Edelrid Mega Jul?

To chase,

If your going to give it a try I'd strongly recommend an omega pacific jake biner. I've got the mega and micro and have tested probably a dozen biners and five different ropes from 8.1-10.2. With either device and any size rope the op jake locks up the best (with a single strand). The ropes vary on how smooth the thing pays out slack but that particular biner is hands down the best I've tried yet.

Also, thread it backwards and it raps like an atc.

After starting to wear down a Magnetron, I switched to the Edelrid HMS Bruce, which is a steel locker made to pair with the MegaJul. It works great, and will last longer than I will.

The MegaJul excels at single pitch sport; cragging where you do a lot of lead belaying, some TR, and maybe a rap to clean here and there. The only real competition is the Alpine Smart, which I'm sure does indeed do guide mode better. However, the MJ is smaller, lighter, and cheaper.

rgold wrote:When it comes to hands-off with a plate, I'm almost as fast as with an assisted braking device. The reason is that, as I mentioned earlier, I always use a plate in the gym, and every time my climber hangs for more than a few seconds I tie him or her off.

Why bother tying off the belay if the intention is just to hold a hangdogging partner, especially since you're not taking the brake hand off completely? Just do a couple of leg wraps, it won't even take 5 seconds.

I've been using a Megajul the last couple of seasons. I think it's a "70% there" kind of design. Not great with thinner ropes, awful on rap if used in autoblock mode (just don't do it), a bit slow to pay out fatter ropes, doesn't easily transition from guide mode to belay loop, and IIRC the thumb loop is prone to pulling loose (mine hasn't yet), which would be a pain in the butt. The steel also gets really hot on long raps.

However, the good outweighs the bad - it's assisted belay (in case I catch a rock on the head/hand), lightweight, and flexible enough w/ rope sizes to be "one device to rule them all". Great for the alpine, too - all these features are welcome in an environment more remote and with more unknowns / objective hazards than the crag.

These kinds of passive 2-rope auto-assist devices are the future. It just makes so much sense to back up the belayer's judgment, attention, reaction speed, etc. that some manufacturer is going to figure out the perfect formula to do it. The solution isn't going to be the Megajul 1.0 for the reasons I noted above. I've also used the Smart Alpine, and its incompatibility with both standard single and double rope sizes is its Achilles heel (you don't want 2 devices!). The Grigri doesn't cut it because it only takes 1 rope and is heavy. Some folks claim the Alpine Up is the answer - I haven't tried one so can't attest, but it sounds promising. Suffice it to say, in 15 years I doubt we'll be buying fallible tubes - the alternatives are just going to be too good.

Gunkiemike wrote: Wait...you were belaying a leader in GUIDE MODE?

Haha no I'm sorry that post wasn't clear unless you've used a jul. You can't use a thumb loop in guide mode ;)
Radius of the rope side on the biner does seem to make a big difference in how easy it is to pay out for a leader. As other's have said a round stock biner does seem to work much better. If you get a full round stock spine it makes belaying a follower on any device in auto-lock much smoother also. My legs can easily haul a few extra ounces around to keep my elbows happier.

aikibujin wrote: Why bother tying off the belay if the intention is just to hold a hangdogging partner, especially since you're not taking the brake hand off completely? Just do a couple of leg wraps, it won't even take 5 seconds.

Well, I'm practicing belay escape, not just holding the climber. I'm a fan of leg wraps in general, but the tie-off is better for managing the belay, especially the releasing part.

Either way, the point is that it is not hard to go hands-free even if you don't have an assisted-locking device.