2]an anchor far back from the edge has similar difficulties whether you belay from anchor or from harness with redirect. I think its usually a bad idea to belay straight from harness with no redirect.

I use the reverso in autoblock and like the freedom to eat , drink, sort gear, take pics.........Generally I can be organizing myself for the next pitch while waiting for the 2nd.

Not this again.

Nice catch.

Jay

Oh, jeebus, and what are they "organizing" themselves for on the next pitch? Lead belaying?

A few months ago someone was using their reverso in autoblock mode and forgot a crucial step and dropped his partner.

The term, "belaying off the anchor," usually involves two concepts that really deserve separate consideration:

1. The seconds weight is taken directly by the anchor in case of a fall.

2. An autolocking device is used (Reverso 3, ATC Guide, Gi-Gi plate, for example).

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My personal solution is to embrace Item 1 and eschew Item 2. I belay from my harness...off the anchor. To do this, I use clovehitchology to easily set up a taut anchor line for whatever belay position I've chosen, and then clip my belay device to the tie-in knot loop, not the harness belay loop. Belaying motions are those of the harness belay, but any load goes immediately to the anchor via the anchor rope, which supplies a significantly better shock-absorbing connection than you get by clipping a device directly to some cordelette made of low-stretch materials. (I don't change things around when belaying the leader; I think this is the best set-up for holding a factor-2 fall as well.)

Redirecting through the anchor makes the least sense in my opinion, and the OP's experience is one of a number of examples.

Reverso's and similar devices in autoblock don't work well with single ropes. Maybe super thin 9.5mm or less which I don't have. Just use a Gri-gri for a single rope. I only use double 8mm with the reveraso autoblock. This is very easy to pull the rope.

I am still puzzled why people redirect rather than belay off the anchor. Personally I either belay off my harness with no redirect or belay off the anchor.

Most of the people I climb with don't redirect. One time I was climbing with someone who did and I finished the pitch to find him perch on a ledge 3m horizontal to the redirect! He was not tied in to anything.

So if I had fallen he would have been violently dragged off his perch with only the belay device keeping him from falling. I made sure I let him know that I didn't care if he felt safe, I wanted him tied in if he was belaying me.

Lets imagine you climb a bolted route that ends at a 2 bolt, 3/8" bolted anchor200' off the deck. Just 3 feet above you, at the start of the 2nd pitch, is a phat 1/2" bolt/empty hanger. You are saying that you would not clip that bolt to belay your 2nd up?

No. I have a perfectly good anchor where I am. Why would I redirect? Especially because it almost doubles the load and is non redundant. (Not that I would be worried about failure, but I fail to see the benefit of the redirect.)

Hey JT, you counted each of those 318 words up there? Wow!

I agree. I can't see any good reason to redirect in this case. especially if its 2 nice bolts. I would "equalize" with a cordellete or long sling and use a gri-gri for a single rope or reverso for doubles.
I mostly use doubles on alpine rock or ice and climb with two 2nds following so I use the reverso in autoblock.

"""And fuck the second. Afterall, toproping isn't "real" climbing, is it?"
Jay ""

I always belay 2nds from the anchor usually with reverso autoblock or gri-gri. maybe a miss understanding.

As has been discussed in other threads, you can't provide your second a decent belay with any of these silly "Guide Mode" type devices, due to the difficulty of giving them slack quickly. Shouldn't be much of an issue with a grigri, though.
Jay

definitely giving slack is tricky with the device in "guide mode" especially if the weight is on the rope. But I've been climbing for more than a few years and only had to give out slack a few times while belaying from the top using a reverso in autoblock mode.

Lets imagine you climb a bolted route that ends at a 2 bolt, 3/8" bolted anchor200' off the deck. Just 3 feet above you, at the start of the 2nd pitch, is a phat 1/2" bolt/empty hanger. You are saying that you would not clip that bolt to belay your 2nd up?

I am a little surprised by all the people on here suggesting that a redirect through an anchor is a good thing.

When you redirect through an anchor and them belay off your harness you are creating a 2-1 pully and therefore doubling your load on the anchor in the event of a fall. You are much better in almost all situations to belay from the anchor directly.

The anchor is exactly where you want the weight of a fall to end up. There are some cases where you might want to use your stance to lower the load on the anchor(belaying off harness), but if you are doing this on a regular basis then your luck is going to run out eventually.