But 99.9% of the time, crossloading on a normal carabiner occurs when the carabiner is unloaded and then loaded back up. Having that part of the carabiner be steel instead of aluminum improves wear life of the carabiner.īut I assume you're talking about the wire gate for your belay loop! In which case I will say it's probably not impossible for your belay loop to come out of the wire gate and crossload in strange loading situations. The 'steel insert' I was referring to in my comment is actually the shiny silver plate on the wide end of the carabiner that the rope rubs against. Thank you all in advance from an excited but slightly anxious climber! ahhhh I just wish there was a comprehensive guide out there. Bonus if anyone also has advice on what biner to get! I just have a basic one but I've also read about the danger of cross-loading, so that's another worry I have. I am happy to shell out some extra money for a Grigri over the Jul2 if it means I'll be safer as a belayer, but if it's a more cumbersome and overall unnecessary device compared to the Jul2 or other tubular devices, I don't want to be a sucker and pay more than I need. I hope this question isn't too long, I just have gotten a lot of conflicting advice. On the other had, the Jul2 seems easier to feed out slack with, and does a good enough job breaking that the safety difference isn't much. I have seen opinions on how the Grigri is annoying to feed rope out with, but that the over-engineering means that even if I get pulled into the wall while belaying a heavier climber, or hit with a falling rock or something while belaying outside, I have that extra layer of locking/safety that passive devices like the Jul2 might not. As a beginner concerned with safety and also knowing I will probably be belaying people heavier than me (something that is less of an issue with indoor top roping), what do people recommend? I've read a million blogs and watched a bunch of YouTube videos, but I feel like none have done a good comparison between the Grigri (which I see everywhere) and tubular assisted break devices like the Jul2. However, I am looking to get into lead climbing and potentially start going outside once I'm comfortable with the basics of lead (and when New England winter allows it lol). I have been climbing for about 2 years, but only bouldering and top roping indoors, and I have only ever used a typical ATC belay device, which I am very comfortable with.

So I have read through a bunch of other threads on here about choosing a belay device, but I haven't found one that answers all of my questions yet.

Set up atc belay device