Raed Zaed: ohm alternative?

This is ZAED mini. 3 adjustable friction levels. Soft catches as used to from ZAED 1, it feels similar to catches from a same weight belayer and the belayer can adjust the fall depth of the climber in the way they're used to.  

Improvements over ZAED 1:

• Weight of only 100g due to FEM optimized design and hightech materials like titanium
• improved geometry for super smooth rope pay out, even smoother than with ZAED 1
• Friction geometry optimized for modern, thinner 9.x ropes as well as classical 10.0 ropes. 
• Increased durability: all rope friction points made from stainless steel, so this device will live with you for a very, very long time
• CE certification

Important to know: ZAED mini does not provide additional friction for whippers at the very first bolt. It's recommended to use this device at crags where the first bolt is very low and / or in the gym - at these places it's nearly impossible for a belayer to catch a whipper to the first bolt and a grounder can occur even at whippers to the 3rd or 4th bolt, so a camming mechanism wouldn't help here. Alternatively it's recommended to preclip the 2nd bolt. 

Available at the end of July. 

This is ZAED pro. 3 adjustable friction levels. Soft catches as used to from ZAED 1, it feels similar to catches from a same weight belayer and the belayer can adjust the fall depth of the climber in the way they're used to.  

Improvements over ZAED 1 and ZAED mini:

• Additional safety for whippers at the first bolt with a camming mechanism that supports the belayer to help prevent grounders
• The camming mechanism will not engage from the secone bolt and higher. ZAED pro will provide the soft catch that climbers love from ZAED 1 from the second bolt on. The cam only engages at whippers to the very first bolt. 
• Weight of only 171g due to FEM optimized design and hightech materials like titanium
• improved geometry for super smooth rope pay out, even smoother than with ZAED 1
• Friction geometry optimized for modern, thinner 9.x ropes as well as classical 10.0 ropes. 
• Increased durability: all rope friction points made from stainless steel, so this device will live with you for a very, very long time
• CE certification

Available at the end of July. 

Exciting update! Have you decided on pricing?

Loving the Allgäu based belay resistor arms race that you started since launching the original Zead.

I'm especially impressed by the fact that even the Zaed Pro is going to be significantly lighter than an Edelrid Ohmega! (171g vs. 190g)

This is an insane upgrade, are those weights with or without a carabiner? I have the original Zaed titanium that weighs 259g without and 309g with the edelrid slider carabiner, and I love it other than not being able to fall on the 1st bolt (which I don't think I've ever done anyway). Is there anything that the original Zaed will do better than the newer lighter versions? Seems like the mini is a full replacement of the original at 1/3 the weight... but will being lighter make it jump up and short rope more?

We made a customer survey at the beginning of 2025 - about 150 climbers got back to us with very helpful feedback and deep insights into their experiences with the original ZAED. Based on that feedback we implemented some upgrades in the geometry: We slightly changed the geometry to have a bit more friction in level 1 and to have a smoother rope pay out in level 3. This makes the new generation of the device more helpful even with thinner ropes and at the same time it allows smoother clipping even with higher weight difference. In our tests we couldn't find any downsides regarding short roping, quite the contrary: Our prototype testers confirmed smoother clipping. 

That sounds really nice.

I kind of just got the old one and am really happy with it. As it's used mostly in the gym, I think that I am fine with the heavier weight for now.

My 2 cents: If you're happy with v1 of the device: stick to it. We don't have a planet B that we can exploit after Earth is finished. So every device we don't sell is a device we don't have to produce. That we don't have to source materials for and so on. Purchasing the newer version makes sense for those who seek for the additional safety at the first bolt or who really need the weight loss in their backpack. For pure gym climbing I honestly don't see any relevance in both of these upgrades. 

I hope this info helps. Climb hard, Stephan 

Stephan raed climbingwrote:

My 2 cents: If you're happy with v1 of the device: stick to it. We don't have a planet B that we can exploit after Earth is finished. So every device we don't sell is a device we don't have to produce. That we don't have to source materials for and so on. Purchasing the newer version makes sense for those who seek for the additional safety at the first bolt or who really need the weight loss in their backpack. For pure gym climbing I honestly don't see any relevance in both of these upgrades. 

I hope this info helps. Climb hard, Stephan 

What a response.  Major kudos to you Stephan.  

Just got a Zaed.

Funny how a company saying don't buy more stuff if you don't need it makes me want to buy their stuff even more.
If they really perform better than the original, then the 100g version is going on my wish list for cragging so I can leave the old heavy one in my gym bag. The pro is also super appealing for places with high first bolts, and it's still barely more than half the weight of the original. 

I'm mighty impressed at such huge improvements for your 2nd gen product(s). The ohm2 came out and I still had no interest in that or the ohm 1. Zaed is the way. 

Any update on the release of the new models? I’m waiting to buy the original until I see pricing on the new ones. 

We uploaded some sneak peeks some days ago: 

ZAED mini: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dBaUnzn-4Lw

ZAED pro: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qxKUahs04es 

For those want to use the normal video viewer so that its easier to rewind.

ZAED mini: https://www.youtube.com/watch/dBaUnzn-4Lw

ZAED pro: https://www.youtube.com/watch/qxKUahs04es 

Took me a while to figure out how the first bolt protection works, very interesting!

Here's another short clip that demonstrates the performance of ZAED pro: 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FC_CviJLxjw 

This is great timing for me. I might end up getting both the ohmega and new zead, one always on cam and the other ultra light weight. (Honestly just because i'm a gear whore). I've held off getting a weight equalizer for a while but they're getting quite good now so it seems like there's less and less of an excuse to not use one.

Stephan - we’re clearly frothing at the mouth to give you our money. Any update on when these will be available for purchase? 

dino74wrote:

Edelrid had a demo day at my gym and I got to tryout the Ohmega.

For reference:

Me: 190lbs

Belayer: ~125lbs

Rope: Mammut 9.5 Crag We Care Classic

Device history: Ohm(past), Zaed (Currently)

Thoughts on Ohmega (Used in the lightest mode)

Weight: Definitely a lot lighter.

Clipping: Was not as smooth as the Zaed but the Ohmega I was using had a sticky bearing as it was an early production model. It wasn't bad but it was slightly noticeable but I would ignore this finding as the bearing was sticking.  I regret not trying the smoother bearing one as there was two Ohmegas there but the smoother wasn't available for me to demo because someone else was using it. 

Catching: Ohmega had a harder catch than the Zaed but not super hard. My figure 8 did cinch down and was noticeable harder to untie. I'm mixed on this, Ohmega definitely gave me more confidence on the bigger falls  but I wonder if the rope is going to take a harder beating because of it.

First clip protection. Ohmega offers amazing first clip protection where the Zaed has none. I didn't do any big first clip falls, I just went to the first clip, had the belay give a little slack and dropped. The Ohmega kept the belayer under me where as normally the belayer would end up at or above me. I was very impressed because it uses a cam where as the Ohms uses notch for added resistance.

Overall: My belayer said she'll buy one when it comes out but I'm still on the fence with replacing the Zaed with it.

How did the Ohmega compare to the regular Ohm? I actually don't have experience with the Ohm. But my gym has an Ohm II for people to use. My gf is 120-130 lbs. and I'm 200 lbs. The Ohm II has been working fairly well. She does get pulled off the ground or dragged to the wall if I'm hanging sometimes. And I do notice a bit of short-roping now and again. But it protects against falls on the first bolt, which is important to me for outdoor climbing. I want a device I can use on multipitch routes with fixed/hanging belay stations. Seems like the Zaed wouldn't work well for that. I'm holding out for an Ohmega to try I suppose.

Oh, I also love how with the Ohm II, you don't need to pay attention to how you clip it thanks to the swivel.

Another negative for the Zaed is how they recommend the second bolt needs to be clipped before the device really adds any benefit. Not ideal for outdoor climbing and/or multipitch, which is my main use-case.

FourT6and2 ...wrote:

<snip>.

Note: I have no experience with Ohm II

>How did the Ohmega compare to the regular Ohm? 

Ohmega has less short rope but harder catch than Ohm

>Oh, I also love how with the Ohm II, you don't need to pay attention to how you clip it thanks to the swivel.

Sadly, neither Ohmega nor Zaed has the swivel.

>Another negative for the Zaed is how they recommend the second bolt needs to be clipped before the device really adds any benefit. 

I'm super excited for the Zaed Pro because it has first bolt protection.