1 00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:04,607 Belaying devices. 2 00:00:04,607 --> 00:00:07,284 There are so many different belaying devices 3 00:00:07,284 --> 00:00:11,280 nowadays on the market and in my hands. 4 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:13,440 And after this video you will be able 5 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:14,960 to pick any of them. 6 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:16,640 Not from my hands. 7 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,756 And you will know how it works and how to use it. 8 00:00:19,756 --> 00:00:23,661 So first of all, a belaying device is simply a mechanism 9 00:00:23,661 --> 00:00:24,975 which allows to control 10 00:00:24,975 --> 00:00:26,960 the friction between your hand 11 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:28,320 and the climber. 12 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:29,519 Alright. 13 00:00:29,519 --> 00:00:33,370 So here I hang and here I have almost 14 00:00:33,370 --> 00:00:38,100 60 kilograms of force pulling on this strand of the rope. 15 00:00:38,100 --> 00:00:40,719 However for me to hold that 16 00:00:40,719 --> 00:00:45,760 I'm only using about 6 to 7 kilograms of force 17 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:47,440 on the brake side of the rope. 18 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,480 However if I would start raising 19 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:54,079 my brake hand up 20 00:00:54,079 --> 00:00:56,670 the force needed to hold that 21 00:00:56,670 --> 00:01:00,539 goes to 9 kilograms of force... 22 00:01:00,539 --> 00:01:02,640 10... 23 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,120 12... 24 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,280 15... 25 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:21,040 So my max was around 25 kilograms of force 26 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:23,840 with two hands in this position. 27 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,094 That means that in this position at this angle 28 00:01:27,094 --> 00:01:30,140 I can not even hold my own weight with two hands. 29 00:01:30,140 --> 00:01:32,887 There is no even talking about one hand. 30 00:01:32,887 --> 00:01:35,352 So now let's see how much assistance I will get 31 00:01:35,352 --> 00:01:39,110 if my rope strands are completely parallel to each other. 32 00:01:39,110 --> 00:01:42,059 So I will start pulling up 33 00:01:42,059 --> 00:01:46,439 as hard as i can. 34 00:01:56,079 --> 00:01:58,399 And so the answer is almost nothing. 35 00:01:58,399 --> 00:01:59,943 Now to explain how that works 36 00:01:59,943 --> 00:02:02,608 since there is so many different belaying devices 37 00:02:02,608 --> 00:02:05,972 I'm gonna group all of them into different categories. 38 00:02:05,972 --> 00:02:08,500 First one is tubular style devices. 39 00:02:08,500 --> 00:02:11,590 That many mistakenly call them reverso. 40 00:02:11,590 --> 00:02:14,440 Which is only this device - Petzl Reverso. 41 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:18,480 Or ATC which is this Black Diamond ATC. 42 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,459 While Mammut calls this Alpine Belaying Device. Simple. 43 00:02:21,459 --> 00:02:25,450 So with tubes the more I move my brake hand down 44 00:02:25,450 --> 00:02:30,011 the more it squeezes the rope between the carabiner and belaying device. 45 00:02:30,011 --> 00:02:34,009 And also tubes have a little groove in front of them. 46 00:02:34,009 --> 00:02:37,089 Which even further pinches on the rope. 47 00:02:37,089 --> 00:02:40,574 Plus as I pull down on the rope it tilts the device 48 00:02:40,574 --> 00:02:43,840 which creates extra angles and extra friction. 49 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,380 So as we saw in my previous experiment 50 00:02:46,380 --> 00:02:50,959 if my hand is at the level of the belaying device or higher 51 00:02:50,959 --> 00:02:53,120 the device creates very little friction. 52 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,257 So if the climber would fall 53 00:02:55,257 --> 00:02:58,800 while my hand is in this position or higher 54 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,365 there is a high chance that my hand would simply 55 00:03:01,365 --> 00:03:04,080 get sucked into the belaying device. 56 00:03:04,959 --> 00:03:08,680 I got my hand pinched... 57 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:21,290 And then maybe I will hurt my hand 58 00:03:21,290 --> 00:03:23,920 And let go off the rope. 59 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:25,920 So if you want to see how my hand is 60 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:27,750 getting sucked into belaying device 61 00:03:27,750 --> 00:03:29,800 I already made a video about that. 62 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,908 Also worth mentioning is that rope thickness or diameter 63 00:03:32,908 --> 00:03:35,175 has a huge effect on how easily 64 00:03:35,175 --> 00:03:37,610 the rope will go through belaying device. 65 00:03:37,610 --> 00:03:39,519 And every belaying device has a 66 00:03:39,519 --> 00:03:42,239 recommended range of rope thicknesses 67 00:03:42,239 --> 00:03:44,580 which you can find somewhere in the manuals 68 00:03:44,580 --> 00:03:46,600 or sometimes on the device itself. 69 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,120 And this brings us to advantages 70 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:50,993 of tubular style devices. 71 00:03:50,993 --> 00:03:55,193 First of all they work better with wider range of rope diameters. 72 00:03:55,193 --> 00:03:58,475 All the way from super thick gym ropes 73 00:03:58,475 --> 00:04:01,000 to ultra skinny twin ropes. 74 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,509 On contrast if you would take a GriGri 75 00:04:03,509 --> 00:04:06,058 it says that it's optimized to work 76 00:04:06,058 --> 00:04:09,867 from 8.9 to 10.5 millimeters ropes. 77 00:04:09,867 --> 00:04:11,680 But from my experience 78 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,319 anything from 10 millimeters and above 79 00:04:14,319 --> 00:04:16,120 doesn't work that well anymore. 80 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,991 Yeah, there is this older GriGri which works better with thicker ropes. 81 00:04:19,991 --> 00:04:22,800 But that one doesn't work well with thin ropes. 82 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,689 Next, tubes are super lightweight. 83 00:04:25,689 --> 00:04:27,840 And they allow you to belay with two ropes 84 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:29,599 either double ropes or twin ropes. 85 00:04:29,599 --> 00:04:31,981 And if you don't know what's a double or twin rope 86 00:04:31,981 --> 00:04:35,000 you should watch my master class on the ropes. 87 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,562 Also with tubes you can make a soft catch 88 00:04:37,562 --> 00:04:39,170 without moving yourself. 89 00:04:39,170 --> 00:04:42,720 By allowing the rope to slip through the device. 90 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:46,720 And in general tubes don't catch as hard 91 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:49,239 because there is always a little bit of slippage 92 00:04:49,239 --> 00:04:51,840 which reduces the peak forces. 93 00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:54,240 Which might be very beneficial for trad climbers. 94 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,560 Since it reduces the chance 95 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:59,080 that the pieces of the gear will fall out. 96 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,409 And finally tubes have this loop at the top. 97 00:05:02,409 --> 00:05:05,515 And that allows you to set this device in a guide mode 98 00:05:05,515 --> 00:05:08,693 in which you can even belay two following climbers 99 00:05:08,693 --> 00:05:13,440 coming up on top rope simultaneously 100 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,231 simon... simultaneously. 101 00:05:16,231 --> 00:05:18,364 And all of that are the reasons 102 00:05:18,364 --> 00:05:21,370 why tubes are still very commonly used 103 00:05:21,370 --> 00:05:24,438 in traditional or alpine or multi-pitch scenarios. 104 00:05:24,438 --> 00:05:27,680 However none of that is really useful 105 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,258 if you're just doing single pitch sport climbing. 106 00:05:30,258 --> 00:05:32,399 And the biggest disadvantage of tubes 107 00:05:32,399 --> 00:05:34,300 is of course that they don't lock 108 00:05:34,300 --> 00:05:37,600 meaning if you would let go the rope. 109 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:39,262 Which by the way brings us 110 00:05:39,262 --> 00:05:41,000 to the main rule of belaying. 111 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,520 If you are in need of number two 112 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:46,479 and you have a choice to poop your pants 113 00:05:46,479 --> 00:05:50,400 or to let go the brake side of the rope - 114 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:52,059 you poop your pants! 115 00:05:52,059 --> 00:05:55,889 Meaning in no circumstances you're allowed to lose control 116 00:05:55,889 --> 00:05:57,440 of the brake side of the rope. 117 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:59,600 And that's by the way also equally true 118 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:03,115 for assisted belaying devices but we are gonna talk next. 119 00:06:03,115 --> 00:06:06,530 So assisted devices have an ability to lock 120 00:06:06,530 --> 00:06:08,485 in case the climber falls. 121 00:06:08,485 --> 00:06:11,445 Which obviously adds a lot of safety. 122 00:06:11,445 --> 00:06:14,804 For example if you would knock a rock while you're climbing 123 00:06:14,804 --> 00:06:19,039 and that rock would fall on your belayer's head... 124 00:06:19,039 --> 00:06:20,801 And that's why we wear a helmet! 125 00:06:20,801 --> 00:06:24,235 So first of all your belayer would really like to have a helmet. 126 00:06:24,235 --> 00:06:27,159 But you as a climber would really love that 127 00:06:27,159 --> 00:06:30,369 there would be one of these assisted devices down there. 128 00:06:30,369 --> 00:06:33,960 And in fact my own skin was once saved by this guy. 129 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:35,564 When I did a little fall 130 00:06:35,564 --> 00:06:37,265 and my belayer did not notice 131 00:06:37,265 --> 00:06:39,573 that there was a rock next to her leg. 132 00:06:39,573 --> 00:06:41,876 And while she was flying forward, 133 00:06:41,876 --> 00:06:44,907 her leg got stuck, and she spun around, 134 00:06:44,907 --> 00:06:46,784 and hit her back to the wall. 135 00:06:46,784 --> 00:06:49,459 And let both of the hands go. 136 00:06:49,459 --> 00:06:54,400 So this guy is basically a reason why I'm still here. 137 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:56,180 And making these videos. 138 00:06:56,180 --> 00:06:59,280 Now super important that number two rule 139 00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:01,355 is also applicable for these guys. 140 00:07:01,355 --> 00:07:04,011 After all they are called assisted. 141 00:07:04,011 --> 00:07:07,212 So don't treat them as fully automatic. 142 00:07:07,212 --> 00:07:10,880 Because there are cases where they will not lock. 143 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:13,759 Apart from safety this locking is also 144 00:07:13,759 --> 00:07:15,849 super useful in long belays 145 00:07:15,849 --> 00:07:18,527 If your climber is hanging on the rope a lot 146 00:07:18,527 --> 00:07:20,520 and projecting some hard moves. 147 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:22,559 So if we compare this to the tube 148 00:07:22,559 --> 00:07:26,720 even in the most mechanically advantaged position 149 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,280 you will still need to hold on the rope. 150 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:32,733 And in very long belays this will get tiring. 151 00:07:32,733 --> 00:07:35,214 While with assisted devices it's pretty chill. 152 00:07:35,214 --> 00:07:37,780 You are literally just sitting in your harness. 153 00:07:37,780 --> 00:07:42,880 OK, so the first group of assisted belaying devices 154 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,073 is called assisted tubers. 155 00:07:45,073 --> 00:07:48,412 That's because they look like tubes 156 00:07:48,412 --> 00:07:51,403 and they work similarly to regular tubes 157 00:07:51,403 --> 00:07:52,960 where we squeeze the rope 158 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:55,759 between the carabiner and the device. 159 00:07:55,759 --> 00:07:57,682 Except that they have a shape 160 00:07:57,682 --> 00:08:00,440 that shifts the carabiner in position 161 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,404 where it squeezes on the rope so hard 162 00:08:03,404 --> 00:08:05,481 that it completely locks it off. 163 00:08:05,481 --> 00:08:08,604 A little disadvantage of assisted tubes 164 00:08:08,604 --> 00:08:11,320 is that once in locked position 165 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:14,160 you cannot quickly feed slack to the climber. 166 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,403 You need a special action to unlock the device 167 00:08:17,403 --> 00:08:19,516 before you can feed the rope. 168 00:08:19,516 --> 00:08:21,425 For example with Click Up. 169 00:08:21,425 --> 00:08:23,225 It even clicks. 170 00:08:23,225 --> 00:08:25,219 And now I cannot do anything. 171 00:08:25,219 --> 00:08:27,909 I literally need to unclick it. 172 00:08:27,909 --> 00:08:29,531 And now I can continue belaying. 173 00:08:29,531 --> 00:08:31,340 Now one really important thing 174 00:08:31,340 --> 00:08:33,708 that not many know about assisted tubers. 175 00:08:33,708 --> 00:08:36,423 That they suffer from the same problem 176 00:08:36,423 --> 00:08:38,334 as regular tubes 177 00:08:38,334 --> 00:08:42,320 meaning that if your hand is in up position 178 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:44,430 the device will not lock. 179 00:08:44,430 --> 00:08:45,987 As you can see it's not locking 180 00:08:45,987 --> 00:08:48,720 And if the climber would take a fall 181 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,040 the rope would just slide from my hand 182 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:54,160 and burn it. Oh, it's already burning. 183 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:56,540 However unlike regular tubes 184 00:08:56,540 --> 00:08:58,240 where you can get your hands sucked 185 00:08:58,240 --> 00:08:59,963 even at very big angles 186 00:08:59,963 --> 00:09:01,661 most assisted tubers 187 00:09:01,661 --> 00:09:03,930 will only fail at the angles 188 00:09:03,930 --> 00:09:06,272 that are very extremely high up. 189 00:09:06,272 --> 00:09:08,519 And some actually don't fail at all. 190 00:09:08,519 --> 00:09:10,879 I'm actually gonna make a separate video 191 00:09:10,879 --> 00:09:12,699 where I was experimenting 192 00:09:12,699 --> 00:09:15,830 at which angles which devices lock. 193 00:09:15,830 --> 00:09:17,569 So stay tuned for that. 194 00:09:17,569 --> 00:09:20,152 I can't put everything into one video because 195 00:09:20,152 --> 00:09:23,040 I need you to subscribe. 196 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:26,109 But independently of which belaying device you're using 197 00:09:26,109 --> 00:09:29,583 just develop a habit of keeping your brake hand down. 198 00:09:29,583 --> 00:09:32,730 Also good to know for people who climb with two ropes 199 00:09:32,730 --> 00:09:34,800 is that there are assisted tubers 200 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:36,389 that work with two ropes. 201 00:09:36,389 --> 00:09:37,879 In case you go on a multi-pitch 202 00:09:37,879 --> 00:09:39,422 and you want extra safety 203 00:09:39,422 --> 00:09:41,439 you have some options. 204 00:09:41,439 --> 00:09:44,320 All right let's move on to cam assisted devices. 205 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:46,345 I'm sure everybody knows GriGri. 206 00:09:46,345 --> 00:09:48,500 But there are more devices like 207 00:09:48,500 --> 00:09:51,079 Trango Vergo and Birdie and others. 208 00:09:51,079 --> 00:09:52,378 And the way they work is 209 00:09:52,378 --> 00:09:54,658 that they have a camming mechanism inside 210 00:09:54,658 --> 00:09:56,308 which pinches on the rope. 211 00:09:56,308 --> 00:09:58,197 Now in the case of GriGri 212 00:09:58,197 --> 00:10:01,680 the cam is spring-loaded meaning that as soon as 213 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:04,661 there is no more load on the climber's end of the rope 214 00:10:04,661 --> 00:10:06,399 the cam will disengage. 215 00:10:06,399 --> 00:10:08,715 And you can belay normally. 216 00:10:08,715 --> 00:10:10,397 While in the case of Vergo 217 00:10:10,397 --> 00:10:11,760 it doesn't have a spring. 218 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:14,160 And you need to position the device 219 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:15,920 in a certain way 220 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:17,940 to be able to feed the slack. 221 00:10:17,940 --> 00:10:19,977 All right back to GriGri. 222 00:10:19,977 --> 00:10:22,219 If you press on GriGri's cam 223 00:10:22,219 --> 00:10:25,200 but you ignore the rule number two 224 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,464 and you don't hold the break side of the rope 225 00:10:28,464 --> 00:10:32,279 this can happen... 226 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,880 Also if you ignore rule number two 227 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:45,200 and your GriGri gets trapped in the first piece of gear 228 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:47,839 this can happen... 229 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:53,279 Many of you asked 230 00:10:53,279 --> 00:10:56,158 if this problem of trapping in the first bolt 231 00:10:56,158 --> 00:10:58,479 where it disengages the cam 232 00:10:58,479 --> 00:11:01,981 is also applicable for assisted tubers. 233 00:11:01,981 --> 00:11:04,780 So with most assisted devices 234 00:11:04,780 --> 00:11:07,120 the answer is unlikely. 235 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:09,920 Since there is no cam that i could press 236 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,560 to disengage this locking. 237 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:16,079 Only if i would press on this end 238 00:11:16,079 --> 00:11:18,800 it kind of slips a bit but still 239 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:21,600 stays locked. 240 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:29,120 This Click Up 241 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:33,040 doesn't even lock if i don't hold the rope. 242 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:37,760 Amazing. Number two rule. Hold the rope. 243 00:11:38,959 --> 00:11:40,480 Yeah. 244 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:44,560 There's no way I can unlock this 245 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:47,440 in this manner. 246 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:50,918 So no assisted tubers don't have this risk. 247 00:11:50,918 --> 00:11:53,040 Now this is a little future me 248 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:56,280 after I was editing this part that you just seen. 249 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:58,480 And I saw this I realized that 250 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:00,960 I was using a wrong carabiner. 251 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:05,388 Turns out Click Ups need their own specific carabiners 252 00:12:05,388 --> 00:12:07,860 And that's a reason why you should read the manual. 253 00:12:07,860 --> 00:12:12,450 So that's the carabiner you should use for a Click Up. 254 00:12:12,450 --> 00:12:15,440 Let's see if it locks. 255 00:12:16,399 --> 00:12:19,120 No difference. 256 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:22,240 So number two rule. 257 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:23,630 And read the manual 258 00:12:23,630 --> 00:12:26,230 because some of the assisted belaying devices 259 00:12:26,230 --> 00:12:28,820 require you a specific belaying carabiner. 260 00:12:28,820 --> 00:12:30,640 I don't know if it's just marketing 261 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:33,488 or the shape of the carabiner is slightly different. 262 00:12:33,488 --> 00:12:36,500 Just use what the manufacturers recommend. 263 00:12:36,500 --> 00:12:38,484 And finally there is this guy. 264 00:12:38,484 --> 00:12:41,120 It's a Revo from Wild Country. 265 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:43,782 It's an inertia based mechanism. 266 00:12:43,782 --> 00:12:46,560 Which will lock once the climber starts 267 00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:49,346 falling faster than 4 meters per second. 268 00:12:49,346 --> 00:12:51,753 So if i pull slowly it doesn't lock. 269 00:12:51,753 --> 00:12:56,320 I need to pull really fast in order for it to lock. 270 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:57,940 So my goal of this video 271 00:12:57,940 --> 00:13:00,320 is not to compare all of the belaying devices 272 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:02,639 on the market and tell you which one to buy. 273 00:13:02,639 --> 00:13:03,755 Sorry for that. 274 00:13:03,755 --> 00:13:09,010 Every device have its own pros and cons, haters and lovers. 275 00:13:09,010 --> 00:13:10,299 Full internet of that. 276 00:13:10,299 --> 00:13:12,997 However if you would want such comparison 277 00:13:12,997 --> 00:13:14,969 let me know in the comments and maybe 278 00:13:14,969 --> 00:13:17,810 I will make a separate video on that. 279 00:13:17,810 --> 00:13:19,870 OK now I have a tip for you 280 00:13:19,870 --> 00:13:21,491 that will make your life a little bit easier 281 00:13:21,491 --> 00:13:23,790 and maybe will even save your ass 282 00:13:23,790 --> 00:13:25,040 on a multi-pitch one day. 283 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:26,160 Humans, 284 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:28,409 we have two hands normally 285 00:13:28,409 --> 00:13:32,399 and handling more than two objects in two hands 286 00:13:32,399 --> 00:13:33,430 is not ideal. 287 00:13:33,430 --> 00:13:36,130 What I often see that people take their belaying device, 288 00:13:36,130 --> 00:13:37,773 their carabiner, the rope... 289 00:13:37,773 --> 00:13:39,879 That's already three objects by the way. 290 00:13:39,879 --> 00:13:42,639 And they try to connect everything 291 00:13:42,639 --> 00:13:44,959 in space 292 00:13:44,959 --> 00:13:48,440 like so... 293 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:50,443 Ready to belay. 294 00:13:50,443 --> 00:13:52,170 So doing this 295 00:13:52,170 --> 00:13:53,694 will greatly increase the chance 296 00:13:53,694 --> 00:13:55,469 that one day you will drop something. 297 00:13:55,469 --> 00:13:57,359 You will be trying to connect something 298 00:13:57,359 --> 00:13:59,360 and then suddenly whoops... 299 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:01,010 Your belaying device flies down. 300 00:14:01,010 --> 00:14:02,444 If you're not on a multi-pitch 301 00:14:02,444 --> 00:14:03,994 if you're standing on the ground 302 00:14:03,994 --> 00:14:05,279 that's not a big deal. 303 00:14:05,279 --> 00:14:07,680 However if you drop your belaying device 304 00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:09,199 on a multi-pitch 305 00:14:09,199 --> 00:14:10,509 you are in big trouble. 306 00:14:10,509 --> 00:14:12,696 So this is what you do to avoid that. 307 00:14:12,696 --> 00:14:14,275 Normally your belaying device 308 00:14:14,275 --> 00:14:15,920 will live with your carabiner 309 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:17,760 somewhere on the harness. 310 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:18,853 So step one. 311 00:14:18,853 --> 00:14:22,422 You take both of them together as one unit. 312 00:14:22,422 --> 00:14:24,848 So I'm carrying only one unit. 313 00:14:24,848 --> 00:14:28,800 And you immediately connect it to belaying loop. 314 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:31,279 So you cannot drop anything right now, 315 00:14:31,279 --> 00:14:32,316 everything is safe. 316 00:14:32,316 --> 00:14:34,391 Step two. You take a bite of rope 317 00:14:34,391 --> 00:14:37,600 and you insert into your belaying device. 318 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:40,284 Keep in mind of the orientation of the rope 319 00:14:40,284 --> 00:14:42,320 which end has to go to the climber 320 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:44,340 which end is your break hand. 321 00:14:44,340 --> 00:14:45,618 If you're not sure 322 00:14:45,618 --> 00:14:48,079 every belaying device has an image 323 00:14:48,079 --> 00:14:49,496 on the side of it. 324 00:14:49,496 --> 00:14:51,040 Which will remind you that. 325 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,696 And next. Open your carabiner 326 00:14:53,696 --> 00:14:56,399 and hook your rope together 327 00:14:56,399 --> 00:14:58,480 with the belaying device. 328 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,440 So at no point there was a chance for me 329 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:02,690 to drop anything. 330 00:15:02,690 --> 00:15:04,720 And once you're done belaying 331 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:05,600 you simply reverse the process. 332 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:07,670 Where you open the carabiner, 333 00:15:07,670 --> 00:15:08,887 you unhook the rope. 334 00:15:08,887 --> 00:15:10,570 But you hook the belaying device. 335 00:15:10,570 --> 00:15:13,351 And then you simply can just pull out the rope. 336 00:15:13,351 --> 00:15:16,480 And your belaying device stays on your harness with the carabiner. 337 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,650 If you want to put it somewhere else you put it somewhere else. 338 00:15:19,650 --> 00:15:21,280 And the same works with assisted tubers. 339 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:22,800 So step one. 340 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:25,682 Connect your belaying device to your harness, 341 00:15:25,682 --> 00:15:27,206 take a bite of rope, 342 00:15:27,206 --> 00:15:31,519 put that bite of rope into belaying device, 343 00:15:31,519 --> 00:15:36,399 open the carabiner and hook the rope and belaying device together. 344 00:15:36,399 --> 00:15:39,510 Now in case of the GriGri it's slightly different. 345 00:15:39,510 --> 00:15:41,513 So as always step one 346 00:15:41,513 --> 00:15:44,920 clip your belaying device to your belay loop. 347 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:45,627 So you cannot drop anything. 348 00:15:45,627 --> 00:15:47,249 Now if you're not on a multi-pitch 349 00:15:47,249 --> 00:15:49,281 and dropping your GriGri is not a big deal 350 00:15:49,281 --> 00:15:51,143 you simply take off your grigri, 351 00:15:51,143 --> 00:15:53,199 open it in this cool way, 352 00:15:53,199 --> 00:15:56,720 insert the rope, and clip it back. Simple. 353 00:15:56,720 --> 00:15:59,759 Now if you are on a multi-pitch 354 00:15:59,759 --> 00:16:01,360 there is a technique. 355 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:02,533 So this is what you do. 356 00:16:02,533 --> 00:16:05,680 You open your carabiner 357 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:09,182 and hook only half of the GriGri together. 358 00:16:09,182 --> 00:16:10,800 Then you can open the GriGri. 359 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:12,770 And it's connected to your carabiner. 360 00:16:12,770 --> 00:16:13,831 You cannot drop it. 361 00:16:13,831 --> 00:16:15,289 You insert the rope. 362 00:16:15,289 --> 00:16:17,360 You close it. 363 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:19,600 And then you open your carabiner again 364 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:21,759 and hook the grigri back. 365 00:16:21,759 --> 00:16:24,823 So this is as safe as you can do with the grigri 366 00:16:24,823 --> 00:16:25,953 on a multi-pitch. 367 00:16:25,953 --> 00:16:27,691 And obviously once you're done 368 00:16:27,691 --> 00:16:31,759 it's just simply reversing the process of 369 00:16:31,759 --> 00:16:34,839 doing this 370 00:16:34,839 --> 00:16:37,519 and doing that. 371 00:16:37,519 --> 00:16:39,133 OK so I hope that by now 372 00:16:39,133 --> 00:16:41,010 I gave you enough examples 373 00:16:41,010 --> 00:16:43,448 how not to use belaying devices. 374 00:16:43,448 --> 00:16:46,430 And now i'm gonna show you proper techniques. 375 00:16:46,430 --> 00:16:48,079 The good part is that 376 00:16:48,079 --> 00:16:50,312 no matter what belaying device you use 377 00:16:50,312 --> 00:16:52,714 good belaying techniques don't change. 378 00:16:52,714 --> 00:16:55,230 There are slight differences that i'm gonna mention. 379 00:16:55,230 --> 00:16:57,440 But for majority it's the same. 380 00:16:57,440 --> 00:16:58,320 All right. 381 00:16:58,320 --> 00:16:59,739 So I hope that by now 382 00:16:59,739 --> 00:17:02,974 number two rule is strongly embedded into you. 383 00:17:02,974 --> 00:17:04,731 However if for some reason 384 00:17:04,731 --> 00:17:06,977 you really need to go hands-free 385 00:17:06,977 --> 00:17:09,520 you can tie a backup knot 386 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,400 at your brake end. Like so. 387 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,640 And this is totally fine. 388 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:16,799 In case something happens and the rope 389 00:17:16,799 --> 00:17:18,400 would slip all the way 390 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,400 the GriGri will lock. 391 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,040 However in the case of tube 392 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:23,299 it's slightly different. 393 00:17:23,299 --> 00:17:25,120 If you would just simply 394 00:17:25,120 --> 00:17:27,039 tie a knot here. 395 00:17:27,039 --> 00:17:28,556 And the climber would fall. 396 00:17:28,556 --> 00:17:29,660 There is a chance that 397 00:17:29,660 --> 00:17:31,970 this knot will get jammed 398 00:17:31,970 --> 00:17:33,717 in your belaying device so hard 399 00:17:33,717 --> 00:17:37,675 that you will have trouble to unjam it. 400 00:17:37,675 --> 00:17:39,740 Let's use a slightly different carabiner 401 00:17:39,740 --> 00:17:42,172 so it's easier for you to see what's happening. 402 00:17:42,172 --> 00:17:44,510 So in the case of tube 403 00:17:44,510 --> 00:17:45,793 you take a bite of rope 404 00:17:45,793 --> 00:17:47,940 and then you take another bite of rope 405 00:17:47,940 --> 00:17:50,559 and put through the first one 406 00:17:50,559 --> 00:17:52,640 and you make it tight. 407 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:55,840 And make sure that this loop is long enough. 408 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:56,960 Like so. 409 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,489 This will hold but this is not enough. 410 00:17:59,489 --> 00:18:02,149 To make it extra safe 411 00:18:02,149 --> 00:18:05,316 you tie in back up knot here. 412 00:18:05,316 --> 00:18:07,292 So now i can go hands-free. 413 00:18:07,292 --> 00:18:09,363 And in case my climber takes a fall 414 00:18:09,363 --> 00:18:10,700 this will hold him. 415 00:18:10,700 --> 00:18:13,200 And if i want to release all of that 416 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:15,840 hold the brake side of the rope, 417 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:19,200 untie the top backup knot, 418 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:22,799 and start pulling the rope 419 00:18:22,799 --> 00:18:25,440 until you have a little loop left. 420 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:27,440 At this point inform your climber that 421 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:28,400 he might 422 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:30,160 feel a little bump 423 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:32,480 and tug fast. 424 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:34,280 Like so. If you do this correctly 425 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:36,227 your climber will not go down at all. 426 00:18:36,227 --> 00:18:40,559 Now if you're not familiar with slip slap slap... 427 00:18:40,559 --> 00:18:43,439 this technique - good . 428 00:18:43,439 --> 00:18:46,270 You can safely ignore my next sentence. 429 00:18:46,270 --> 00:18:48,325 However if you're using that technique 430 00:18:48,325 --> 00:18:51,448 I would strongly advise you to reconsider. 431 00:18:51,448 --> 00:18:53,000 Because in the case of the fall 432 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:54,605 your hand might get sucked 433 00:18:54,605 --> 00:18:55,860 into the bellying device 434 00:18:55,860 --> 00:18:57,770 faster than you might think. 435 00:18:57,770 --> 00:18:59,600 So as a good rule of thumb keep 436 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:01,952 your break hand always down. 437 00:19:01,952 --> 00:19:06,250 And do any hand swapping or sliding there. 438 00:19:06,250 --> 00:19:07,788 So now a little disclaimer. 439 00:19:07,788 --> 00:19:08,720 I'm gonna show you 440 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,970 three different techniques of taking slack. 441 00:19:11,970 --> 00:19:14,322 And depending on where you are on the planet 442 00:19:14,322 --> 00:19:15,360 some of them 443 00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:17,981 might be not considered as acceptable. 444 00:19:17,981 --> 00:19:19,457 So stick with me 445 00:19:19,457 --> 00:19:20,603 I'm gonna explain. 446 00:19:20,603 --> 00:19:23,360 Because i went really deep in this rabbit hole. 447 00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:25,303 So all the techniques start the same. 448 00:19:25,303 --> 00:19:26,940 Your left hand reaches up 449 00:19:26,940 --> 00:19:28,639 and pulls down on the rope. 450 00:19:28,639 --> 00:19:30,613 While at the same time your break hand 451 00:19:30,613 --> 00:19:33,280 pushes forward and locks it down. 452 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:35,360 And now at this point you need to bring 453 00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:37,763 your right hand up the rope. 454 00:19:37,763 --> 00:19:40,696 And there are three different ways to do so. 455 00:19:40,696 --> 00:19:41,600 The first one. 456 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:43,210 It's more popular in Europe. 457 00:19:43,210 --> 00:19:45,630 And it's called hand over hand 458 00:19:45,630 --> 00:19:46,640 or V to the knee. 459 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,515 So you simply take your left hand 460 00:19:49,515 --> 00:19:52,560 and go over your right hand 461 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:53,760 and then right hand goes 462 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:54,875 over your left hand. 463 00:19:54,875 --> 00:19:57,950 That's why it's called hand over hand. 464 00:19:57,950 --> 00:19:59,936 So you take, .... hand over hand, 465 00:19:59,936 --> 00:20:03,490 you take, ... hand over hand. 466 00:20:03,490 --> 00:20:05,550 So I find myself using this technique 467 00:20:05,550 --> 00:20:08,169 when the climber wants me to take really hard 468 00:20:08,169 --> 00:20:10,110 as he's moving up the rope. 469 00:20:10,110 --> 00:20:11,566 Because you're always 470 00:20:11,566 --> 00:20:13,529 pulling down on the rope. 471 00:20:13,529 --> 00:20:15,039 You can... 472 00:20:15,039 --> 00:20:16,908 It kind of feels like 473 00:20:16,908 --> 00:20:19,039 climbing up the rope. 474 00:20:19,039 --> 00:20:21,840 Very comfortable. 475 00:20:22,559 --> 00:20:24,400 So the problem with this technique is 476 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:26,339 that when people get really good 477 00:20:26,339 --> 00:20:29,200 and can do it really fast 478 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,320 they start letting go the brake hand 479 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,768 before the left hand goes into the locking position. 480 00:20:35,768 --> 00:20:36,884 So we do this. 481 00:20:36,884 --> 00:20:40,400 We take this, let go already, 482 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:42,525 and then go into locking position. 483 00:20:42,525 --> 00:20:44,561 If the climber would fall 484 00:20:44,561 --> 00:20:46,990 in the moment where you let go this 485 00:20:46,990 --> 00:20:49,785 and you don't lock the hand down 486 00:20:49,785 --> 00:20:52,290 you probably know what would happen. 487 00:20:52,290 --> 00:20:54,240 So obviously a simple solution - 488 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:55,039 lock, 489 00:20:55,039 --> 00:20:56,903 and then in the locking position 490 00:20:56,903 --> 00:20:58,347 do any hand swapping. 491 00:20:58,347 --> 00:21:00,399 And another thing you need to be aware of 492 00:21:00,399 --> 00:21:01,919 that sometimes if the 493 00:21:01,919 --> 00:21:03,769 climber drops a bunch of slack 494 00:21:03,769 --> 00:21:05,695 your belaying device falls down. 495 00:21:05,695 --> 00:21:07,511 And here you need to be careful 496 00:21:07,511 --> 00:21:09,440 to not take your left 497 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:11,669 hand over the belaying device. 498 00:21:11,669 --> 00:21:13,553 Otherwise if you do so 499 00:21:13,553 --> 00:21:15,382 and the climber falls 500 00:21:15,382 --> 00:21:18,952 your hand gets into this awkward position. 501 00:21:18,952 --> 00:21:21,280 So instead you reach under your belaying device 502 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:23,150 and you grab the rope. 503 00:21:23,150 --> 00:21:25,152 And now if the climber would fall 504 00:21:25,152 --> 00:21:26,758 everything would be fine. 505 00:21:26,758 --> 00:21:29,150 All right. Next technique is called PBUS. 506 00:21:29,150 --> 00:21:31,290 Which is more commonly used in America. 507 00:21:31,290 --> 00:21:33,430 Which means Pull, Break... 508 00:21:33,430 --> 00:21:36,480 So basically the same stuff, as before. 509 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:40,080 But now instead of taking over the hand 510 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,888 you take Under and Slide. 511 00:21:42,888 --> 00:21:46,480 So Pull, Brake, Under, Slide. 512 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,176 Pull Brake Under Slide. 513 00:21:49,176 --> 00:21:50,920 So the benefit of this technique 514 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:53,624 is your strong hand never leaves the rope. 515 00:21:53,624 --> 00:21:55,738 A little drawback of this technique 516 00:21:55,738 --> 00:21:58,116 is when you have weight on the rope, 517 00:21:58,116 --> 00:22:00,240 and you're trying to take hard, 518 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:02,880 now sliding up this hand 519 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,530 is not as comfortable as 520 00:22:05,530 --> 00:22:09,520 in hand over hand technique. 521 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:10,945 So at some point 522 00:22:10,945 --> 00:22:14,087 as you will be practicing your p-bus technique 523 00:22:14,087 --> 00:22:15,699 you will realize 524 00:22:15,699 --> 00:22:17,440 that you don't actually need 525 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:19,518 to bring your left hand down there 526 00:22:19,518 --> 00:22:21,917 in order to bring your break hand up. 527 00:22:21,917 --> 00:22:24,799 You can simply slide it up. 528 00:22:24,799 --> 00:22:26,627 And this is a third technique 529 00:22:26,627 --> 00:22:28,613 which is called a tunnel technique. 530 00:22:28,613 --> 00:22:30,237 And since your left hand 531 00:22:30,237 --> 00:22:32,320 never leaves this rope 532 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:34,080 it's the most efficient technique. 533 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:36,320 Because you can always switch between 534 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:39,600 taking slack and giving slack instantly. 535 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:41,251 So no matter in which 536 00:22:41,251 --> 00:22:43,340 moment of taking slack I am 537 00:22:43,340 --> 00:22:45,360 I can always give slack. 538 00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:47,600 And contrary any other technique where 539 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:49,600 my left hand leaves 540 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:51,225 now it needs to go back 541 00:22:51,225 --> 00:22:53,198 in order for me to give slack 542 00:22:53,198 --> 00:22:55,039 so it's an extra action. 543 00:22:55,039 --> 00:22:57,280 Also tunnel technique is the best for 544 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:00,000 taking small amounts of slack. 545 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,506 If I would try to take a small amount of slack 546 00:23:02,506 --> 00:23:04,985 continuously with any other technique 547 00:23:04,985 --> 00:23:09,840 it's a lot of hand movements. 548 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:13,440 While the tunnel technique it's very relaxed. 549 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,247 And that's why it's the most efficient technique. 550 00:23:16,247 --> 00:23:17,831 However you might know 551 00:23:17,831 --> 00:23:19,098 or maybe you don't 552 00:23:19,098 --> 00:23:21,624 this technique is actually not considered 553 00:23:21,624 --> 00:23:25,120 acceptable in some parts of the planet. 554 00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:27,760 With the argument that during the moment 555 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:30,080 where you slide the hand up 556 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:32,732 you don't have a firm grip on the brake hand. 557 00:23:32,732 --> 00:23:34,799 And during the fall maybe you will 558 00:23:34,799 --> 00:23:36,583 not be able to catch the fall. 559 00:23:36,583 --> 00:23:39,600 To which here is my arguments. 560 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:41,439 First of all if you use 561 00:23:41,439 --> 00:23:43,521 any assisted belaying device 562 00:23:43,521 --> 00:23:45,600 you don't even need any 563 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:47,840 hard grip on the brake side of the rope. 564 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:52,159 Any light tug will make the device lock. 565 00:23:52,159 --> 00:23:54,600 So this is not an issue immediately. 566 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:56,252 Now if you are using a tube 567 00:23:56,252 --> 00:23:57,505 I actually went out 568 00:23:57,505 --> 00:23:59,260 and did an experiment on this. 569 00:23:59,260 --> 00:24:01,375 Where I asked inexperienced belayers 570 00:24:01,375 --> 00:24:03,713 to keep moving the hand up and down 571 00:24:03,713 --> 00:24:05,820 while I was distracting them 572 00:24:05,820 --> 00:24:07,120 and the climber was 573 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:10,159 taking unexpected falls for them. 574 00:24:10,159 --> 00:24:11,780 So stay tuned for that 575 00:24:11,780 --> 00:24:13,108 it's gonna be really crazy 576 00:24:13,108 --> 00:24:14,989 and really interesting episode. 577 00:24:14,989 --> 00:24:17,425 But in general when sliding the hand up 578 00:24:17,425 --> 00:24:18,817 don't make a big tunnel. 579 00:24:18,817 --> 00:24:20,340 I don't like that this technique 580 00:24:20,340 --> 00:24:22,400 is actually called a tunnel method. 581 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:23,942 It shouldn't be a tunnel. 582 00:24:23,942 --> 00:24:26,550 You're barely opening the hand just 583 00:24:26,550 --> 00:24:29,471 barely enough for it to slide up the rope. 584 00:24:29,471 --> 00:24:30,976 And if you are a beginner 585 00:24:30,976 --> 00:24:31,991 it's really good idea 586 00:24:31,991 --> 00:24:34,451 to start practicing with PBUS technique. 587 00:24:34,451 --> 00:24:39,039 Because you will be sliding your hand up the rope a lot 588 00:24:39,039 --> 00:24:42,159 with the backup of your other hand. 589 00:24:42,159 --> 00:24:44,240 And you will learn the feeling of the 590 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:46,073 rope going through your hand. 591 00:24:46,073 --> 00:24:47,589 So start with this 592 00:24:47,589 --> 00:24:48,703 and once you get 593 00:24:48,703 --> 00:24:51,200 really comfortable with this 594 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,600 not bringing the left hand down and just 595 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,320 doing this will feel very natural. 596 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:58,000 By that point. 597 00:24:58,000 --> 00:24:59,083 And just to make sure 598 00:24:59,083 --> 00:25:00,610 that I'm not missing something 599 00:25:00,610 --> 00:25:02,995 in regards of safety of these three techniques 600 00:25:02,995 --> 00:25:04,526 I wrote an email to about 601 00:25:04,526 --> 00:25:08,055 25 different climbing safety related 602 00:25:08,055 --> 00:25:10,082 organizations and associations. 603 00:25:10,082 --> 00:25:12,511 And asked them to comment on these techniques. 604 00:25:12,511 --> 00:25:14,942 Not all of them replied, unfortunately. 605 00:25:14,942 --> 00:25:17,336 However out of those who replied 606 00:25:17,336 --> 00:25:19,875 none of them said anything against of 607 00:25:19,875 --> 00:25:21,558 any particular technique. 608 00:25:21,558 --> 00:25:23,200 So as long as you follow the 609 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,508 basic guidelines of proper belaying 610 00:25:25,508 --> 00:25:26,769 you will be fine. 611 00:25:26,769 --> 00:25:27,890 Maybe with an exception 612 00:25:27,890 --> 00:25:29,440 if you're in the US and you need 613 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:31,115 to take a delaying exam. 614 00:25:31,115 --> 00:25:33,900 Then you might be forced to use the PBUS. 615 00:25:33,900 --> 00:25:36,261 And few more mistakes that people do 616 00:25:36,261 --> 00:25:37,610 when they're taking slack. 617 00:25:37,610 --> 00:25:40,477 First of all they take the slack like this 618 00:25:40,477 --> 00:25:43,760 or like this... 619 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:45,717 So unless you are using 620 00:25:45,717 --> 00:25:47,272 a assisted belaying device 621 00:25:47,272 --> 00:25:48,320 and you're guaranteed 622 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,279 that that device will lock at this angle 623 00:25:51,279 --> 00:25:53,914 which I will make a separate video on that 624 00:25:53,914 --> 00:25:55,509 you might be in trouble. 625 00:25:55,509 --> 00:25:58,559 Second mistake is people hold 626 00:25:58,559 --> 00:26:01,593 both strands of the rope with the left hand. 627 00:26:01,593 --> 00:26:04,480 They do something like this. 628 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:06,492 The reason why they do this 629 00:26:06,492 --> 00:26:08,515 is to prevent the belaying device 630 00:26:08,515 --> 00:26:10,142 from falling down there. 631 00:26:10,142 --> 00:26:12,419 However to fix that you don't need 632 00:26:12,419 --> 00:26:13,990 to hold both strands of the rope. 633 00:26:13,990 --> 00:26:15,060 You can just simply 634 00:26:15,060 --> 00:26:16,424 hold one strand of the rope. 635 00:26:16,424 --> 00:26:17,623 And you will have 636 00:26:17,623 --> 00:26:20,640 exactly the same result. 637 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,130 OK that's a lot of talking about taking slack. 638 00:26:23,130 --> 00:26:25,817 I just felt that that's the most important part. 639 00:26:25,817 --> 00:26:28,388 And the rest will be much more simple. 640 00:26:28,388 --> 00:26:31,919 So to give slack you simply reverse the tunneling technique. 641 00:26:31,919 --> 00:26:35,513 Where your left hand pulls up while your right hand assists. 642 00:26:35,513 --> 00:26:37,568 Then the left hand goes down. 643 00:26:37,568 --> 00:26:40,210 And you slide the break hand down. 644 00:26:40,210 --> 00:26:42,880 And you repeat. 645 00:26:43,679 --> 00:26:46,480 And the same technique works with most 646 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:48,403 of assisted belaying devices. 647 00:26:48,403 --> 00:26:50,380 While with some of assisted devices 648 00:26:50,380 --> 00:26:52,149 you will need a special action. 649 00:26:52,149 --> 00:26:53,994 With assisted tubers it's common 650 00:26:53,994 --> 00:26:55,185 to push them up 651 00:26:55,185 --> 00:26:58,320 while you're giving slack. 652 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:00,559 Now in case of the GriGri you can either 653 00:27:00,559 --> 00:27:04,060 use that standard way of giving slack. 654 00:27:04,060 --> 00:27:06,240 Or you can press on GriGri's cam 655 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:07,840 and pull the rope. 656 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:10,240 Just don't forget the rule number two. 657 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:13,360 The rope stays in the hand all the time. 658 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:16,452 Now in case you need to give a lot of slack quickly. 659 00:27:16,452 --> 00:27:18,533 Like if the climber is about to clip. 660 00:27:18,533 --> 00:27:20,320 You take your left hand 661 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:21,727 close to belaying device 662 00:27:21,727 --> 00:27:24,399 and your break hand far from belaying device. 663 00:27:24,399 --> 00:27:26,799 This is important. Only then you can give 664 00:27:26,799 --> 00:27:28,960 a lot of slack quickly. 665 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:31,649 If your left hand is somewhere up 666 00:27:31,649 --> 00:27:33,230 you will be limited by it 667 00:27:33,230 --> 00:27:36,817 how far up you can raise this hand. 668 00:27:36,817 --> 00:27:39,744 Equally if your break hand is close 669 00:27:39,744 --> 00:27:41,679 you will be limited by that hand 670 00:27:41,679 --> 00:27:43,200 how fast you can give slack 671 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:45,200 and then you will need to 672 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:46,386 do more actions. 673 00:27:46,386 --> 00:27:47,878 So left hand close, 674 00:27:47,878 --> 00:27:49,800 right hand far. Anticipate. 675 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:51,740 And you can give a lot of slack quickly. 676 00:27:51,740 --> 00:27:53,176 And if things go wrong 677 00:27:53,176 --> 00:27:55,527 you can take all of that slack quickly back. 678 00:27:55,527 --> 00:27:57,426 Now when you need to lower the climber 679 00:27:57,426 --> 00:27:58,720 you take both of the hands 680 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:00,449 on the brake side of the rope. 681 00:28:00,449 --> 00:28:02,199 And you use one hand 682 00:28:02,199 --> 00:28:05,360 to feed the rope to the other hand. 683 00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:08,080 That's one way or if you're comfortable 684 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:12,240 you can let the rope slide through both of your hands. 685 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:15,232 The risk here is however if you go too fast 686 00:28:15,232 --> 00:28:17,644 the rope will go so fast 687 00:28:17,644 --> 00:28:19,064 through both of your hands 688 00:28:19,064 --> 00:28:20,613 that it can burn both of them. 689 00:28:20,613 --> 00:28:23,361 And then you will probably drop your climber. 690 00:28:23,361 --> 00:28:24,960 So simply don't go fast. 691 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:28,302 There is absolutely no point of lowering a climber fast. 692 00:28:28,302 --> 00:28:29,996 There is nothing cool about that. 693 00:28:29,996 --> 00:28:32,270 It heats your equipment way more, 694 00:28:32,270 --> 00:28:34,443 wears down your equipment, it's expensive. 695 00:28:34,443 --> 00:28:36,159 And go in a controlled manner. 696 00:28:36,159 --> 00:28:38,559 And if you're not sure you can always 697 00:28:38,559 --> 00:28:39,787 feed the rope like so. 698 00:28:39,787 --> 00:28:43,679 And in case your climber takes a fall 699 00:28:43,679 --> 00:28:46,720 just hold on the brake side of the rope 700 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,112 even if you have number two in your pants. 701 00:28:49,112 --> 00:28:51,304 Hold it. Never let go. 702 00:28:51,304 --> 00:28:54,799 And as soon as your climber will regain the ground 703 00:28:54,799 --> 00:28:58,018 and unload the rope most of the belaying devices 704 00:28:58,018 --> 00:28:59,270 will unlock themselves. 705 00:28:59,270 --> 00:29:01,558 And you're ready to continue belaying. 706 00:29:01,558 --> 00:29:04,799 While with some devices like Click Up 707 00:29:04,799 --> 00:29:07,600 once it locks you need a special action 708 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,129 to unlock it to continue belaying. 709 00:29:10,129 --> 00:29:11,170 So as i already said 710 00:29:11,170 --> 00:29:13,178 it's a good idea to look into the manual 711 00:29:13,178 --> 00:29:14,320 of your belaying device 712 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:18,232 to know all these little nuances that there might be. 713 00:29:18,232 --> 00:29:20,353 Now if you are teaching beginners 714 00:29:20,353 --> 00:29:22,159 or you are a beginner yourself 715 00:29:22,159 --> 00:29:24,220 practice using belaying device 716 00:29:24,220 --> 00:29:26,792 on the ground, without a climber. 717 00:29:26,792 --> 00:29:29,280 And only once you're completely comfortable 718 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,000 and you're ready to go and actually belay somebody 719 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:33,919 then make sure to have somebody 720 00:29:33,919 --> 00:29:35,747 experienced backing up, 721 00:29:35,747 --> 00:29:37,775 holding on the break side of the rope, 722 00:29:37,775 --> 00:29:42,000 and giving you guidance, assistance on your technique. 723 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:43,915 This is really important. 724 00:29:43,915 --> 00:29:46,449 I actually once saved a climber 725 00:29:46,449 --> 00:29:49,004 when inexperienced belayer was using a GriGri 726 00:29:49,004 --> 00:29:51,520 I was backing up the rope. 727 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:54,373 And actually I was the one who caught the fall. 728 00:29:54,373 --> 00:29:55,554 And the full story 729 00:29:55,554 --> 00:29:56,757 if you're interested is 730 00:29:56,757 --> 00:29:58,720 in this video about GriGri. 731 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:00,430 And of course don't take this video 732 00:30:00,430 --> 00:30:02,239 as a complete guide into belaying. 733 00:30:02,239 --> 00:30:04,297 There is way more things you need to know. 734 00:30:04,297 --> 00:30:06,474 From proper slack management 735 00:30:06,474 --> 00:30:09,553 to soft catches, to belayer movement, 736 00:30:09,553 --> 00:30:11,877 to good communication with your climber. 737 00:30:11,877 --> 00:30:17,840 And all of that is coming in the future episodes of belay master class. 738 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:20,780 That's a lot of effort to make these videos to be honest. 739 00:30:20,780 --> 00:30:22,240 And this video was 740 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:24,480 brought to you by Mammut 741 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:25,960 and by all the people 742 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:27,400 who are supporting me 743 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:29,255 by visiting my website. 744 00:30:29,255 --> 00:30:31,885 So huge thank you for everyone. 745 00:30:31,885 --> 00:30:36,600 And see you in the next episode.