Before belay devices existed, climbers would just tie a rope around their waist and hope for the best. Harnesses and metal rods came along later to add a little safety, but nothing changed the game like the belay device did. That’s really where the evolution of climbing belay devices starts, and it’s a fun bit of gear history to walk through with photos, because you can watch these tools go from a simple metal plate to the smart, self-locking devices we clip in with today.
What is a climbing belay device? A climbing belay device is a tool climbers use to control the rope that holds a climber in case they fall, or when the climber needs to be lowered. There are three main types of belay devices: the tubular ATC, the auto-locking belay device, and the semi-assisted belay device.
The history of belay devices really came into focus in the 1970s, almost an entire century after climbing was considered a sport (1880’s in England). Since then, the gear has never stopped changing. If you’re shopping for your first one, our roundup of the best belay devices for beginner climbers is a good place to start once you’ve read the backstory here.
The first belay device
The first belay device, patented in 1970, was called the Sticht Plate. Named after Fritz Sticht, it was a metal plate with a slot for a bite of rope and a metal hook that created space between the harness and the device, so it was easier to control the rope running through it.
According to the patent, the device was made from aluminum or aluminum alloy, and the aperture walls (the hole in the plate) were the width of two ropes with rounded edges to help the rope run through smoothly.
The brake is for a climbers rope which passes twice through a safety hook. An aperture (17) is located in a plate (13), and its internal longitudinal measurement is the equivalent of the sum of the double rope diameter and the diameter of the hook (11). The aperture walls are rounded off, the plate being formed of aluminium or aluminium alloy. It has an additional bore, and a string (16) passing through it fastens the plate to the hook or to a climbers belt. The plate may have two staggered parallel apertures for use with two ropes.
Later versions of this device had two holes and a metal spring to help the rope move through it more smoothly.
The general idea picked up momentum, and plenty of companies started building their own devices that worked a lot like the Sticht.
For example, here’s an Edelrid Bankl from the 70s. It’s got a large hole for the rope (37mm wide) and two smaller holes for a rope or carabiner to pass through.
The evolution of climbing belay devices over the years
Through the 70s, more and more devices with a wider base started showing up. Some thickened the space where the rope ran through, some added metal bars to better separate the device from the climber’s harness or belt, and some went for a more tube-like shape.
Eventually the designs branched off from each other, and you ended up with a split between slotted block devices and tubular devices, which are pretty close to the basic ATCs we use today.
Figure 8
The slotted block devices kept a flatter profile, and eventually the figure 8 came along. The figure 8 was unique and revolutionary because it gave the rope a smooth surface to move through and it was dead simple to use.
The biggest problem, though, was that it twisted the rope, and there wasn’t an easy way to lock off the device.
Figure 8s are still sold and plenty of climbers still use them. I’ve got two figure eights, and I used to use them to rappel.
You can pick them up pretty cheap (mine were $8), but they’re considered less safe, and most climbing gyms around the world don’t allow them anymore.
How do Figure 8 Belay devices work
Figure 8 devices work by creating separation between you and the rope, while also letting you control how much rope feeds through the device.
Figure 8 belay devices are pretty easy to use:
- Take a bite of the rope through the large hole
- Place the bite of rope around the smaller circle of the device
- Hook the carabiner through the smaller circle and the belay loop on your harness.
To lower yourself or rappel, all you do is feed the rope with your brake hand through the big hole. When you want to stop, hold your brake hand tight and by your side so the friction in the figure 8 can stop feeding the rope through it.
Tubular ATCs
While some companies focused on what became the figure 8, others started working on tubular devices.
The idea behind a tubular device was that you could give the rope more surface to run through, which means more control over the rope.
How do ATCs work
An ATC controls the speed of the rope by creating friction and an edge the climber can leverage to make stopping the rope easier.
A bite of the rope (a folded piece of rope) is threaded through the device and clipped to the belay loop on a climbing harness with a carabiner.
One end of the rope is attached to the climber, and the other end is controlled by the belayer’s brake hand.
When the belayer drops their end of the rope below the ridge of the belay device, the device creates friction on the rope and keeps it from moving through. Even if the climber is heavier than the belayer, the device will still stop the rope.
Setting up an ATC belay device is really simple:
- Take a bite of the rope (fold the rope) and push the folded end through one of the metal holes in the belay device.
- Using a carabiner, clip the belay device (by the metal band) and the loop of rope to your harness’s belay loop.
To move rope through the device, bring the rope from your brake hand up toward the belay device. As long as the climber’s weight is on the other end of the rope, they’ll lower.
While we’re talking gear, if you want to keep sharpening the skills that go with it, we send a free weekly climbing drill you can knock out in about 15 minutes. It’s the easiest way to level up between sessions, and you can grab it here.
Tubular ATC’s with Teeth
Since the basic tubular device, companies have also built ATCs with ridged edges on the side that handles the slack controlled by the brake hand. Those extra ridges add friction, which makes it even easier to control the speed of the rope and takes some effort off the belayer.
Evolution of auto-locking devices
With a basic ATC, when a climber falls and the rope picks up speed through the device, all the pressure of catching the climber is on the belayer to get their brake hand into the brake position.
If the belayer didn’t do that, or got knocked out by falling rock or something like that, the climber could hit the ground. That often meant major injuries or even death.
The Grigri by Petzl was released in 1991 and changed all of that. For an extra $100, a climber could buy the Grigri and have an assist that helps stop a fall even if the belayer gets impaired.
How The Grigri Works
When a climber falls, the weight of the climber pushes the camming system into a pinch position and stops the rope from moving through the device, which stops the climber from falling.
To lower the climber, you manually move the cam into a neutral position, which releases the rope and lets the climber come down in a controlled way. When yours starts feeling gritty, here’s how to clean your Grigri so it keeps feeding smoothly.
The Evolution of A Grigri
Just like the Grigri works today, the first version had a cam that pinched the rope to stop it from moving by shifting its position. The catch was that the early Grigri didn’t have a comfortable or easy way to lower the climber once the cam was engaged.
To fix that, newer versions of the Grigri added a lever you could use to move the device back into a neutral position and keep the cam from pinching the rope.
With the first lever-controlled Grigri, though, some belayers would panic. Instead of releasing the lever and letting the device re-pinch the rope, they’d hold the lever down, and the climber would take an uncontrolled fall to the ground.
With the Grigri+, Petzl added an anti-panic mode, so when a climber pulls the brake lever back too far, like they would in a panic, the device auto-reengages the cam and pinches the rope.
Other Auto-Locking Belay Devices
The Grigri’s camming system was so new (and patented) that it took companies a long time to build their own version that did basically the same thing.
To set their product apart from the Grigri, competitors looked at how easy it was to use, how comfortable it was, how heavy it was, and any common complaint about the device, so they could do something better.
Even so, it took two decades before a reputable competitor got a product on the market, and by then the Grigri was so popular that it’ll probably be another decade before any company is as recognizable for auto-locking devices as Petzl is with the Grigri.
Popular Auto-Locking Devices:
- Tango Vergo was released in 2014
- Camp Matik was release in 2015
- Madrock Lifeguard was released in 2017
- Wild Country Revo was released in 2018
Evolution of the Wild Country Revo
See the price from backcountry here and REI here.
The Revo is relatively new and was released in 2018, which is 27 years after the first Grigri.
This evolution of the Wild Country Revo is worth noting because it might be a hint of where future auto-locking belay devices are headed.
Most auto-locking devices use a similar camming-pinch system to the Grigri, but the Revo by Wild Country is one of the few that uses a different camming system.
How the Revo Works
The Revo has a circular camming system in the center of the device. That system can only spin up to four meters per second, so once the rope hits that speed, the camming system engages and locks the rope in place.
To unlock the rope, the belayer engages the brake hand and pulls the brake rope down until the Revo clicks and lowers the safety arm of the device.
The Difference Between the Revo and the Grigri
Like I said above, most auto-locking devices are built a lot like the Grigri with small differences. The Revo, on the other hand, was made to be a backup system, so it has different features and works differently.
- The idea behind the Revo is that it only locks if something goes wrong. For example, if a climber falls and the belayer fails to get the brake hand into the proper position, it engages a cam on both sides of the device. That’s a little different from the Grigri, because even if you have your brake hand in the right position, the weight of a falling climber forces the Grigri cam to pinch the rope.
- The Revo gives and takes slack the same way an ATC does. That’s different from the Grigri, where you have to hold the cam open while feeding rope through it. The Revo only pinches the rope if the brake hand or rope isn’t being pulled into a brake position.
- The Revo can be used in any orientation and with your left or right hand. That’s different from the Grigri, which doesn’t work if you flip the orientation of the rope. On top of that, the Grigri only works with right-handed belaying.
Evolution of semi-assisted braking devices
To give belayers more support than an ATC but at a smaller price than the auto-locking devices, companies created semi-assisted braking devices. If you’re weighing that jump, we break it down in should you upgrade to an assisted-braking belay device.
This kind of device doesn’t have an automatic locking cam like the auto-locking devices, and there’s no lever to release the pinched rope. But semi-assisted braking belay devices do pinch the rope and stop it from running through the device if the climber falls, even if the belayer is impaired.
Popular semi-assisted belay devices:
- Mammut Smart was originally released in 2009
- Edelrid Jul was originally released in 2014
- Black Diamond Pilot was released in 2017
- Climbing Technology Click-Up was released in 2018
How Semi-Assisted Braking Devices Work
If the belayer is impaired or slow to react to a climber’s fall, the semi-assisted belay device moves into a position that pinches the rope between the belay device and the carabiner, which stops the rope from running through.
To lower the climber, the belayer readjusts the position of the belay device and controls the speed of the rope by controlling the angle the device sits at.
The Mammut Smart was one of the first widely known semi-assisted braking devices on the market. For years, climbers who wanted that extra assist would buy the Mammut Smart for a price that was usually double or even triple a basic ATC, but still about half the price of a Grigri.
The Future of Belay Devices
In a lot of climbing gyms around the world, tubular ATCs aren’t allowed anymore, and auto-locking devices are getting more popular.
On top of that, plenty of climbers have said they aren’t comfortable climbing unless their belayer is using an auto-locking device.
That’s a sign the world of belay devices will probably lean more auto-locking, with semi-assisted devices trailing behind. That day isn’t likely to come too soon, though.
There are older climbers (often called the “original climbers”) who make it clear they don’t like using auto-locking belayers. Even so, I’d bet that as auto-locking devices keep getting better, they’ll become even more common than the basic ATC, despite the extra cost it takes to make them.
Climbing companies around the world are still developing belay devices and constantly improving them. There’s no doubt they’ll keep getting better and better over the years. And once you’ve got your device dialed, keep the rest of your kit in shape too, starting with this climbing rope maintenance and care guide.
Frequently asked questions
What was the first belay device?
The first belay device was the Sticht Plate, patented in 1970 and named after Fritz Sticht. It was a metal plate with a slot for a bite of rope and a metal hook that created space between the harness and the device so the rope was easier to control.
What are the three main types of belay devices?
The three main types are the tubular ATC, the auto-locking belay device (like the Petzl Grigri), and the semi-assisted braking device (like the Mammut Smart). ATCs rely on the belayer’s brake hand, auto-locking devices use a cam that pinches the rope, and semi-assisted devices sit in between.
When did the Petzl Grigri come out?
The Grigri by Petzl was released in 1991. It added an assist that helps stop a fall even if the belayer becomes impaired, which was a big change from the basic ATC where all the responsibility sat with the belayer’s brake hand.
Are figure 8 belay devices still allowed in gyms?
Figure 8s are still sold and some climbers still use them, mostly for rappelling. But they twist the rope and are hard to lock off, so they’re considered less safe, and most climbing gyms around the world don’t allow them anymore.
What’s the difference between the Wild Country Revo and the Grigri?
The Revo was built as a backup system, so it only locks if something goes wrong, gives and takes slack like an ATC, and works in any orientation with either hand. The Grigri’s cam pinches the rope on any fall, needs you to hold the cam open to feed slack, and only works with right-handed belaying.
