El Mudo 2.0 for Rope Solo

ubuwrote:

You can see the Yomi in use here: https://fb.watch/gULPpiAlLh/  

It looks like a tube device attached to the chest harness.  Would love to hear details from those in the know.

Yes - it is a super simple ATC belay type device that, from descriptions and videos, feeds well when pulling cache rope slack, but when slack runs out locks like an ATC in guide mode. It is attached in back around the harness so it can bear full weight. So it can either act as a "third hand" to trigger the solo device, or could even stop a fall by itself, though I doubt it would ever get to that stage

PM me if you’re interested in a group buy at the Black Friday $99 + shipping price.

Last call on a group buy to split shipping. I’ll be ordering Tuesday night MT

Just got mine in the mail today and wanted to give a quick review for those who may be on the fence. It is much heavier than I expected. I think it might be cast stainless steel. I am opting for a steel carabiner instead of using a cord to tie into it. I ended up having to use my die grinder to increase the opening just slightly so that carabiner didn’t bind up. I am not sure if other people are having this type of issue. I tried top roping  with the device today and had some issues with the older rope I was using. It didn’t feed very well. I might try using a newer rope or polishing the cam to help reduce the friction. Rappelling with it was also slightly precarious with the older rope. I really had to crank down on the top side of the device to get the rope to lower . Overall I am pretty happy with the device. I bought it while it was on sale so a pretty cheap investment and way less sketchy than a grigri. I am looking forward to trying it on lead with my newer rope.

modified opening

I have been climbing with a Soloist for over 25 years, and think it is the best lead solo device ever made.  I have a Silent Partner, but think it is far inferior.  This El Mudo looks like it might be similar to a Soloist.  I just ordered one and will try it out soon and report my comparison to the Soloist.

Looking through weekend whippers, it seems that most unexpected falls end in inversion. I'm guessing most people will not use this to lob off overhanging 8a's, so the inversion thing is key I would have thought, as is moving fast on multipitch (otherwise might as well TRS?) with minimal faff. 

David Coleywrote:

Looking through weekend whippers, it seems that most unexpected falls end in inversion. I'm guessing most people will not use this to lob off overhanging 8a's, so the inversion thing is key I would have thought, as is moving fast on multipitch (otherwise might as well TRS?) with minimal faff. 

Use it with YOMI and no worries ;)

But yes, it means a chest harness

Are you tying it on or using a carabiner, seems like a carabiner could cause it to move. A piece of very small cord tied onto the pin might work.

Plus maybe a couple of alternatives for the Yomi?

David Coleywrote:

Looking through weekend whippers, it seems that most unexpected falls end in inversion. I'm guessing most people will not use this to lob off overhanging 8a's, so the inversion thing is key I would have thought, as is moving fast on multipitch (otherwise might as well TRS?) with minimal faff. 

Surely that sample is biased towards falls with the most click bait potential?

Any news out there on when the Yomi will be released?  I'm getting tired of faffing around with a Klemheist on the cache loop...

Originally I think Manuel had hoped for mid - late January but things are taking longer than expected because trying to do three things in parallel: develop and produce the Mudo 3.0; the Yomi; and the chest harness. The last I heard it will be March for the Yomi

This device looks really interesting. Without having dove too deeply into any of the videos out there, it appears like the mechanism functions very similarly to the soloist. Does anyone have perspective to specifically compare the mudo vs the soloist? And/or, the mudo vs the gri-gri (for LRS)?

Also what exactly is the yomi? 

Functionally they are the same.  Lead solo device that are bomber but require a backup of some type for inverted falls and both need a chest harness of some type. 

The mechanism of how they work is different however.  The Soloist uses a cam in the body that pinches the rope in one place.  The Mudo uses a pivot pin that gets sucked down into the body and pivots,  pinching the rope in two places. It also has the additional feature that you can easily rap with it by inserting a 'biner in the free end to use like a handle.  

IMO the Mudo functionally replaces and updates the Soloist.

I described the Yomi further up-thread.

It's a cache loop management and back- up device that's like a simple ATC that is connected to the back of the harness and the chest harness.

SICgripswrote:

I described the Yomi further up-thread.

It's a cache loop management and back- up device that's like a simple ATC that is connected to the back of the harness and the chest harness.

Has anyone tried using a similarly rigged  ATC instead of the Yomi?

Victor Creazziwrote:

Has anyone tried using a similarly rigged  ATC instead of the Yomi?

I messed around with the ATCs I had on hand and started getting close to the feed and cache loop part. But the retaining wire was too long and I had an alternative rigging to what I've seen.  I have up for now until I get one to test. 

The locking off isn't the issue,  it's the balance between feed and preventing the weight of the free rope not pull the slack out of the cache loop. The device has to be free to pivot when pulling slack back and away from the device.  I think dimensions, geometry, and rigging will all be key. Also the rope size that it works with might be limited.  I had it rigged so the retaing biner and and bight of rope all shared one slot. 

SICgripswrote:

I messed around with the ATCs I had on hand and started getting close to the feed and cache loop part. But the retaining wire was too long and I had an alternative rigging to what I've seen.  I have up for now until I get one to test. 

The locking off isn't the issue,  it's the balance between feed and preventing the weight of the free rope not pull the slack out of the cache loop. The device has to be free to pivot when pulling slack back and away from the device.  I think dimensions, geometry, and rigging will all be key. Also the rope size that it works with might be limited.  I had it rigged so the retaing biner and and bight of rope all shared one slot. 

I tried an ATC a few weeks ago using rigging similar to what Manuel Larios shows in his Mudo videos. It worked ok using an older 9.8 rope, but I had to play around with different carabiners in the rope slot to get the friction just right.  Feeding into the cache loop was decent and there was no backfeed.  If the Yomi geometry improves on the experience, I will be first in line to buy one.

Not trying to be critical--just curious/interested. 

For LRS how does this improve on a grigri with elastic around neck and a rollnlock or mt for cache loop?

Bruno Schullwrote:

Not trying to be critical--just curious/interested. 

For LRS how does this improve on a grigri with elastic around neck and a rollnlock or mt for cache loop?

I'm still new to the LRS game and haven't tried either the upright or inverted grigri method, and would love to see a response from someone with deeper experience, but here is my 2 cents.  The main thing for me is that the mudo doesn't suffer from the high-clip slipping issue, and reliably locks off when falling both above and below protection.  The simplicity of the mechanism adds to a sense of confidence, and the lack of a lever that could catch during a fall and open the device is also attractive.  The yomi solution for the cache loop is nice because it eliminates the need for back-up knots; once the cache loop runs out the mudo will definitely activate (vs. a microtrax that *might* not be able to generate enough kick to trigger a grigri). 

Bruno Schullwrote:

Not trying to be critical--just curious/interested. 

For LRS how does this improve on a grigri with elastic around neck and a rollnlock or mt for cache loop?

With the MT or RnL for the cache loop, you still have to have some form of back-up. The Yomi provides a cache loop and back-up in one light device.

Re the El Mudo vs the Grigri, the linked article has a chart from my research  using both of them. It's a bit dated since the V.3 El Mudo will soon be out which fixes some of my issues with it. I've also done further mods on the Grigri  (not pubilshed yet) which improves it also. However, I'd only recommend the mods for experienced tinkers. Best just to get a rope solo device that is designed specifically for lead rope soling and support the designer who is providing a valuable product and service to the rope solo community. He's been very responsive to our input. The thing is bomber and designed from the ground up for lead rope soloing. See my comparison here: https://sicgrips.blogspot.com/2022/11/mudo-2.html