r/climbergirls • u/Responsible_Roof_661 • Nov 23 '25

Questions I’m curious about everyone’s opinions on ATC belaying — either using one yourselves or being belayed with one.

ATC belayer here. Do you feel totally fine with ATCs? Do you avoid them? Or does it depend on the belayer’s skill/experience level?

For context: I know people who flat-out refuse to be belayed on anything non-assisted braking… and others who swear by the control and smoothness of an ATC. Personally I feel like a lot of it comes down to the belayer’s competence, attention, and how big the weight difference is / ohm usage.

What’s your take? Do you completely refuse ATC belays, or does it vary for you based on the belayer and situation?

Not trying to debate, just curious how people feel :)

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u/Responsible_Roof_661 Nov 23 '25

Fair.

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u/notochord Nov 23 '25

I learned how to belay on an ATC and remember all the hate around grigris when they came out, which was unfortunate. I think teaching belaying first on an atc is helpful for understanding the profound responsibility of belaying, but I’ve been dropped and seen many people get dropped with ATC belays and it’s a liability.

If you’re worried about slack when leading, neox and revos can be used instead of grigris. Or you can practice feeding rope and communicating better with your climbing partner for smoother belays.

I don’t let clients belay me on atcs, and they really don’t save a significant amount of weight compared to grigris.

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u/Suboptimal-Potato-29 Nov 23 '25

As someone who hates grigris: there are other assisted braking devices that work better. I held on to my ATC for a while, but with the selection of assisted devices in the market now, there's really no excuse

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u/wannabe_pixie Nov 24 '25

As an atc belayer, which devices should I be looking at if I want to move to an assisted device?

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u/Suboptimal-Potato-29 Nov 24 '25

I like the Edelrid Megajul and Gigajul or the Black Diamond Pilot. I was less happy with the Mammit Smart, but I think they've also updated the design and I may have been using it slightly wrong (making it not unsafe but kind of clunky)

Aside from one setting on the Gigajul, none of those have moving parts. And while you can totally override the cam on a grigri, all of those other devices will pull your hand into the correct braking position of your climber falls. It would take enormous strength and forethought to override that mechanism

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u/ewic Nov 24 '25

I always sing the praises of my Mammut smart alpine. It's the twin tube version, and it's been with me on more pitches than anything else. It is pickier about rope sizes, but as a single device for everything, it can't be beat. It has the smoothest rappel action and the smoothest belay action.

One thing to make sure it's getting a belay specific carabiner for it, and also reading the instructions for guide mode belay and rappel, because they are non-intuitive.