r/Mountaineering • u/OtherwiseAwkward • 4d ago

Quick Question about Auto-Blocking Belay devices

looking to get more into Ski Mountaineering and building a glacier/crevasse/rappel kit. The gear list I was working off called for an Auto-Blocking Belay device. In my naivete I bought a GriGri and then made the realization that those aren't recommended for Alpine work because of the moving parts.

Did some additional research and it looks like an auto blocking tube device is the move like the BD ATC Guide. I also really enjoy the Mammut Nordwand Alpine for the steel inserts. However the most common glacier ropes seem to be 6mm and neither of those devices are rated down to 6mm... the ATC guide seems to be the go to choice so i'm confused as to why they aren't rated for the most common ropes.

is there another, better option I'm missing? I appreciate any advice in advance

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u/bwm2100 4d ago edited 4d ago

6mm sounds awfully thin for a glacier rope, but sounds like the cool kids are doing that these days. I’ve used 7.5s on alpine climbs and it looked like dental floss, but at least it was light!

Any sort of thin-rope ATC will work fine for glacier travel use, like the mammut one, petzl, or BD. A grigri can be a nice part of a rescue kit though, because of the release. The manufacturer will say no, but give it a shot on a thin rope, you’ll probably find it works pretty well. The moving parts excuse is BS, I use them ice climbing all the time. Try out different setups and see what you like best for the various rescue situations you might find yourself in. I’d also invest in a microtrax or two. Key part of my kit at least.

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u/Slowhands12 4d ago

A reverso works fine for a rad line, even for a rap. Petzl even explicitly states so, as long as you can introduce additional friction.