mammut smart belay device

[Buckshot]

If this has been covered already please direct me to that thread. Otherwise:

A salesman was trying to talk me into a Mammut Smart Belay Device for when my 12 yr old belays me. Says its good for new belayers. Is there any advantage to using this over the ATC-XP I already have?

Or do I need to fork out the cash for a grigri?

Thanks all.

[111]

it is retarded. a buddy won one at an event and after trying it out for a weekend, I am not a fan at all, and neither was he.

[dfrost]

I love mine for gym and sport belaying: Super-easy to lead belay with, catches falls as easily and securely as my gri-gri, and locks off with little effort in TR situations.

 

The catch is lowering-it's not quite as intuitive, but with a bit of practice is just as smooth as anything else. I've had several (5) of my partners practice with it just to see what they thought, and the most common complaint is lowering. It gets difficult and jerky with stiff ropes, and ropes 9.2mm and under.

 

Hope this helps...

[ryanb]

I have the smart alpine and once i figured out how to lead belay without short ropeing (read the instructions but basically you hook your brake hand thumb on the hook thing). I like it as a light weight alternative to a gri gri... It makes locking off nice and easy and i think it will be nice for multi pitch hang fests.

 

It is not as easy to rap or lower with.

 

So if your kid is going to be holding a lot of hangfests it might be nice but I learned on at atc and a young age and think that is probably the way to go.

 

[layton]

it does it all which no other belay device can claim, but doesn't do the best at all.

 

Pros: double rope rappel and the ability to autolock on rapell for added security and fucking with gear

autolocks lead belay

can be used to rope solo

can be used as an ascender clipped to harness with ascender on aider above for "frog" style jumaring

autolocks 2nd

 

autolocks on TR belay (AWESOME!)

 

you can clip the biner outside the device to disable the autolock and it belays very smooth.

 

I've used it in all of these situations. It is very lightweight compared to other autolocking devices.

 

A perfect example I where it shines was for example, last weekend on Touchstone. Used it to casually belay leader on aid pitch (since it autolocks I was giving a more casual "gri gri" belay). I then jugged the line with it on my harness and an jumar/aider on top. I led the next pitch and shortfixed with it as a self belay until my partner got to the anchor and put me back on. I used it to belay him up "reverso" style on the free pitches. On the descent I had it in autoblock rappel mode for the unknown raps, and in free sliding mode for the easy raps. The rope got stuck and I used it to pull/lock myself up the rope to unstick the knot.

 

I wouldn't use it for hard sport belaying, but when you need one device to do the job, or on alpine climbs where a lightweight autolocking leader belay device and on sketchy reppeling routes, I'd take it over anything else. It's also good to give to a noob if you're sketched on his/her belaying or rapelling ability.

 

Cons: heavier than an ATC

takes some time to learn

not as smooth as gri gri2 for lead belaying or soloing

doesn't work well above a 9.8mm rope

works much better with a cross-load limiting biner such as

the BD Gridlock or DMM one.

 

Best use: alpine rope soloing

alpine climbs where an autolocking belay device for

lead belaying and2 rope rappel back-up would be nice

top roping

moderate aid/free climbing

 

Wost: Sport or hard trad belaying

 

I'd bring a gri-gri2 for hard aid or extensive rope-soloing, and sport/hard trad belaying that do not require 2 rope raps.

 

I'd bring a reverso (or an ATC/Gi-Gi combo) for alpine/long climbs that require a 2 rope rapell, the pitches require precise paying out of rope.

 

But remember, clipping to the outside disables the the autolocking function (except while bringing up the 2nd) so it pays out rope very smoothly.

 

I'll be using it as my go-to belay device for everything but cragging from now on. The autolocking ability is just too damn handy. You never know when a hands free lead belay, rappel, or stuck rope re-ascension will come in handy...and that shit is handy

[Buckshot]

The kids can catch a fall on the ATC-XP already. Is this thing worth buying if I am happy with the ATC?

 

[matt_m]

Not needed if your kids are SOLID with an XP etc.

 

I found with my Smart (regular one) that

 

1) Ropes need to be sub 10mm for it to be really smooth.

2) Feed slack for lead belaying: Hook your belay hand thumb on the "hook" and pull STRAIGHT OUT from your harness. It's in the directions or online video somewhere but UP doesn't work, you want STRAIGHT OUT. That makes is work well.

3) Lowering is funky. Takes practice.

4) I like it BUT I haven't found it's "niche" yet. GriGri for sport, Guide XP for Trad... Not sure where to USE it yet.

[Buckshot]

Very helpful, thanks all. Respect.