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General Climbing Discussion

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weird ways to get wasted - 1 15-Jul-2003 At 2:47:21 PM dodgy

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Fuggin' Gri Gri's...

If people cared enough to check, Petzl state that Gri Gri's SHOULD NOT BE USED on gear that is not TOTALLY bombproof. They are NOT a dynamic belay device and will almost certainly overload any natural pro in any sort of decent fall. They essentially imply that they should only be used for top-roping.
The rope management system is designed to stop you hitting the deck by using up the energy in the fall in rope stretch and slip; both through the pro and through the belay device. If any part of the system doesn't "give" then that energy ends up elsewhere (like at your top piece of pro). Gri Gri's generate (from memory) about 5kN more force than a tube device (like an ATC) and about 3kN more than a stitcht plate.
Essentially, in a decent fall, you better hope your top piece can handle at least 9kN... Remember that the ratings on pro are not tested in real (fragile?) rock, and that (for example) small wires are only good to (say) 6kN, RP's even less.
Basically if you (lazy belayer) are going to use to belay a leader, you should never be tied down, as this just makes the situation worse. If the belayer notices themselves getting pulled around more than usual, they probably are, because instead of slipping and decreasing the amount of energy in the fall, the Gri Gri simply locks...

Sorry for being a bit vague on the numbers, I don't have Clyde Soles (excellent) "Rock and Ice - Gear" book with me.