Self Belay question

Hey yall, just curious to hear about peoples experience self-belaying with just a grigri. My gut says that to TR self-belay with just a grigri is not good as there is no backup (ropeman or microtraction, etc). But on the other hand, I've heard of other people doing this and that it works no problem despite the fact that is not the absolute best way to TR solo. 

Try it. You'll quickly grow tired of pulling the slack through between moves.

Last year I used a grigri to Top Rope Solo and I just tied clove hitches on carabiners just in case my grigri somehow failed. It worked and I felt safe but it was a huge pain to pull the slack through.

This spring I upgraded to a nanotraxion/rope man and it’s a million times better. At the same time I think my experiences with the grigri worked well enough for my budget at the time.

Tried it, pain in the butt mostly. Microtrax and camp lift combo are now my go to unless working a specific section then back to grigri. The change over back to a grigri for rappel isn't too bad when you get the hang of it but still is kinda faffy

Gunkiemike wrote:

Try it. You'll quickly grow tired of pulling the slack through between moves.

I'm sure I will lol

Alec Baker wrote:

Jake, im happy to meet somewhere near greenfield and show you a couple setups

Hey Alec, Super appreciate it but im actually in Burlington VT tho!

Micro Trax and grand wall uAscend (like camp lift but reportedly even better) are the best way to go unless you want to be able to descend on same device, then the Taz Lov3 is the undisputed champion but the Trango Vergo is supposedly decent and is half the cost. Upside of Lov3 is that many also consider it one of the best lead rope solo devices if you ever want to get into that. 

I started out with just a grigri and a anti crossload carabiner. I did backup knots below the grigri every 5 meters or so. It get's tiring over time, but kind of works.

Another method I've tried was having a rope tied to the anchor from the middle point so there is two independent strands. One goes through the grigri and another can have pretied backup knots (eg alpine butterflies) for clipping while going up.

Both methods are only really suitable for easier stuff, as you have to stop after every few moves to pull slack through. If one had even a single microtrax, then that and backup knots on another line is much more enjoyable.

Nowdays I use a camp lift + rollnlock, but I get that it costs money to buy extra gear.

Jake Duda wrote:

Hey yall, just curious to hear about peoples experience self-belaying with just a grigri. My gut says that to TR self-belay with just a grigri is not good as there is no backup (ropeman or microtraction, etc). But on the other hand, I've heard of other people doing this and that it works no problem despite the fact that is not the absolute best way to TR solo. 

I know you asked for experience self-belaying with a grigri. Can't help you with that as I think redundant is better, but if you want some useful blogs with lots of info and tips & tricks about toproping with 2 devices I suggest you check out these:

• https://camp4.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/going-solo-a-solo-toprope-setup/
• https://steemit.com/climbing/@mk3jetta/top-rope-solo-controversial-useful
• https://blog.weighmyrack.com/guide-to-best-setup-for-toprope-tr-soloing/

Stay safe

I use a modified Grigri, sometimes on it's own, sometimes two strands with a Shunt on one and Grigri on the other. Needs a bit more weight on the bottom.