Mega Jul compatable carabiners

Hello. I am looking to buy a mega jul, which obviously means I will need to buy a carabiner for it. I didn't want to buy an Edelrid carabiner because it was a little pricey compared to other brands. However, I don't know what carabiners will work for the device. How should I go about finding a compatible carabiner?

Here are some carabiners I was looking at:

• Mad Rock Ultra Tech HMS Screwgate Carabiner
• Black Diamond Rocklock Screwgate Carabiner

Lol ur trying to save money on the price of a single carabiner? Get real. Buy the edelrid one. 

Edit: Oh yeah and of course don't get a mega or giga Jul, use a grigri and atc like everyone else, or if you really really want to go the passive assisted braking tube device route, alpine up. 

I've used the BD Rocklock with the megajul and found it to work pretty well.

Since you haven't bought it yet, I'd suggest considering some other devices. I used a mega jul for a while because it's cheap and versatile, but while it does most everything, it also sucks at most everything.

(Edit: I'll admit to a bit of hyperbole here... with the right biner and rope it does ok for single rope lead belay. That said, I want my belay system to be flexible enough to use most ropes and not depend on the perfect biner.)

Even with the right carabiner, it is finicky. Some ropes are thick enough that the device will not begin to lock. Some (9.2ish, depending on carabiner and dry treatment/wear) are thin enough that they can still slide under bodyweight when "locked", and in these situations the megajul actually provides less friction than most ATCs. Lowering and feeding slack are often problematic, but do get easier with some practice.

When belaying from above, the carabiner has to go all the way around the device to prevent the brake and load strand from sliding past each other. It also has a ton of resistance. 

Rappelling is absolutely horrendous. If rapping in auto-lock mode, rope weight can make it very difficult to unlock. If you reverse the device, it will lock when you try to take yourself closer to the anchor to weight test your system, but you won't have a hand available to unlock the device (one pulling in rope, one pulling yourself up).

The Gigajul solves some of these issues, but I'm generally happier with a grigri and an atc. Worth the money.

I have one for the gym to save wear and tear on my Gri. Having used most other devices on the market, I'd give it a B grade for lead belaying, C+ for toprope. I use a 9.5 Beal Zenith and Grivel Clypesdra Small (sp?) twin gate. It locks well. Nothing beats the big fat Gri, although I like the Vergo quite a bit too.

that guy named seb wrote:

Lol ur trying to save money on the price of a single carabiner? Get real. Buy the edelrid one. 

Edit: Oh yeah and of course don't get a mega or giga Jul, use a grigri and atc like everyone else, or if you really really want to go the passive assisted braking tube device route, alpine up. 

Very informative and helpful.

Just get the cheapest. Then, after you realize the Juls are a pain in the a$$, regardless of the carabiner used, it will work with a grigri.

Petzl Attache works fine with Megajul and 8 mm double ropes or 9-10 mm single rope. But just test the autoblock function with the rope and the carabiner you want to use and you will be safe.

Megajul is a great universal device if you know how to belay. For those who don't and for gym climbers who do not need to abseil or use double ropes Grgri may work better, but I like my Attache+Megajul especially for sport multipiches, but also for every other climb.

The width of the biner coupled with the rope thickness makes a big difference in both the ABS feature and the feeding characteristics of devices like this.  When you catch a fall, the device slides in close to the biner and the way the two interact defines how much assistance you get in braking.  If the stock is too thin you don't get a good hold.  But if you use a thicker rope, too thick a biner and you end up with issues feeding the rope.

If you have an option to go into a store and play with the different biners, or if you know folks who have different lockers, check them out.

As a side, I really like the biners that have a mechanism to keep them from cross loading.

Of the two you linked, I would suspect the Mad Rock is too thin to give good braking. I like the BD Gridlock. Yes, it is more money, but it will make life a bit easier in the long run. The Mamut Smart HMS is another option that is a bit cheaper and should work fine with the Jul. The Elderid Bulletproof is more money, but the steel inset should give you a longer life for the device. If you are using it a lot, you will save money in the long run (like 3- 10 years long run) by not having to replace a worn biner. It isn't that the biner will be unsafe, but over time the rope wears a groove in the same spot and you lose braking help because the radius changes.

Beyond all that... literally any locking climbing biner with work. You will lose your braking assistance with too thin a biner, you end up adding resistance with too thick a one and you complicate your life if you don't have an integrated keeper. But they all work. A FF1 fall will generate way less force than the strength of even the 9kn of the minor axis of a micro locking biner, let alone the 24kn of the major axis.

I really like the Edelrid locker with the steel plate combined with a MegJul. Because there is a lot of friction in the assisted braking mode, other lockers wear fairly quickly. For the MicroJuls, I’ve found the Petzl Attaché to work best.

As others have said, a lot will depend on the rope diameter. I tend to use thinner ropes to decrease friction, 8.9 to 9.2 generally.

I think the MegaJul is the best device on the market. I don’t find belaying from above to be more difficult than with an ATC style rig, nor do I find rappelling to be much of an issue. The locking feature is super handy. Wear gloves though as the biner and device heat up significantly. It’s super nice not to have to use a hollowblock/third hand. The only issue I can foresee is if you’re fixed point belaying off the anchor, it will be challenging to feed slack after the redirect and pretty much any time. There’s definitely a big push in the guiding community to do more fixed point belaying, but if it’s necessary, just use a Munter hitch.

I pretty much use my GriGri for all single pitch stuff and the MegaJul for anything multi. I didn’t like the AlpineUp at all. YMMV

Tim, as you can see opinions vary widely with belay devices. A lot of the assisted braking devices have very different characteristics depending on biner, rope diameter or stiffness, and climber weight. If at all possible you would be doing yourself a favor to test anything you are  interested in buying. 

Lino E wrote:

Petzl Attache works fine with Megajul and 8 mm double ropes or 9-10 mm single rope. But just test the autoblock function with the rope and the carabiner you want to use and you will be safe.

Megajul is a great universal device if you know how to belay. For those who don't and for gym climbers who do not need to abseil or use double ropes Grgri may work better, but I like my Attache+Megajul especially for sport multipiches, but also for every other climb.

Be careful with the Attache: I had an orange Attache+Megajul combo slip pretty badly catching a fall on a 9mm rope. Maybe it was a fluke (and the Megajul isn't reliable with any carabiner) but I'd just buy one of the Edelrid carabiners they tell you to use. The Edelrid carabiners also won't get stuck locked like the Attaches.

Just get the Rocklock carabiner. I have a Megajul and it works perfect with the Rocklock 

Diego B wrote:

Just get the Rocklock carabiner. I have a Megajul and it works perfect with the Rocklock 

+1

Especially in guide mode I find that a round carabineer works much better than something like an Atache with an I-beam. But even normal belaying I much prefer a round one.

Ben Kraft wrote:

Be careful with the Attache: I had an orange Attache+Megajul combo slip pretty badly catching a fall on a 9mm rope. Maybe it was a fluke (and the Megajul isn't reliable with any carabiner) but I'd just buy one of the Edelrid carabiners they tell you to use. The Edelrid carabiners also won't get stuck locked like the Attaches.

As I said it also depends much on the Rope, I use the combo with my 10 mm gym rope, my 9.8 mm outdoor rope and my 8 mm double ropes for about 3 years now and never had a malfunction. But of course it can happen and no carabiner or belay device can compensate a competent belayer, so I would not trust 100% in any device, no mater if Megajul or Grigri. 

And also the handling of the Megajul is very similar to a tuber, so the angle of the rope coming out really affects the function. And also be aware when using brand knew (dry) ropes, they are often slippery and can cause malfunction of belay devices.

A mammut crag hms (cheap) bites harder than an attaché. I generally go with the mammut if I’m using my 9.5, attaché with thicker ropes.

(Also, RE: megajul hate- I have/use a megajul, atcg, and grigri, but honestly as a climber I prefer to be belayed with the megajul if I’m climbing with a new partner. Definitely prefer the grigri as a belayer though if weight isn’t a concern.)

Tim H wrote:

Hello. I am looking to buy a mega jul, which obviously means I will need to buy a carabiner for it. I didn't want to buy an Edelrid carabiner because it was a little pricey compared to other brands. However, I don't know what carabiners will work for the device. How should I go about finding a compatible carabiner?

Here are some carabiners I was looking at:

• Mad Rock Ultra Tech HMS Screwgate Carabiner
• Black Diamond Rocklock Screwgate Carabiner

A megajul and an offset karabiner like either of the ones you are looking at is not a good combo: the performance will wary depending on wether you use the slot closest or furthest away from the gate. If you ever use half-ropes, this is can mean one strand will lock up perfectly, and the other one not at all. (Not speculating here, I have tested this) Rapelling on two strands is also shittyer with an offset karabiner. 

My prefered biner for the jul’s is the grivel clepsydra, it is the most reliable shape I have found.

For sport climbing, the Jul2 is a lot smoother. The megajul is not very versatile, as it sucks in the mountains. The gigajul is not as smooth to belay with, but a lot easyer to lower someone.

The Jul2 is really the best of them, none of the juls are especially good in the mountains, (I have all of them, the Jul2 is my main belay device for sport.. the micro, mega and Giga is just being used for different kind of special projects.. Usually I use the ATC Alpine guide in the mountains)