Petzl Grillon

Has anyone used these as a gri gri? My buddy climbs towers and hooked me up with one. Looks like a gri gri with one extra screw to hold the plate closed without a biner. So far it's worked great on 9.4 & 9.8 cords. Does anyone know if it is just a grigri with a different name/application?

Don't know about for climbing, but a simple search on their site would at least get you to some information:

Grillons

Looks similar, but seems to be part of a total set up. I'm sure they have directions posted that you can review to see what they expect you to use them for.

Thanks Craig,

I read through the Petzl site a few times, didn't really find anything to conclusive. The lanyard system they are designed for is somewhat of a PAS. The only real difference to the mechanics is the lack of a spring in the cam, making it harder to feed.

treetools.co.nz/_blog/Treet…

Appears that they look more similar than they actually are, with a slightly different cam operation. That slight difference likely makes a big difference if you were to try to use a grillon as a belay device. The lack of spring seems like a fairly important difference by itself, and who knows what other subtle changes might be in the design which are important.

Personally, I would pass. Neat toy, but not great for climbers.

yeah, I'd avoid using it as a grigri to lead belay. Toprope, belaying up a second, maybe, but that lack of a spring is gonna make it a serious pain in the ass for anyone used to the action of a grigri. I also want to say the diameter range for cord is narrow and towards the thick end, despite how it may have worked for you so far. be careful!

Mannamedstan, just re-read my post and noticed I might have come across as a bit of an ass, so sorry about that.

We use them for rope access work and I really really dislike them. Our use is only in rappelling situations but the action is not as predictable as the GriGri. It has a lock-out feature, which is nice I guess, but I just tie a catastrophe knot below the GriGri if I'm going to hang around for any length of time.

I've tried it as part of rope ascension system, having used a GriGri in conjunction with an ascender or prussic in the past, the Grillon doesn't feed well at all in this situation. Again it's all about the unpredictability of the device.

I wouldn't even use climbing and Grillon in the same sentence let alone use one.

I've been a tower climber for 4 yrs, & have quite the collection of Grillions now. I have used them for lead belaying tons of times!! They work GREAT! Ya the action is a little different , but once you get used to feeding its fine! They are essentially the exact same device just a little bigger than thus GriGri. I say go for it! I've caught plenty of lead falls with it , so take it from someone who has actually USED one before :-)

Craig, if I thought you were rude I'd would have told you, but thanks.

I haven't used it but maybe a handful of times in the past year, because it's heavy for anything multipitch and my girlfriend only uses an ATC when we be craggin. I did a couple solo pitches with it, but I think I'm gonna save the weight in my pack now.

To eBay it goes!

...3...2...1

Yer Gonna Die!!!

i realize this is an old thread, but i have always assumed the Grillon to be an *ORIGINAL* series GriGri - they look EXACTLY the same from the outside, but not actually owning one i wonder if there is a similar difference regarding the spring etc.

oh - and BTW, for work positioning i find the Grillon a lot easier to use than a GriGri... mostly because of the thumb 'nub' at the base of the lever, a feature it shares with the original GriGri.

We use them as a workplace positioner in conjunction with a static rope lanyard while working at heights on wind turbines. I would not personally use it for recreational climbing. It lacks a spring in the cam and is slightly bigger. I prefer the gri gri 1 and 2. Petzl did not intend the grillon to be used for recreational climbing belaying. My 2 cents.