think the grease was to blame. I sent mine back to the factory and they found nothing wrong which was not what I wanted to hear...

 

Gri-Gri (unmodified):

 

Top Rope: Works great with a newer skinnier rope, but with a 10.5 fuzz job ou'll be tending to it a lot. I use a steel quick link to avoid the cross loading concern with a simple biner.

 

Leading: Works OK, about like the solo-aid. Best to pile slack at your feet before a crux move.

 

Aid: Works great! Lower outs, penjis, rapping back to the anchor all work pretty damn easy. Feeding rope is pretty easy, but a two hand job usually (one to thumb the cam, one to pull slack).

 

That's all I've used.

[lancegranite]

Good stuff, thanks.

[lancegranite]

Moof made good points, the SP ifs finickey for top roping, but does work pretty well for leading.

This is too bad, because I really want to use it for running laps. Tried it in cold weather yesterday and it did tend to run a little bit before catching my fall.

It's a little unnerving to jump off, I think I'm switching to semicircular "D" Mallions instead of carabiners to lower the chance of cross loading.

The SP instructions are available online, so you can see what you are in for.

[Sherri]

Thanks for posting up the feedback on your impressions of the SP, LanceG. I've been considering going that route myself in the near future. Keep 'em coming, if you don't mind...

 

For burning top-rope laps, I've been using a Singing Rock Locker--it's like the old Troll Rocker--which works beautifully for that purpose but not for self-belayed leading.

[kevino]

Sherri, what rope do you use with the Singing Rock Locker? I've been curious about getting such a device strictly for top rope soloing. With a place like vantage its easy to get to anchors and run laps. Thanks.

[Sherri]

Kevino,

 

Mostly, I use it with a 10.2mm but have also ran it on my 10mm.

 

On the smaller rope, or before a sketchy move above a ledge, I will adjust the tension lever (it's the button that puts it in/out of "locked" mode) so that it is running in a partially closed position--prevents extra rope from feeding through before it catches. Nice to have that option if you're nervous about that at all.

 

Mfr recommends using an 11mm rope, and a chest harness.

 

Singing Rock Locker device

 

[G-spotter]

.

It's a little unnerving to jump off, I think I'm switching to semicircular "D" Mallions instead of carabiners to lower the chance of cross loading.

 

Get a long, narrow maiilon instead of a semicircular. I found that this keeps your tie in isolated at one end and the device isolated at the other. I've been using a 3/8" stock maillon with a Ushba Basic for 5 years now and have never had it crossload using this maillon.

[lancegranite]

Dru,

You are saying that this:

is better than this?

 

 

[G-spotter]

Yeah totally, but use a bigger one. Mine is 3/8" stock which is pretty thick and heavy. I can tell by the size of the gate to the quicklink that the one you have the pic of above, is 1/4" stock.