| Trango Cinch |
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Ever since I started climbing I have been an outright advocate for the Petzl Gri-Gri. Everytime I saw someone using a Cinch, I assumed they had just never used a Gri-Gri, so they didn't know what they were missing. Although, lately I had seen people lead belaying with the Cinch with what appeared to be little to no effort. This seemed odd to me because all of my Gri-Gri touting friends hardly ever belayed a leader with this device, instead preferring to go back to the standard ATC.Well, last week at HCR my buddy Dick all but forced me to belay him with his Cinch, despite my great protest. What I found was that this thing fed slack easier than ANY device I have ever used. On routes that were protected in a relatively vertical line, I didnt even have to feed! The leader could just pull rope through on his own! I was in disbelief! Plus it is significantly lighter than the Gri-Gri! This will definately be the next piece of gear added to my arsenal! The only thing I did not like about the Cinch is that it is a little clunky to lower people with, and the lever is harder to handle once the rope has been weighted. But the ease of feeding more than makes up for this! I will not retire my Gri-Gri, because it still has a few things it does better than any other device I know of. I will continue to use it for route-setting at gyms, belaying someone from above (like in Ouray), and when my partner plans on doing a marathon session of Hang-dogging. Of course the ATC- Guide will continue to be the go to device for Super Hard Core Trad-Nasty belaying, and belaying a second from above on multi-pitch routes where weight is an issue. I know a lot of my co-workers will argue with me on this, but the proof is in the pudding! For more info, call 417-877-8855 in Springfield and 913-851-2244 in Kansas City. The Cinch is available at both stores but is only stocked at our KC location. |
Trango Cinch