A great lead belayer to unwind the rope and not bother your climbing partner on long runs, a great addition to the GRIGRI family.
BENEFITS
- Incredibly smooth payment with a rope.
- Safer than a GRIGRI to unwind the rope
- Easy transition when replacing a GRIGRI
DISADVANTAGES
- Heavy
- Not as versatile as a GRIGRI
I’ve been sport climbing for a long time – and I mean a long time. I go back to the early days of Malham Cove in the 80s when sport climbing was a combination of pegs, old aid bolts and a few new hand drilled bolts. At the time, we belayed with a figure-eight rappel device, which I absolutely would not recommend!
Fast forward to the mid 90s and I quickly adopted the PETZL GRIGRI and have used every model since. We have even reviewed a few on the site – the GRIGRI and the GRIGRI+ and the GRIGRI is my insurer of choice. I preferred my old original GRIGRI for my work as a mountaineering instructor because it worked well with my big “juggling rope”. But for recreational sport climbing, the GRIGRI has been great and a constant in my pack.
One of the disadvantages of using a GRIGRI is the unwinding of the rope when belaying. The cam (which is the internal mechanism that locks the rope when loaded) should be overridden by placing the palm of your hand (or thumb) on the release lever and you can then unwind the rope before removing your palm – PETZL call this “thumb” and have a video explaining it here. It is then ready to lock in the event of a fall and the climber can be lowered using the control handle. One of the problems with using a GRIGRI can be the device locking up when trying to quickly pay off the rope – this has happened to me more times than I can count and has even cost of red dot and flash attempts on routes. Of course, you can also see the safety issue here: if the leader falls when you press the device, the GRIGRI may not lock.
Showing how the internal mechanism is different in PETZL NEOX and GRIGRI. This is ideal for indoor climbing.
The PETZL NEOX is a total overhaul of the internal workings of a GRIGRI to produce an excellent assisted belay device, perfect for unwinding the rope. Super soft, with no blocking on checkout (once you get used to it), the NEOX is a great belay device for climbers belaying/climbing long, modern pitches. If you have never used a GRIGRI before and are considering investing, go straight for the NEOX and you will find it simple to use once you spend some time learning how to use it (the best place is an indoor climbing gym).
For those of you who, like me, have been using a GRIGRI for a long time, you will find that the inner workings of the NEOX are a complete change. The rotating wheel may seem a little alarming at first but upon closer inspection, we see that the mechanism works on two levels: there is the rotating wheel which allows the rope to be unwound and then the cam which operates to the same way that a GRIGRI camera does it. I don’t know exactly how it all works but after a few months of use, I have complete confidence in it and it will definitely replace my GRIGRI for lead belaying.
It may look a little different but it works the same way as a GRIGRI. You can see the wheel and the locking cam. It worked great with my 9.1mm sport climbing rope without any issues.
In terms of appearance, it resembles a GRIGRI. It is a little bigger and heavier than a GRIGRI and looks more like a GRIGRI+. There are plenty of instructions on the case as it is crucial to have the rope inserted correctly (this is true for all GRIGRIs) and there is an additional instruction to always have your hand on the brake side of the rope. I found this very slightly different from my GRIGRI in that the device works best when the string is pulled over the curved lip of the case. So I adopted this as my default position when using the NEOX, a slight change from before that I probably should have made anyway.
There is an excellent video from PETZL that explains how NEOX works and can be found here:
The control handle is the same as that of a GRIGRI and the controlled bottom works the same way. The cable loads in the same way and the jacket closes in the same way. The large carabiner hole will accommodate a wide variety of carabiner sizes. My preference is an oval shaped screw gate, but most HMS type locking screw gates will fit, including those with a gate bar. The wheel does not turn when descending and it is important to control the handle well as is the case with a GRIGRI.
So I have been using PETZL NEOX for a few months now and I use it exclusively for all my lead belaying indoors and outdoors. I was impressed with the handling ability, it won’t work very well with your old, chunky 10.5 climbing gym rope, but for modern, thinner ropes it has been excellent. I use a 9.1mm rope for outdoors and a 10mm for indoors and both work well (it’s rated for rope diameters between 8.5 and 11mm). I think the NEOX may not replace the GRIGRI and you should consider investing with the following in mind: If you climb long sport climbs over 30m and mainly lead climbs then the NEOX is perfect; If you do a lot of reel style activities, rope soloing, and juggling/rigging, the GRIGRI might be better suited for you. For multi-pitch bolted routes and trad climbing I will stick to my belay plate as I usually use double ropes on multiple pitches due to abbing. But… it would work perfectly for trad climbing with a single rope – which is how many modern, difficult trad routes are climbed.
It is expensive and the GRIGRI is cheaper – but as an investment in both efficiency and safety it is worth it and will last for many years of use.
The RRP for PETZL NEOX is £125 and can be purchased from specialist retailers.
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