As far as the upgrade it’s not a horrible idea after I see how other folks like them after a year or so. I can understand jumping into a newest product as far as a computer/TV but as far as climbing gear goes I’ll wait and let other folks test it out.

Hand’s free…..those comment make me laugh in the scariest way cause I’ve grown up and am lucky to have lived thru the learning curve

While at first I was reluctant to give up my BD ATC when I was forced to work with the Gri Gri I quickly learned to like it.

If you want to be macho and belay only on an ATC that is fine. ATC’s are light, tried and true, versatile, and cheap. I’ll grant it would certainly be beneficial if most new climbers learned how to belay on them BEFORE getting the gri gri in their hands.

But let me tell you – you are the guy I worked with who wanted to belay off a munter hitch because he was an old school alpine guide and didn’t like the ATC or chalk.

So far as I can tell Gri Gri’s were not made for rope soloing… If you belay with them with proper technique you will be fine. Plus if you get hit in the head or pass out or get attacked by hornets…a bear.. .a lion… your climber might appreciate the autolock.

I’m a big fan of other devices – the Mammut Smart, Reverso – lots of neat gear to understand.

Terrible ad – a product long overdue.

The key thing that I always do with the grigri, is treat it like a normal belay device. My hand never leaves the break line and I always have the rope to the right side of the grigri to ensure that if it does fail, I still have the rope locked off manually.

My point perhaps should be applied more broadly. It seems that nearly all climbing equipment is becoming more expensive at a substantially quicker rate than inflation. 70 or 80 bucks for a set of five holds? Even the most expensive slopers were closer to 50 or 60 a few years ago. Climbing shoes have gotten ridiculous.

I don’t know why this is – perhaps so many people have pro-deals these days either by working in the gym, or by having friends who work in the gym who can hook them up? And those who don’t haven’t been around long enough to remember the lower prices, and have actual jobs and, for a combination of the aforementioned reasons, don’t give a shit about dropping some cash…

Maybe it is the right business model for such a niche market, it just seems like if I were getting into climbing now I’d find it hard to stomach $95 – I’d use an ATC until I met someone who would “totally prodeal that for you bro” and then pick it up for $50. Only after buying it at the cheaper price would I realize that $95 would have TOTALLY been worth it, and Petzl would have missed out.

I don’t know, I’m just throwing out things to consider – the outdoor industry is bizarre and I have little grounding in economics.

still $95 isn’t that expensive.

agree on the ad. that was horrendous.

This is incorrect. Gri-gri’s have failed, and the attitude that they have never failed is prevalent and a major reason why people are killed every year being “belayed” by the devices.

I know for a fact that Gri gri’s can fail. I was cleaning a route for development while using a gri-gri, and without anything contacting the device, it slipped. Luckily I fell 10 feet onto soft soil. I am not the only person this has happened to either.

I have a nearly new, 6-7 year old grigri I have used maybe 6 times. I just like an ATC so much better. Part of the reason is weight, so if the new one feels that much lighter, then maybe. Anybody want to buy a practically new grigri?