Left Handed Belayer...auto locking belay device recommendations?

Ben Brotelho wrote: Spiral binders suck for us left-handers!! I'm pretty ambidextrous so I just belay right-handed though

I'm like you Ben. I'm pretty ambidextrous as well (throw right handed, can swing a hammer with either hand, etc.) so it's no problem for me to use my right.

stanley 250 wrote: I haven't tried it and would be interested why you say it's not handy?

You would understand best by trying them out. The Smart has to be pulled away from the harness to feed rope smoothly---there is a finger catch on the handle to facilitate this. This means that that slack is pumped to the leader with the non-brake hand; the design intention is that the brake hand should be on the handle pulling the device out. Now you can ignore this and pump slack with two hands as you would with an ATC, but then it is likely that the device will grab, short-roping the leader.

I don't think this is much of an issue with a single rope, but with two half ropes, one of which needs to be taken in while the other is paid out, it becomes a hassle.

The Alpine Up has a "handling bay" and a "locking bay." They are joined by channel that is narrowed by a spring-loaded tab. When the rope is in the handling bay, it moves freely in either direction, giving you the best handling of any device out there, in my opinion. A very moderate load pulls the rope and connecting biner through the channel, pushing aside the tab (which clicks when it springs back). Once in the locking bay the Up locks up the way the Smart does, which is just by the geometry of the channel.

Pitty wrote:Try this out: easy, simple and secure... climbingtechnology.it/it-IT…

Exactly. Been using the clickup for several years now and it is foolproof plus ambidexterous for those lefties out there. enjoy it.

The alpine smart as i noted in my linked review is VERY rope and biner dependant

In short use a petzl william or dmm boa

And use with a sub 9.8mm rope, or a 10-10.2mm that stays soft and supple ... Like a beal or tendon

It is however the most intuitive of the assisted lockers IMO .... And the best for newer climbers due to the similar braking position as an atc ... It also offers superior autoblock performance

The DAV magazine panorama likes it as well if i remeber

And its cheaper and lighter than the others

I easily belay the Grigri 2 left handed. 15 years ago a petal rep showed me a slightly different technique that works perfectly for grigri 1 and i adapted quickly to gen 2 last year. pm me and I will send you more info.

Btw I use the Grigri in a normal position ( not upside down) and I am female so switching to Gen2 was no big deal. If you have larger hands the smaller size could be a slight issue.

As a fellow lefty, I would highly recommend learning to belay ambidextrously.

michaeltarne wrote:As a fellow lefty, I would highly recommend learning to belay ambidextrously.

I do this with any ATC style device for sure....forced to do so when taking pics with right hand and belaying with left hand on climbs. But agree with the grigri it can be difficult to do so.

I'm Lefty & I reckon in a right handed World one must adapt or die.
Like it ever was.

I can't believe people are so helpless. I am left handed but I live in a right handed world. I can swing a golf club and shoot a rifle right handed. I certainly belay right handed. All this hand wringing is stupid. Stop shopping at the leftorium and take some initiative to learn how to live.

As bearbreeder notes: there are assisted locking and autoblocking devices, but there are no 'auto locking' devices and the idea that there are plays into countless belaying accidents.

Dan White wrote:I spent a little time fighting with it, but eventually just learned to belay right-handed with the GriGri.

+1

I'm another left hander. Just learn to use the Grigri, it's not hard, given that we should to be able to belay to a basic standard with both hands anyway.

I'm still in two minds about the two versions. I've not been sport climbing much since I got my GriGri 2, but my first impression are that the smaller size will probably take a bit of getting used to before everything is really slick.

I have both climbing technology Alpine Up and and a Mammut Smart Alpine. The Smart Alpine is good, the Alpine Up is great.

If you can't belay just as well with either hand then you haven't yet learned to belay.

John Keller wrote:If you can't belay just as well with either hand then you haven't yet learned to belay.

I wish this attitude were more widespread.