Ohmega Experiences

Has anyone seen sling abrasion after using theirs for a while? I looked at two this week that have been used pretty heavily and both had rubbing on the slings where they circle the base of the device. There is a label on the sling that wore completely through on one and partially on the other so it’s going to start rubbing through what looks like load bearing sling now. It looks inevitable with how the rope runs through the device. Caveats: I’ve never actually used the ohmega, not sure if the ones I saw were being used correctly. 

They sell a  replacment sling.

Here is mine, I got it in Dec and have used it probably 1-2x a week on average since then. There is a sacrificial fabric tag on top of the structural sling that is wearing through, but the actual sling is 3 layers thick like a skinny belay loop so I'm not too concerned. Apparently even some major rubbing doesn't dramatically reduce the sling strength per this Edelrid Youtube video.

K Go wrote:

Here is mine, I got it in Dec and have used it probably 1-2x a week on average since then. There is a sacrificial fabric tag on top of the structural sling that is wearing through, but the actual sling is 3 layers thick like a skinny belay loop so I'm not too concerned. Apparently even some major rubbing doesn't dramatically reduce the sling strength per this Edelrid Youtube video.

Mine has identical wear from early use, but it doesn't seem like it's gotten any worse other than the initial surface (tag) abrasion 

Thanks! I figured this wasn’t unique and seeing the replacement sling makes sense. 

Late to the party but I finally did some testing with my Ohmega last night in the gym. My partner outweighs me by 50lbs so it was a reasonable use case. We purposefully tried to short rope ourselves by ripping out slack while leading, and we also took a number of big whips (our feet at least a few feet above the last bolt) to see how it functioned on the different resistance settings. Our findings:

• We couldn't get it to short rope us like the original Ohm does. Even when leading and ripping slack out as if you're starting a lawnmower, the rope still fed smoothly and the Ohmega didn't lock up
• The catches felt harder on the leader than if not using a brake assistant but not significantly so. If you know how to fall and stay light on your landing, it's a total non-issue. However, this could be more of a consideration on less than vertical terrain where you generally have less time and distance prior to contacting the wall in a fall as opposed to super steep or overhanging routes.
• When taking lead falls, I could feel when the Ohmega kicked in and it was a second later than expected. No issue, just interesting to feel that. The applied slow down was very subtle
• When catching lead falls and trying to time a slight jump up for a softer catch, we both found that we had to delay our jump by an extra moment compared to what we're used to
• It's very easy to open it and clip the rope through one handed if your buddy leaves it hanging on the first draw vs. grabbing it on their way down.

Overall I'm super impressed by it. The Ohm was a horrific experience to use, but the Ohmega is fantastic.

Cosmic Hotdog wrote:

Late to the party but I finally did some testing with my Ohmega last night in the gym. My partner outweighs me by 50lbs so it was a reasonable use case. We purposefully tried to short rope ourselves by ripping out slack while leading, and we also took a number of big whips (our feet at least a few feet above the last bolt) to see how it functioned on the different resistance settings. Our findings:

• We couldn't get it to short rope us like the original Ohm does. Even when leading and ripping slack out as if you're starting a lawnmower, the rope still fed smoothly and the Ohmega didn't lock up
• The catches felt harder on the leader than if not using a brake assistant but not significantly so. If you know how to fall and stay light on your landing, it's a total non-issue. However, this could be more of a consideration on less than vertical terrain where you generally have less time and distance prior to contacting the wall in a fall as opposed to super steep or overhanging routes.
• When taking lead falls, I could feel when the Ohmega kicked in and it was a second later than expected. No issue, just interesting to feel that. The applied slow down was very subtle
• When catching lead falls and trying to time a slight jump up for a softer catch, we both found that we had to delay our jump by an extra moment compared to what we're used to
• It's very easy to open it and clip the rope through one handed if your buddy leaves it hanging on the first draw vs. grabbing it on their way down.

Overall I'm super impressed by it. The Ohm was a horrific experience to use, but the Ohmega is fantastic.

What resistance setting were you using for 50lb difference? I'm about the same and mostly use the lowest setting as I find the middle setting gets stuck in the clamping position since the sling is shorter when you clip both ends. 

K Go wrote:

What resistance setting were you using for 50lb difference? I'm about the same and mostly use the lowest setting as I find the middle setting gets stuck in the clamping position since the sling is shorter when you clip both ends. 

We tried the lowest (+) setting and the strongest (++). As the lighter belayer, I preferred the lowest setting and I think my partner did too because the catch seemed softer. I don't mind getting lifted up the wall so the lowest setting added some braking power without providing a harder than necessary catch. 

Cosmic Hotdog wrote:

We tried the lowest (+) setting and the strongest (++). As the lighter belayer, I preferred the lowest setting and I think my partner did too because the catch seemed softer. I don't mind getting lifted up the wall so the lowest setting added some braking power without providing a harder than necessary catch. 

I'd echo similar to the comments above - I'm nearing 190 pounds and my partner is about 120, and I exclusively use the Ohmega on the lowest setting.  It's enough of a difference to mitigate any overly long falls and I still get a soft catch, unlike with the OG Ohm where I regularly would get spiked.  I have even fallen directly on the device (on lowest setting) and it still offers enough friction that I'm not concerned for my or my belayer's well being.  

You guys should try the highest setting and try to do the sensor hand belay.
It's pretty awesome.

Another thing is to take into account where the belayer is standing. It can change how things feel a solid amount IME. The bigger the deviation to bolt one, the harder the engagment no matter the setting.

I, usually have it on the low setting too (60ish lb difference) but will have it on high when:
The SHB is being used (which is rare, TBH), if using a skinny rope (9.2mm>), and if there is an obvious low crux (2/3 bolt).

Mr Rogers wrote:

You guys should try the highest setting and try to do the sensor hand belay.
It's pretty awesome.

Another thing is to take into account where the belayer is standing. It can change how things feel a solid amount IME. The bigger the deviation to bolt one, the harder the engagment no matter the setting.

I, usually have it on the low setting too (60ish lb difference) but will have it on high when:
The SHB is being used (which is rare, TBH), if using a skinny rope (9.2mm>), and if there is an obvious low crux (2/3 bolt).

Sensor hand braking is super interesting, however that would require my belayers to all learn how to do it since I'm both the heavy dude and the gear nerd. 

K Go wrote:

Sensor hand braking is super interesting, however that would require my belayers to all learn how to do it since I'm both the heavy dude and the gear nerd. 

You can get the ball rolling by learning how to do it yourself! Sensor hand belay is an excellent belay technique for heavy dudes to softly belay much lighter climbers. It has been advocated for this by the German Alpine Clup before Edelrid picked it up and recommended it for the Ohmega.

Before you experiment with it, check with your climbing partner whether you have enough strength to hold their weight on the rope with your hand alone.

Moore is more! - shows/discusses "sensor" technique

So the video says the SHB is for everyone not just heavy and light, I'm still kinda at a loss about the main benefits besides softer catches.  I own a Mammut-assist-belay-resistor and so far the catches have been fine with normal belays.  

Biggi El wrote:

You can get the ball rolling by learning how to do it yourself! Sensor hand belay is an excellent belay technique for heavy dudes to softly belay much lighter climbers. It has been advocated for this by the German Alpine Clup before Edelrid picked it up and recommended it for the Ohmega.

Before you experiment with it, check with your climbing partner weather you have enough strength to hold their weight on the rope with your hand alone.

It actually comes from Daniel at Edelrid and the DAV picked it up after years of explaining it to them :)

M M wrote:

So the video says the SHB is for everyone not just heavy and light, I'm still kinda at a loss about the main benefits besides softer catches.  I own a Mammut-assist-belay-resistor and so far the catches have been fine with normal belays.  

There are a couple of advantages. Maybe the main one is that with it you can give softer catches with less fall height then with all other techniques. Combined with a belay assistant it makes it also easier to learn and usable in almost all climbing parties as the weight difference can get adjusted. What makes it easier, is that with a belay assistant the timing gets less sensitive. Other advantages are that paying out slack can get faster or that you can position yourself more freely as a belayer,  

Philippe Westenberger wrote:

There are a couple of advantages. Maybe the main one is that with it you can give softer catches with less fall height then with all other techniques. Combined with a belay assistant it makes it also easier to learn and usable in almost all climbing parties as the weight difference can get adjusted. What makes it easier, is that with a belay assistant the timing gets less sensitive. Other advantages are that paying out slack can get faster or that you can position yourself more freely as a belayer,  

That's a good explanation, thanks. I definitely can see how paying out slack can be improved by holding a loop of slack the way it was showed in the video. It was cool to see how easily one can hold the rope above the belay device without the device engaging. 

I'll watch again and see if I can squeeze out some more understanding.

You can catch with ohmega alone. No belay device needed.
I do not reccomend forgoing the belay device, but you 100% can get the job done without it. Neat.

I wonder when we'll get a proper how-to video from Edelrid on this new belay technique.

Big Red wrote:

I wonder when we'll get a proper how-to video from Edelrid on this new belay technique.

Edelrid did post a video, but I agree that going into more nuanced details would be quite welcome

Starts at 2min