great for belaying sport. autolocking makes holding the leader while hes resting or just figuring out a sequence of moves a breeze. i use it with 9.5mm rope and dont have any problems. im just a tad more careful than i would be with a thicker rope.

good for indoor rock gyms. when i am working at the gym it is great when i have to re-clip a slightly overhanging top rope into some protection. i used to do it without being belayed because it was hard to find someone to belay me while working. this works great for route setting and self belaying, the only problem is that you have to be able to pull vast amounts of rope throught it.

I love it when i am belaying because although not completely idiot proof, it is very easy to use. i have tested it with my friends after-hours, and it auto locks very well, would not suggest for lead climbs though.

I use the Grigri for lots of different jobs. They are useful for general climbing as well as rescue scenarios and aid climbing as well as rope soloing. I love it for trad lead climb belaying. Of course climbers are finding ways to use these belay devices in ways that Petzl does not recommend but hey we`re an innovative bunch of people and we`ll use them in lots of inventive ways. Rapping with a Grigri is funky in that it has its own inbuilt safety so that if you let go of the handle for whatever reason it cannot fail but lock up,very sweet on those long lonely multi pitch raps at night. Grigri`s should never be seen as being foolproof or indeed failsafe or a no hands belay device, they must always be backed up with a competent operator.

I really injoy using the grigri when putting up new routes in the gym. the autolocking means i don't have to tie off the grigri like you would when you use an atc (or similar device). The downsides: can only handle a single rope 9.7mm-11mm, can be tricky to feed out rope, very jerky rappel, expensive!!!!!

The grigri is a blessing to me just about every day. I use it for belaying new climbers, friends who are hang-dogging a route on sport or TR, ropes course belaying, TR self-belay while indoor route setting, and occassional slack-line rigging.

Using this camming belay device saves a lot of hand fatigue (no need to white-knuckle on the brake end, a normal grip in the proper brake position does the job) when you are belaying for an extended period.
- shape of clip-in hole requires a round (or narrow) biner such as BD pearabiner or Petzl attache biner. Does not work well with Omega Jake or similarly wide-frame biners.

The grigri is really a blessing to me, but I rarely use it when out climbing myself (vs. working and teaching). At $70, the grigri is not such a deal. Look for the package deals that include a compatible carabiner for less than 70.