Petzl Neox Impressions

TLDR: So far I've owned the Neox for almost a month, used it 8 times, and thoroughly recommend it for Lead belaying, but not for Top Rope or Rappelling. 

Biggest Takeaways So Far

Using the Neox for lead belaying has been incredibly smooth, both from the wall and ground perspectives. My partner and I were initially nervous, but it performs so seamlessly that it feels like a dream. Out of over 60 routes, I only felt shorted once, and I’ve never felt more “free” to make moves on the rock even using our thickest rope. We both found that we could tuck our rope-hand thumbs in our pockets and let the rope feed into the Neox without our left hand or any additional techniques, even during clipping and anchor work. In the event of a fall, the device caught us every time, and we simply closed our hand.

I didn’t notice the longer catch that many reviews mentioned; if anything, it felt like a pro's gentle controlled catch. Huge marks for that, my partner is a nervous nelly with falls.

The Neox is significantly heavier than a Grigri and even more so than any ATC.

Top roping was ass. The wheel on the Neox is too smooth, causing it to drop to the bottom of the belay loop and allowing rope to slip through after removing slack, even while hand over hand pulling through due to the lack of friction. While climbing quickly, I stepped on the rope twice. I've never done that with my partner. I would not recommend the Neox for top rope, we switched to a Grigri after just that one route.

The Neox seems to attract more dirt than other belay devices, possibly due to lubrication leaking from the wheel when it gets warm. We cleaned it daily with a microfiber cloth. This picture is of it in the bag after cleaning it the day before. 

Lastly, if the Grigri is the "Boyfriend Killer," the Neox is an indiscriminate murderer. Pulling the lever back for lowering required about 1/4 inch of travel once engaged to reach full speed with very little room for modulation, compared to the 3 Grigris we own which average about 3/4 inch from engagement to full speed. I was extremely surprised the first time I lowered with it, heads-up if you grab one. Works like the original Grigri, not the Grigri plus, it will not catch and go into "antipanic" mode if you yank the lever all the way back. Additionally, rappelling was made very difficult due to the lack of modulation. 

Overall: We love it for Lead climbing and are already spoiled with it. If you prefer ATC to a Grigri for Lead climbing and want some extra safety, it's worth the cash.

Good feedback man, appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with it. I haven't used one yet but it strikes me as very much a specialty device in terms of the narrow lane it operates best in - lead belaying while single pitch cragging, and probably best for sport climb lead belaying at that. I could be off but with all the feedback I've seen, it makes me think that I, as a frequent multi-pitch or alpine trad climber, have little to no use for a neox when I already have a grigri 2 and grigri+.

But it's interesting to hear insights on it and I enjoyed reading your post, regardless of whether or not I'm in a demographic that would benefit from having one.

Cosmic Hotdog wrote:

very much a specialty device in terms of the narrow lane it operates best in - lead belaying while single pitch cragging, and probably best for sport climb lead belaying

100%, I justified the purchase since we go to Shelf very frequently. Absolutely perfect for that single pitch sport lead belaying, but not much else. 

I got one a while back. I lost my grigri 2 somewhere and wanted to replace it. I still have an original grigri that I frequently use and still like quite a bit.

It’s smooth. It makes a clicking sound when locking up that takes some getting used to. My wife has used it quite a bit too, and doesn’t have any complaints either.

Basically, for leading, it’s a stand in for a grigri just smoother. I’ve toproped with it, it was fine.

I wanted to add a few more details about my experience vs the original poster here.

Grease and dirt, none. I don’t know if some batches included lube and mine didn’t. I climb in the dustiest places and this simply hasn’t happened. It is possible that my kids and dog have absorbed all the dust in the area leaving none for my NEOX.

Weight. Yep, it’s heavier. In the same way that TC Pro’s are heavier than Moccs. The scale is accurate but I wouldn’t be able to notice it.

Rappelling and multi pitch routes. In 30ish years of using one type of grigri or another, the only time I rapped off a gri was either in cleaning during route development or when I forgot my atc but the gri was at the bottom of the pack. Some people really get into these gizmos on big routes. To me they always felt like the wrong tool for the job. That hasn’t changed. Also why the extra weight means nothing to me.

Boyfriend killer/partner killer? Don’t scratch your balls and eat while you’re belaying. This isn’t unique to this device. My wife caught some whips of mine with it the other day. It locked up fine on a new 9.4. I don’t know what else you’re asking it to do.

I no longer have extra time to get out and rope solo though I’d like to again. I haven’t played with this in that capacity. I’m happy with my current TRS setup so I probably won’t ever test the NEOX for that. It might work, but would be a bit clunky.

I will add my impressions. Up front I have never been a fan of the GriGri. The whole idea that to feed rope to a leader one needs to hold the device has never set well with me. Especially as one holds the device with their brake hand. As such, I have only used one when forced to do so. Mostly at gyms which require such belay devices. 

Recently, I started using a Neox. For top roping there is no difference between it and a GriGri. The real difference when belaying a leader. I was told to use it just like one would use a traditional "tube" bely device. In general, that advise is spot on. The exception is one needs to feed rope out a bit slower and smoother. A quick pull while feeding is enough to make it lock up. There is no need to touch the Neox when belaying. If it locks up just stop/slow down feeding the rope. Easy-peasy.

Would I use the Neox for anything else but belaying, like rappelling? A hard no. Would I use it for anything other than gym climbing? Perhaps for cragging. But not for much else.

Like the Neox , been using it for a couple of months now. I like it very much but only used it for personal climbing in all of the above. Not for guiding. Actually if you guys have used the pinch. Im considering ditching my neox for the pinch.

I grabbed one because of mostly curiosity and I like atc style of belaying more than gripping the cam on a grigri. I’ve had to do a little unlearning from using a grigri on and off for 5 years. One thing I’ve noticed is when someone is clipping feeding out slack is super easy for the first big pull, but if they are high clipping and I need a second pull, I typically lock the cam when feeding. I’ve been experimenting with keeping the brake hand angled up when it’s up against the Neox after the first pull and then pulling with the climber side again real quick. Sometimes this prevents the lock up. Wondering do y’all just reset both hands to the original position and pull again for the second feed out or are you just pulling with the climber side for the second feed out with the brake hand in at the Neox and angled up a little? Curious what the most efficient way for this is. I’ve only used it a handful of times and really like how smooth it is, I just need to perfect the technique a little more.

'John Rose wrote:

I grabbed one because of mostly curiosity and I like atc style of belaying more than gripping the cam on a grigri. I’ve had to do a little unlearning from using a grigri on and off for 5 years. One thing I’ve noticed is when someone is clipping feeding out slack is super easy for the first big pull, but if they are high clipping and I need a second pull, I typically lock the cam when feeding. I’ve been experimenting with keeping the brake hand angled up when it’s up against the Neox after the first pull and then pulling with the climber side again real quick. Sometimes this prevents the lock up. Wondering do y’all just reset both hands to the original position and pull again for the second feed out or are you just pulling with the climber side for the second feed out with the brake hand in at the Neox and angled up a little? Curious what the most efficient way for this is. I’ve only used it a handful of times and really like how smooth it is, I just need to perfect the technique a little more.

I've found that feeding rope "forward" away from my body, rather than feeding "up" to the climber, allows for lock free pulls almost all the time. To phrase differently in case its hard to understand, I feed the rope over the wheel of the device instead of throwing it upward toward my climber.

I convinced my wife to do the same and can say that as the climber I cannot tell what direction she feeds, but I do notice that since she switched to my method of feeding it she never locks up the device where before she would get the occasional snag. 

I'm curious about this device, but so far the reports are exactly what I assumed it would be - a one trick pony. Anyone with extensive WC Revo use have a comparison?

Jason Antin wrote:

I'm curious about this device, but so far the reports are exactly what I assumed it would be - a one trick pony. Anyone with extensive WC Revo use have a comparison?

Just a small thing but when you quickly take in slack on a Neox it works just like a GriGri, however when I was testing if I liked the REVO I would often lock up the device when taking in slack fast, since it is a multi-directional device.

That quirk is what made me decide against the REVO being a device that I would want to use.

I love it for lead belaying but man is it terrible for TR. For that reason it stays on my outside harness. I’ve always hated top belaying with a gri gri and used a pivot for that task so for me there’s no drawback there. Would I buy it again? Probably not. 

Borrowed one- Great for feeding rope while belaying , great with old, fat and fuzzy ropes. I'll probably keep using my original and gg2 before buying one.