Best gear for Lead Rope Soloing?

Dunno what others' aged Soloists are looking like these days, but here's mine ...

Jason ELwrote:

Dunno what others' aged Soloists are looking like these days, but here's mine ...

So do you use knots to back it up in case of an inverted fall?  Seems like that would make it totally safe.

And it looks like you've used it quite a bit!

Edelrid eddy. I'm particularly fond of how easy it is to manually lock or unlock it one handed. 

Buck Rogerswrote:

So do you use knots to back it up in case of an inverted fall?  Seems like that would make it totally safe.

And it looks like you've used it quite a bit!

Sometimes.  Just depends.  

I've never had a backup knot hit the device in a fall.  In theory, it seems like it should arrest the fall.

The number of backup knots is generally inversely proportional to my confidence.  And knots require attention: attention to tie; attention to where you are going to be on the route when the knot gets to the device- mid crux would be ill-timed; attention to untie; attention to what they are doing down there, outside of your direct control - are they going to get caught in a crack, rope an icicle; and so forth.  On a long route, backup knots can really slow you down.  

Some days, you just climb with Zen.  Effortless.  

Some days, you simply become tethered to an invisible and cruel puppet master who feeds off of your apprehension.

I think the deviation from normal is much higher when climbing by yourself than with a partner.  A partner can keep you centered.  By yourself, it's easy for apprehension or overconfidence to run you off the rails.

I just posted a Silent Partner for sale on Ebay if interested.  I know it is pricey but it's the best for rope solo lead climbing...

Lotapowderwrote:

I just posted a Silent Partner for sale on Ebay if interested.  I know it is pricey but it's the best for rope solo lead climbing...

Dude, another one sells for over a thousand.  Congrats!  

I was in the running for a bit but it got too rich for my blood!

Not bad for a piece of metal made in 1999, if i read the production date correctly on the photos!

Avoid using any ascender or device with teeth. Trust me on this. A hard fall can concentrate so much pressure on where the teeth grab the rope that it can instantly melt and break. 

I use a Gri Gri with backup knots.

The screenshot below shows Simon Gietl lead rope soloing a route in the Dolomites.  My understanding is that he does lots of rope soloing.

In this shot, his system seems to be a Grigi at chest level, a micro trax for a cache loop, with back up knots (or at least one back-up knot!). 

My questions: how does it appear that his Grigri is attached to his body?  Directly to the chest harness?  On the waist belt with an attachment to the chest harness?  Has the GriGri simply slipped into a sideways orientation, or is the sideways orientation intentional?  Does it look like this Grigri is upside down as some people prefer for LRS?  

I've done my share of rope soling, mostly TRS, but I haven't found a lead system that works for me yet, so I'm still experimenting. 

All the best. 

Many people add an attachment point to the Gri Gri and then put a chest harness on it to keep the orientation vertical all of the time. 

@Tim, cool, thanks.  I've done that with my Lov2 for top rope soling, not with a GriGri.  Is that what's likely going on here?  Just a small hole drilled on the plate of the GriGri, a keeper loop clipped to the chest harness...something like that?  I was asking mainly because it looks like the GriGri is rotated strongly to the rope side (intentional?) and because it looks like the GriGri might be upside down, which I've heard the cool kids are doing these days.  All best.

Bruno Schullwrote:

@Tim, cool, thanks.  I've done that with my Lov2 for top rope soling, not with a GriGri.  Is that what's likely going on here?  Just a small hole drilled on the plate of the GriGri, a keeper loop clipped to the chest harness...something like that?  I was asking mainly because it looks like the GriGri is rotated strongly to the rope side (intentional?) and because it looks like the GriGri might be upside down, which I've heard the cool kids are doing these days.  All best.

Pretty sure that's what he's got going on. If you do a Google search for Gri Gri mods, there are dozens of examples of people adding the chest harness attachment point.

This was an unmodified GriGri, with the free end in a pack.  I think it's just hanging from the tie in point, with no chest harness.

I've never used a GriGri, so I can't really compare and contrast.  While taking photos, I was kind of jealous to see the carefree orientation of the GriGri, in my mind's comparison to keeping my Soloist (reasonably) upright.

I really like the lifeguard with a CT Roll'n'lock for my cache loop and then use slipknots every 10' or so on my feed side. The lifeguard beats out the grigri in that the spring is stiffer so it's less likely to lock up in a faster move but still will lock up fine in a fall (which I have done on aid solo on a slab).  Just have to make sure you tie the slipknots so they tighten if they contact your device instead of untie.  I do also have a Revo and now that I'm seeing more and more people successfully use that I might switch over.

Love lifeguard for LS. Revo feeds well, but is harsh on ropes in falls and not reliable for hangs / takes.

The Silent Partner is perhaps the best device if you plan on not falling. If you will actually fall then it should be rated as one of the worst devices. Get a Taz Lov3, use backup knots, and enjoy being able to use it for rappelling and seconding your pitch, too. 

Maybe the silent partner was so much better when people hadn't really found great ways to mitigate the problems of the other devices. But just take your grigri and put it upside down and tie stopper slipknots and manage your cache loop with a Trax or backpack and you have a pretty bomber setup. No need to drop a grand on a silent partner. 

I agree with Kevin the Revo is good but it's route conditional (good luck on slab) and loads of other devices aren't. Eddy, grigri, and especially the Lov it seems all perform just as well if not better than the Revo, and some can save time of switching devices. 

There is no best device. There are a bunch of devices that are excellent for LRS and have some issues that need to be mitigated, but this can be done easily. If you fall with a SP and end up in free hanging space you can't just lower, you have to unweight the device, which means bringing jumars or a prussik, so the SP is not without problems that need to be mitigated, either. 

I have been using a Revo and a wild country rope man for cache loop management. The Revo feeds super smooth. I do use a steel carabineer with anti crossloading. One thing I noticed with the Revo is that back feeding can be a big issue some times (I have use an unmodified grigri and it also back fed but not quite as much). To mitigate this I will tie an over hand knot with a big bunny ear so it will not pass through a quick draw. The knot is tied such that in a fall the tension will untie it. I have taken a couple falls with this system. They were small falls, less than 8 feet, and I didn't notice any excessive rope wear or anything like that. 

Another Revo user

I climb a lot of moderate 5.10- slab these days. 

A fair bit of LRS, ground-up bolting from a stance, hand drill and hammer. 

Runout friction is king. 

I use a modified Revo and it works great for lower angle terrain. Taken numerous falls on it. I marked the modded side green. Climbing and clipping quickly can be difficult but is manageable. 

I extend the Revo with a shoulder-length sling, doubled, and threaded through the waist and leg loops. This gives a few extra inches to flip the device over each thigh to reduce drag. Helps when traversing or when avoiding stepping over the rope. 

I use a steel locker. 

MiniTrax for the cache on the R or L, depending on which way the route predominantly travels. 

For backfeed, I'll quickly tie a loose figure-eight and clip it to a bolt or a good piece of gear or two. I've used a munter, one-handed, but keep ending up back at the eight. Clipping from a good stance, right?

Can rap with the Revo to clean. Need to stop and worried about the Revo unlocking? A couple wraps around the thigh, good to go.

Climb back up or just batman using the MiniTrax.. yeah, yeah, I know.

Don't try this, YGD, most definitely

I know this is an old thread, but I can't stand not saying something that I feel strongly about, and which no-one else seems to be saying.  I have been rock climbing for over 30 years, most of that time on rope-solo lead.  Most of this is trad climbing, and usually multi-pitch at about the same difficulty as I do with a partner.  I think by far the best device ever made for rope solo leading is the Rock Exotica Soloist.  I also own a Rock Exotica Silent Parnter, but the Soloist is very much superior.  The Soloist feeds far more smoothly on lead, and it doesn't have any internal complicated mechanisms that can freeze or gum up and fail to engage, the way the Silent Partner can.  The one oft-cited downside of the soloist (does not lock off in upside-down fall) is grossly exaggerated.  You just always tie a backup on the feed-in rope, especially in situations where you might flip over.  The smooth feeding and certain lock-off of the Soloist compared to any other device far outweighs this one concern that can easily be solved with a backup knot, which you should use anyway with any rope solo lead system.

Do you know El Mudo?