I was at an outing this spring for some climbing in Vantage, WA. My friends and I were climbing next to some climbers from BC and Quebec. After an hour of climbing the main french guy, who apparently is a sponsored climber, came over and looked at my 9.8 mm rope, then my Gri Gri then very arrogantly asked "is this a special Gri Gri?" My friends and I looked at each other confused. Then he went on to tell us we shouldn't be climbing on such a small rope without a "special Gri Gri". We went on the rest of the day without incident.

My question is, is there some truth behind what he was saying? Or was he just being an arrogant know-it-all? I've never heard of a "special gri gri" for smaller ropes.

Yes. It is called a Cinch. Rated for much smaller diameter ropes.

As you know the Gri Gri is only rated for 10.0 and larger. But, many on this site claim it will lock up just fine with most any size rope if you treat is like an atc. That is, you never let go of the brake hand and don't assume it is auto-locking. It is not! Tell frenchy to go smoke a cigarette.

the specs are 10-11; but seen 9.5 dropped on it without consequence. He's right though, technically, you're out of spec.

There is an industrial model for larger applications that has panic stops. Haven't seen one for smaller

use mine down to 9.2.
works fine if you pay attention and use it correctly.

People from Quebec are not French...
A friend uses a gri on his 8.9 and hasn't dropped anyone yet. It wants to slip though.

ah 9.7, yes it does in one little also-mentioned type sentence. It also says it in their device comparison table; though everything else says 10 to 11; so technically at 9.8, you're in spec, then.



(ps - I hate that new method for a lead belay)

you shoulda just said you had a special American brake hand; it's much more reliable

I use my grigri on 9.* ropes without a problem. My grigri, however, isn't used all that much; I only use it sport and wall climbing. Not long ago I was out climbing with a friend who uses his grigri on all of the climbs he does (sport, trad, etc) and therefore had a lot more use than mine. When we opened both devices up, we noticed that mine was a lot tighter in the rope-sitting area. Because of the amount of use his gets, he had worn off a bit of the metal in the guts on his device and we noticed that it didn't catch nearly as easily as mine.

So while I think most grigris are fine on 9.* ropes, I would say that wear and tear should be a consideration when using smaller diameter ropes with grigris.

--Marc

i've taken a number of 15-20 foot falls with a 9.8mm rope and a gri-gri. it worked fine.

as for the comments about making sure to keep your hands on the brake, the brake hand should always be on the rope regardless of whether you're using an ATC or a gri-gri, a 9.2mm rope or an 11mm rope. why? 'cause i might be belaying next to you and i don't want my day ruined by the sight of your friend splatting on the ground.

I'm curious, anyone have any first hand experience with catching a Force Factor 1 fall on a gri when a smaller rope is being used ?

While Gri's seem to work ok on smaller diam ropes in normal usage as long as you're paying attention, I wonder what happens in that small percentage of falls that occur outside normal usage ?

not necessarily, when you do go thinner with the rope you lose some ability to hold.

What are you people talking about? Diesel engines say "Diesel Fuel Only" but I know a number of people that put "other fuels" in without incident. And when baking, if you use bananas instead of eggs, that works too. And if you're catholic and preach sex is for procreation only, using birth control is fine! Things are meant to be experimented with, just don't try to sue if you take it a little too far.

Beagle? Buff? you guys are the same person, aren't you?

Experience from last Thursday:
The Cinch caught my unexpected 50-foot aid climbing fall. With an 11mm big wall rope that sucker locked up tight if you looked at it crossly, brake hand or no brake hand. Letting a long loop hang down on the brake hand side added some extra security when we were eating, etc. at the belays.

nah, beagle's a pussy --- so if I live by the straight & narrow, I can sue God?

statically you can hold about 600 ft lbs with a 10.5; this goes down to about 350 ft lbs with a low 9 using a typical tube/atc type device. It's just a matter of how much a duration you have as to whether you can control the fall throughout or if you're gonna lose it. Makes a good case for belay gloves, though.