Lead climb rope soloing device/set up

I tried to search old posts but it was not very helpful.

What is your opinion of the best lead climb rope soloist device(s) on the market? I use a Soloist ( I think that is what it is called. It is fairly old and the writing has worn off) and it works OK but not great.

What are people using to rope solo lead climb?

Silent partner or an eddy

Roped Solo Free Climbing - The essence of self-reliance, one path among many

I'm really liking my Rock Exotica solo aid due to the fact that I feel it's pretty much bomb proof. Just have to be good at judging how much slack your going to need is the pain in the ass. Top rope with chest harness solo aid gets 5 stars on lead 2.5-3..
I miss my soloist I should of never sold it. I'm now debating on either trying an eddy <;;<;;<;;<;;(expensive) or buying another soloist.

@ healyje I think I've read that the new gen eddy doesn't work as well as the older gen. Have you tried the newer ones??

+ 1 for the Silent Partner. Catches an inverted fall and you do not have to wear a chest harness.

D.E.W. wrote:@ healyje I think I've read that the new gen eddy doesn't work as well as the older gen. Have you tried the newer ones??

I haven't tried it, but on looking at it nothing about the essential design or mechanics appear to have changed significantly. I suppose it's possible they've subtly changed some parameter such that larger ropes may not work as well, but on the whole I would doubt it.

The Eddy is fairly sensitive to rope diameter, weave, sheath %, treatment, and 'stiffness'. It took me awhile to tune my own preference out to the Maxim 9.9 Glider as being pretty much perfect (for the original Eddy). Prior to that I used Metolius Monster 9.8s, which would still be my second choice.

Someone using a new version with a suboptimal rope pairing could easily come away thinking it was the device, but again I haven't tried the new version so can't say with any certainty, though I suspect if they have tweaked any of the parameters then it would likely require tweaking the pairing.

P.S. Folks using Soloists should be aware that the device may not catch if you fall with your body in a horizontal orientation as an old partner discovered the hard way. That doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't use them, just that it isn't a positive attribute of the device and all devices have positive and negative attributes you have to balance for yourself.

Zombie alert. I like the look and feel of the Eddy. My biggest concern with a lever - type device (Eddy or Grigri) is the possibility of the lever being pulled open during a fall. The Eddy lever "protrudes" from the device; it looks like cutting or trimming the lever to be flush with the body could lessen this risk. Such a mod would introduce other problems - first in my mind ensuring the finish after cutting the lever is good and doesn't present new worries (like being sharp). So perhaps just trading one issue for another.

Healyje (or any other users of the Eddy in this fashion), have you considered doing this (or done it)? Thoughts / perspectives?

jaredj wrote:Zombie alert. I like the look and feel of the Eddy. My biggest concern with a lever - type device (Eddy or Grigri) is the possibility of the lever being pulled open during a fall. The Eddy lever "protrudes" from the device; it looks like cutting or trimming the lever to be flush with the body could lessen this risk. Such a mod would introduce other problems - first in my mind ensuring the finish after cutting the lever is good and doesn't present new worries (like being sharp). So perhaps just trading one issue for another. Healyje (or any other users of the Eddy in this fashion), have you considered doing this (or done it)? Thoughts / perspectives?

I use a mk1 Grigri modified with the handle cut off completely like this;-
lead modified GriGri

jaredj wrote:Zombie alert. I like the look and feel of the Eddy. My biggest concern with a lever - type device (Eddy or Grigri) is the possibility of the lever being pulled open during a fall. The Eddy lever "protrudes" from the device; it looks like cutting or trimming the lever to be flush with the body could lessen this risk. Such a mod would introduce other problems - first in my mind ensuring the finish after cutting the lever is good and doesn't present new worries (like being sharp). So perhaps just trading one issue for another. Healyje (or any other users of the Eddy in this fashion), have you considered doing this (or done it)? Thoughts / perspectives?

Rope soloed the Bastille Crack recently on the fortieth anniversary of the the first time I rope soloed, also the Bastille Crack. But unfortunately I left my first gen Eddy in the trunk of the rental car and so had to get a new one.

The only thing was they painted all the interior surfaces, even the cam. That caused some friction until I finally did some raps to burn the paint off to get down to polished cam metal. Now it's fine as always. And at the moment I'm on a fairly new Maxim Glider 9.9 and I think it's my eighth or ninth Glider I've paired with the Eddy over the years.

With regard to the handle, I've never even thought about it given it re-locks on being pulled back. The odds of it ending up sticking in the middle cam open range are way lower than a myriad rope soloing risk that I personally don't worry about it.

Used a modded grigri for a decade plus change before the Eddy came out, but I think there's no comparison no matter what mods you do, and much prefer the Eddy. YMMV.

I use the silent partner--seems like the best thing for solo lead. Also, see this thread:

mountainproject.com/v/silen…

I don't Iike the silent partner as you have to accumulate enough speed to make it catch. Not interested in taking any mini whippers

Here's my setup. Works like a charm

mountainproject.com/v/my-to…

Brian, read the title of this thread again.

I've been using something pretty similar to what is on this page ulrichprinz.com/alpin/equip…

I have a grigri 2 that I filed the tab off of and I use a webbing/bungy necklace to hold it up.