For the gear freaks GriGri 2
15 August 2010 - 1:25pm
Petzl GriGri 2
 The much-hyped Gri-gri II. |
 The much-hyped Gri-gri2... open. |
First and foremost, if you don’t like the look of it, go buy a GriGri now, as Petzl will stop making the GriGri this spring with the release of the GriGri2.
Now, onto details. It clocks in at 185g, which is about the same weight as the Cinch, give or take a gram. It'll retail at the same price as the original GriGri (US$95) and be available in March. Some of the new features are pretty slick. The first is the progressive descent control, which basically means as you first start to lower, instead of releasing the spring of the cam at a 1 to 1 ratio, it only releases 1 degree for every 3 degrees you pull. The thinner the rope, the longer it maintains this ratio, which is part of why it's rated to 8.9mm lines. After the initial part of the lower, it clicks back to 1 to 1. It also has a new geometry that is better suited for the new belay method and worse suited if you like to take your hand off the brake line and hold the cam down. This is a very good thing. The cam and rope groove have also been redesigned to allow for better braking and faster feeding.
For the full Trade Show review http://tinyurl.com/29zyqw2
15 August 2010 - 6:20pm
#2
ok, so i've heard more than a couple of stories of cinches failing. This looks like a cinch. Hmmm.
15 August 2010 - 6:51pm
#3
It is just like the gri gri with a slightly different cam and smaller
15 August 2010 - 10:13pm
#4
Maybe it was user error - it usually is - or using in a way that is beyond the design scope
http://www.rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1931225
17 August 2010 - 10:02am
#5
If you see me out climbing this spring/summer you can tap me on the shoulder and check out my sample grigri 2. There will also be one other out there getting tested so keep your eyes peeled!
19 January 2011 - 11:16am
#6
Does anyone have a firmer date for the release of this product in NZ yet?
20 January 2011 - 9:42am
#7
It has started to ship from Petzl so depending on where our orders are in the queue, how busy customs are, etc -5 weeks worse case scenario. End of Feb. Spelean are taking orders so go to your local and put one on order and it'll come as soon as available.
20 January 2011 - 12:42pm
#8
Ahhh! You are the Spelean rep I met at the Wanaka Film Festival last year! I just worked that out! ;)
Thanks for the info. I've heard good things about the grigri 2, but not sure if it's just "new gear" hype and if people might end up whining for the older model after buying the newer one. Whatever the case is, I need one. Figure the older model might be due for some heavy discount when the new one arrives.
21 January 2011 - 9:17am
#9
We have had a couple of test ones out for a few months
Feed back so far is 99% positive
*Same but smaller, lighter
*I found it feeds way better so I can use it Tube device ( like ATC or Reverso) style, eliminating the need to hold down the cam making it way safer. Easy with 9.4 but occasionally need to use the Thumb of braking hand to depress the cam on 10.2 old. It also starts the lower slower giving more grip and control on thin ropes.( you won't notice much difference on Fat ropes)
*I have only had one piece of negative feed back which was that with smaller size the lever is smaller and you can not get an entire hand on the Lever.Didn't bother me as I use a couple of fingers (there would be room for 3 fingers) But if you are a grabber be warned!
Cheer
Sally
The OLD grigri will still be available for a while in the grey only
21 January 2011 - 11:12am
#10
Thanks Sally... has any one used the grigri 2 to... *whispering* self belay. Does it work better than the older grigri in this area? I've been hearing good things about dual Petzl Mini Traxions for this purpose... except for the obvious need to change over to a rappel mode to come down.
21 January 2011 - 11:47am
#11
Holy smoke..They just arrived! totally unexpected...YAY!!!!!!!~
21 January 2011 - 12:01pm
#12
Did the Hallelujah Chorus sound out from heaven when you opened the box? 
I'll start pestering my retail store next week!
22 January 2011 - 6:05pm
#13
Hardly - Sally has been using one for a while !!
17 February 2011 - 2:17pm
#14
Ok just used the new Grigri 2 for a day of sport climbing so these are only quick thoughts and hardly from comprehensive use. Used with a 9.8mm Nitro.
Definately smaller and lighter which will be a definate advantage in some areas, but for Sport climbing I couldn't care less. I'd even use a bigger one if it was the most amazing device ever.
The two stage lowering was not any better on this rope, but I can see it being a definate advantage on long lowers with ropes smaller than 9.5mm or very new ropes at 9.7 or 9.8.
As far as feeding better ATC style (which you could always do with a thin rope on the old GriGri anyway) it was only very marginally better. I still found it locking unexectedly sometimes and pretty soon reverted to the old quick feed method when needed. Though on long international routes with lots of rope out it will be fine. Our short NZ routes with close bolting to keep you off the deck, means you don't have much of a loop out already and quick feeds are more essential.
My only actual complaint was the small handle. When lowering someone, the two stage advantage it has I felt was cancelled out by the lower level of control you have by not being able to get all your fingers on the handle. I have average sized hands for a guy I think, large hands would really be a problem. The same with abseiling, it was difficult to fit my fingers easily between the handle and the rope.
Overall I wouldn't throw out the old one just yet... In fact it would probably be useful to have both if you do a variety of climbing incl mutlipitch etc. But I do feel like for Sport climbing a lot of it's advantages you will only really appreciate if you are doing high end sportclimbing with ultra thin ropes on long routes overseas.
17 February 2011 - 12:03pm
#15
Cheers for the review Regan... do you think that it 'catches' any better/differently than the old one using thinner ropes?
17 February 2011 - 12:19pm
#16
I can't comment on that yet. I would imagine it does since that's supposed to be one of the advantages, but I would have to use a 9.2 or similar to try that out.
17 February 2011 - 2:16pm
#17
Like every tool, it has something in particular it excels at. That's not giving slack quickly to a leader with an 11mm rope. I'm going back to using my ATC for that. 11mm ropes in the grigri2 don't work all that well. Of course if you don't have enough slack out and the leader pulls, the device locks making it even harder to give slack. It's fantastic for top roping and route setting and "snotty" ropes. I have big hands, I don't have issues with the handle.
18 February 2011 - 6:16pm
#18
11mmm ropes? Do people actually haul those up climbs still? Impressed
18 February 2011 - 8:11pm
#19
Climbing Gym ;)
18 February 2011 - 8:59am
#20
I have a friend in the states who has been using this with the Sterling 9.2 and 9.4mm and said on those it is better for feeding but MUCH better for lowering.
18 February 2011 - 10:14am
#21
Just watched the vid on the Petzl website.
I thought it was actually pretty good (of course....any vid with Daila gets bonus points anyway ).
The shot of the hold blowing on Dani was pretty sweet, but it did take me a second to figure out that Dave had said "buddy check" and not "body check" (immediately though of ice hockey and was momentarily confused)....
18 February 2011 - 1:13pm
#22
Interesting to see there is now ANOTHER new reccomended technique for giving rope quickly. This looks interesting and is probably now possible due to the smaller size of the device. I will need to try it out and see if it works naturally with the original Grigri as well.
18 February 2011 - 10:19pm
#23
Interesting to see there is now ANOTHER new reccomended technique for giving rope quickly.
How many others are you aware of? I am only aware of the "old/original" method, and now the one they show in the vid. Around here, the "new" method (known as the "Gaswerk-Methode") has been taught by the alpine club (DAV) for years as the proper method.
Here is an article published in 2003 referring to it (#10): http://195.248.137.247/service/downloads/info_klettersport/Sicherungstechnik_4_2003.pdf
The smaller device and smaller lever hinge proabably does make it easier for those with smaller hands to hook their index finger under the lip while pressing down on the lever with their thumb though.
As above due March 2011!