Talk:Grigri

Etymology

This link [1] has an interesting story about the origin of the name. It's plausible but fanciful, and unsupported in any case. I didn't find any supporting evidence in my (very brief) search, but I thought I'd put the link here anyway so that someone else can go digging if they're so inspired. — Saxifrage ✎ 17:22, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

Safety

I removed some misinformation about the gri-gri saying that the belayer is required to let go of the rope with the climber falls. I have worked with the gri-gri for years and have never heard of this technique or ever seen it used. This was dangerous information that could result in death, although I truly hope no one is getting belay advice from wikipedia. If the instructions are to be posted here then they should only be the official directions from Petzl or best practices from a respected climber, not something someone made up. — TheDukeZip ✎ 17:59, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

• My guess is that it was just a prank. This is one of the good reasons for our policy on reliable sources... — brighterorange (talk) 18:36, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

• Another possibility is that, from very non-definitive sources, I've heard that if the climber falls and your guide hand pulls too much (a habit that can be inspired by gym top-rope climbing when the rope is often double-rapped at the top, making it possible to exert a holding pull just by doing that), it can actually cause the force at the gri-gri itself to decrease to the point where it ceases to lock, and will just start to feed through. At this point, it's unlikely that it will auto-lock even after the belayer lets go with the guide hand. I have no idea if this is true, but it seems plausible, and if so, it would imply that if the climber falls, letting go with the *guide* hand would be a reasonable response if you think you might pull with the guide hand. Now, I definitely agree that letting go with the *brake* hand is a Very Bad Idea (TM), and if the article implied that it was definitely wrong. 24.196.81.5 (talk) 04:56, 28 April 2009 (UTC)

Can a gri-gri break from leverage from a hard fall? (The rope pulling the top part of it off) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dstallman (talk • contribs) 22:29, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

• I definatley don't think so. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.68.40.135 (talk) 17:46, 8 September 2011 (UTC)
• Grigri must only be used with dynamic ropes (Petzl says). The grigri breakes harder than an ATC, so static ropes may cause extreme forces on the grigri when arresting a hard fall if static ropes are used.

The article states: "This is not true, and does cause accidents." Can you PLEASE cite a source for this. There is so much hear say regarding accidents with Gri-Gris's, I'm not sure what to believe. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.240.243.170 (talk) 16:22, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Another thing to mention is that I've often had problems with gri gris catching slower falls, and it doesn't always hold when your hangdawging, but that might just be me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.68.40.135 (talk) 17:50, 8 September 2011 (UTC)

Amulets?

Shouldn't there be at least a mention of the African amulets of the same name? At least the redirection from gris-gris should rather point there than here - I cannot imagine that the branded climbing device would carry all the same homonyms by pure chance. And the origin of the name may also be explained. -- 92.206.28.212 (talk) 18:26, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Grigri 2

Petzl announced a new Grigri, which should probably be mentioned on this page. 63.248.170.47 (talk) 04:59, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

It's been recalled due to safety problems with the handle. I think we need to add a history section to the article. Seehere for details. CJ ^{Drop me a line! • Contribs} 19:59, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

This was included in the article but seems more appropriate here

RYLTYL,L 'JL;Happlications. The claim against usage for lead climbing is that since the device auto-locks, the belayer is required to hold the device open while feeding rope to the leader. A common mistake while belaying a lead climber is to hold open the device the entire time, thus defeating the auto-locking mechanism. This practice does compromise the added margin of safety that the GriGri contributes to the belay over more traditional belay devices, though release of the device during a fall will still allow the device to lock normally. Users can and should learn how to feed rope without holding the device open, though learning to quickly and confidently disengage the braking mechanism is important for a safe belay, as accidental locking of the Grigri can cause problems for the leader that may lead to a fall. Petzl has released information on how rope should be fed through in a lead climb, including how to let slack out quickly so that the climber can clip a quickdraw on a sport route.

Not my comment, moved from article. Could be worked back in. A13ean (talk) 06:40, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

References

Prescriptive language and opinions on value

This article contains way too much prescriptive language, saying how the Grigri should be used. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia not a user guide and does not tell readers what to do. Any advice about use, or pros and cons of the device need to be framed as citeable descriptions of people's opinions. Ashmoo (talk) 16:15, 15 March 2012 (UTC)