How to Choose a Belay Device

If you're going to do any climbing beyond bouldering, you need to know how to belay. Belaying is one of the most critical of climbing skills because you have your partner's safety—and possibly even his or her life—in your hands.

In belaying, you control the rope's movement to protect the climber at the other end. You can do this without a belay device but having one definitely makes the job easier. A belay device acts as a brake on the climbing rope by applying friction to it. The device, plus the belayer's quick "braking hand" (which locks off the free end of the rope), stops the climber's fall.

Types of Belay/Rappel Devices

Assorted belay devices are available. Which one you choose depends on the kind of climbing you do.

Tubular


These models are the most widely used belay devices. Their shape is best described as an oversized thimble with twin holes in the bottom. The rope is folded and pushed through the device and clipped with a locking carabiner to the belayer or directly to the anchor. The bend in the rope and its contact with the device put friction on the rope to slow it down. These devices are suitable for any kind of climbing.

Advantages: Tubes or cones are compact, light and easy to use. They work with many rope diameters and can accommodate single or double ropes. They don't twist or kink ropes and they can be used for rappelling as well as belaying.

Disadvantage: Some people, especially lighter-weight climbers, find tubular belay devices to be slow for rappelling.

Example: The Black Diamond ATC (Air Traffic Controller) is probably the most popular tubular device on the market. All such devices have a plastic or aluminum loop on one end to keep the device attached to the carabiner when you insert or remove the rope.

Self-Braking

Self-braking belay devices have a camming mechanism that locks down on the rope when a sudden force is applied to it. They operate much like your car's seatbelts. The rope is threaded through the inside of the device, which is clipped to the anchor or the belayer. These devices are used mainly for sport climbing, either at gyms or climbing areas.

Advantages: These devices help the belayer to stop the climber's fall, though they still require a bit of tension from the braking hand to initiate the self-braking function. They feed rope smoothly and make it easy to lower the climber in a controlled manner.

Disadvantage: Self-braking devices can put high shock loads on climbing protection during a fall. As a result, they are not recommended for lead trad climbing and are best suited for use with extremely secure top-rope anchors. They should be used only with supple, 10 to 12mm single ropes. They are not recommended for use with wet or icy ropes.

Example: The Petzl Grigri is a very popular self-braking device used in many gyms and by sport climbers.

Figure 8

These are shaped like the number 8, as the name implies, with one larger and one smaller hole. A bight (bend) of rope is fed through the large hole and looped around the outside of the small hole till it rests on the "neck" of the figure 8. The small hole is clipped to the climber or anchor. Figure 8s are frequently used for search and rescue, caving and traditional climbing as rappel devices. As belay devices, they are limited to top-roped situations.

Advantages: Figure 8s are efficient and smooth for rappelling. They dissipate heat efficiently and can be used with just about any rope diameter.

Disadvantage: As belay devices, figure 8s offer inadequate braking for anything but top-roping (unless used like a belay plate with rope going only through the small hole). They also require more attention and more force from the belayer's hand than other devices, and they put a twist in the climbing rope, which can make rope handling difficult.

Example: The Black Diamond Super 8 can be used for belaying as well as rappelling.