Edelrid Ohm

Hi all, 

I would love your impression regarding the pros and cons of the Edelrid Ohm. Getting one very soon as I am transitioning into some sport climbing. My belay partner is a good 30 pounds lighter than me so we needed something to make belaying a bit safer and this was highly recommended. I would love any input that anyone has! 

Sincerely ,

Tristan

PS - Thanks for all the advice. On actually checking what our weight difference is we are about 60 lbs difference - she is 100lbs and I am about 160lbs. I did end up getting an Ohm as I got a really great deal on one. 

The Ohm is intended to supplement a solid belay and is primarily used to keep the belayer from getting pulled up into the first draw. It will necessarily provide a "harder" catch to do its job. Edelrid recommends using the Ohm based on the difference in weights of the belayer and climber (see graph), so 30 lbs. may or may not warrant its use. It can take some finesse and may be a challenge to retreive sometimes, so it is not perfect for all sport situations.

My wife and I use the Ohm but there’s a solid 100 pound difference between us and it provided a great catch for us. She still gets pulled up the wall but maybe only by a foot or two. Nothing crazy. At 30 pounds I think you guys are better off learning good catching techniques. Plus it can be a real ass sometimes when you are trying to clip and it engages or even when you are trying to lower it can get caught every few feet.

Can be a little tricky sometimes, but great for compensating for weight differences. There's 120lb difference between my climbing partner and I and I'm able to keep from getting launched in the air when he falls or lifted up when I'm lowering him. I agree with Justin in that with only a 30lb difference good belaying/catching technique is going to do a lot more good than getting an Ohm.

I got one when I was taking lots of lead falls with a partner much smaller than me and she said it made a HUGE difference

The only cons are that it is quite heavy and it is annoying if you forget to remove it on your way down 

There are multiple threads on the subject, if you do a searchyou will see past discussions of Ohm.

30 lb is not that big a difference, unless your partner weighs 80 lb. I weigh 105 and wouldn’t bother with an ohm for 30lb.

While it works great, it does introduce additional quirks and considerations, so I would not recommend that someone very new is learning to lead belay AND learning to use an ohm at the same time. Not sure it it applies to your belayer.

I'll give another vote against the ohm with your weight difference. I'm 140lbs, one of my partners is 200lbs and I belay him just fine. You basically just have to give a different catch when you belay people of different weights. When you belay anyone lighter, you have to make sure you're giving a soft enough catch. When you belay someone heavier, you're gonna get pulled up either way so you don't have to jump into it, and you might even need to do the opposite and sit down into your harness if the weight difference is big enough.

I am 210lbs and my wife and primary climbing partner is 120lbs so we use one sometimes (we were just given one recently) and it works as advertised. You do need to be aware of your position belaying as you need to be at least 3’ off axis (3’ away from wall AND 3’ left or right of 1st bolt) for it to engage consistently. If the belayer then moves to directly below 1st bolt when it is time to lower it won’t lock up while lowering.

It does make for a hard catch.

It is HEAVY

I would NOT get it if your weight difference is only 30lbs. Maybe once one partner outweighs the other by 50%+ but even then it is not needed. 

30 pounds isn't enough of a difference for me to worry about an Ohm.  It isn't a bad piece of kit to own, just in case you are headed out with a partner whom you outweigh by 50+ pounds.

I'm going to agree with everyone else that if you're only 30lbs difference, unless the lighter person is, actually, tiny (not just small), then the Ohm should not be needed.

But if you do differ a lot from your belay partner's weight, and I am much heavier than some of them, then it is really great.  At least, my light belayers tell me it makes their life WAY better.

My experience as the lead climber is that it has pros & cons.  I get a bit harder catch -- but that's to be expected.  I don't get much harder than I would if I were being caught by someone 30lbs heavier than I am, though.  I find that pulling rope for clips is a bit harder -- occasionally the Ohm catches.  I would be inclined to not use it for a really hard red-point attempt, for example.  On the other side, I don't fall as far, since I don't haul my belayer up into the air, so I have to re-climb less of the route, and I'm less likely to hit a ledge or anything like that on the route.  So, even as a lead climber, I'm inclined to prefer it for much-lighter-than-me belayers.

I'll echo that it's not worth it for a 30 lb difference. I'm 185, my wife is 115. We rarely use ours outdoors because it's super heavy to carry in and usually outdoors there's enough drag in the system that we don't need it. You just have to be smart at the first couple bolts. I'd rather carry in a stick clip if anything. 

Thirty lbs is nothing unles, as someone else said above, you weight 60 and 90 lbs.

I use the Ohm sometimes with a partner who weighs less than 100 and I weigh about 175. It works. But for what you're talking about just use proper belay techniques. 

I weigh about ninety-five pounds soaking wet. So if I'm climbing with someone that weighs about 160 and there's nothing to tie into I do use the ohm occasionally but I find that if the base of the climb isn't steep enough you can't lower the climber which is kind of a pain in the ass and I haven't really figured out how to deal with that. I find you really have to have a good area to belay at the base of the climb.

Hey Hey, looks like this is the most recent Ohm thread; I've read through all the other MP threads and several different forms/reviews online but I can't seem to find any information about bringing the Ohm on a plane. I assume it wouldn't be much of a concern in checked baggage like most climbing gear, I am wondering specifically if anyone has flown with it in their carry on luggage. I'm considering purchasing and bring an Ohm on my next climbing trip but I am aware it is rather heavy and a pretty niche item so I'm concerned it would get confiscated. Has anyone been able to bring an Ohm in their carry on luggage? Has anyone gotten their Ohm taken away? What if it is still in the box?

Shawn S wrote:

Hey Hey, looks like this is the most recent Ohm thread; I've read through all the other MP threads and several different forms/reviews online but I can't seem to find any information about bringing the Ohm on a plane. I assume it wouldn't be much of a concern in checked baggage like most climbing gear, I am wondering specifically if anyone has flown with it in their carry on luggage. I'm considering purchasing and bring an Ohm on my next climbing trip but I am aware it is rather heavy and a pretty niche item so I'm concerned it would get confiscated. Has anyone been able to bring an Ohm in their carry on luggage? Has anyone gotten their Ohm taken away? What if it is still in the box?

I can't see it being interpreted as a weapon. Put keys on it and say it's your keychain. 

Andrew Rice wrote:

I can't see it being interpreted as a weapon. Put keys on it and say it's your keychain. 

Anything can be interpreted as a weapon.

I think chances are good that you could carry it on the plane without any issue.

But one time, on a return flight from Spain (in a Barcelona airport, of all places! You’d think that they see plenty of sport climbing gear at that airport!!) we were forced to check in gri-gri and all quickdraws/carabiners. The security agent said that a gri-gri was heavy enough to hit someone with, and do a real damage. And carabiners could go over the fist, with the same effect.

Yes, I have flown with both gri-gri and quickdraws in my carryon pack dozens of times. Yet that one time...

I suspect that Ohm would be the same. Completely ok most of the time, except...

It depends a lot on location of the airport in my experience - every time I have gone through security in a German airport I have had to take all the climbing gear out of my bag

Lena chita wrote:

Anything can be interpreted as a weapon.

You mean like this?

Update: no problem carrying on OHM in the box or a brand new rope in the bag. Also I'm a white male with no record past 1 speeding ticket who is flying domestically, so can't say everyone will have as much ease. Thanks to those who chimed in, was seriously considering putting a key or two on it!