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prest_one
Nov 30, 2004, 5:27 AM
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I want to know if any of you have used either one of these devices for solo climbing? Do they work? I dont want to get into the discussion as to whether or not you should or shouldnt climb alone. But any help as to whether these devices are good and which one is better would be greatly appreciated before i buy them. Thanks
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dief
Nov 30, 2004, 5:36 AM
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I love my Silent Partner. It feeds very smoothly. It is more expensive but I think it is worth every penny. Have fun!
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shutupandclimb
Nov 30, 2004, 7:09 AM
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I love my soloist for top roping, but leading is kind of sketchy as you have to be very careful about falling upside down. Pulling through slack to clip in to something above your head is a big pain. That being said, it feeds great and was well worth the money. Haven't used the silent partner, but it looks interesting.
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superevolved
Nov 30, 2004, 8:01 AM
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What's the best device for solo top roping?
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guangzhou
Nov 30, 2004, 8:25 AM
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I have used both, but have more experience on the soloist. Lately, since I live in China, it’s been my main partner. I have been using the soloist on and off for 8 years. The device catches my falls on both top rope and lead and I would recommend it any day.
I am not worried about the whole falling upside down thing for two reasons:
1. The chest harness generally keeps that from happening.
2. I tie back up knots.
The silent partner is nice too, but I limited experience with it. I took some practice fall with one. It caught me every time, even on the 30 footer. I think it’s bulkier than the soloist, which is a drawback, but the chest harness isn’t needed which can be a great advantage.
For top roping, I didn’t like the silent partner at all. Just didn’t seem to be as smooth has the soloist.
Eman
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robmcc
Nov 30, 2004, 3:05 PM
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I've used and taken a lead fall on a Soloist. Yes, it works. My one fall was an inverted one, so I'll also confirm that it's mighty disturbing to look up at the ground closing on your head while the rope zips through the Solist. Tie backup knots in the rope so that if you DO fall inverted, the knot will stop the fall when it hits the Soloist. In my case, I took a bounce off the rock which flipped me right side up and the Soloist arrested the fall (0.7 or so) 5-8' before the knot would have caught.
Rob
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j_ung
Nov 30, 2004, 3:32 PM
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Registered: Nov 21, 2003
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Check out the Gear Guide! rcaret has an outstanding review of the Silent Partner here: http://www.rockclimbing.com/gear/product.php?p=600&list=1 . And, check here for the Soloist: http://www.rockclimbing.com/gear/product.php?p=602
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glyrocks
Dec 1, 2004, 1:54 AM
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Can anyone explain why the soloist (and solo-aid?) won't hold an inverted or low-angled fall? What about a "death-mod" grigri, will that guy hold an inverted fall? Thanks
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curt
Dec 1, 2004, 2:01 AM
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In reply to: What's the best device for solo top roping?
For solo top-roping, I have used a number of devices. The Gibbs ascender, Soloist and Petzl Mini-traxion have all worked quite well for me. I suppose I like the Mini-traxion best, all things considered.
Curt
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brad84
Dec 1, 2004, 2:16 AM
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the grigr mod will definately not hold an inverted fall (this is why i bought a silent partner). due to the angle that the rope runs through the device, the rope will feed out just as fast as you fall if you're inverted, and the locking mechanism will never bite- dont flip w/ the grigri mod.
but the silent partner on the other hand...amazing device. i love mine. the rope feeds smoothly, catches a fall in any orientation... if you're not used to the extra work of tying backup knots and unweighting the rope on your pro w/ multi directional pieces, and climbing each pitch twice (which i actually really enjoy), & etc etc, it could be a frustration. but those are not things inherrent to the silent partner, rather to rope soloing in general. the bottom line is that the silent partner is the only solo device i will ever use for leading (clove hitch method coming in 2nd). & i recommend it to anyone who is interested in rope soloing.
right, on top of that, wren industries stands behind their product line very well.
enjoy the solitude.
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megableem
Dec 1, 2004, 2:29 AM
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wlderdude
Dec 2, 2004, 5:03 PM
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In reply to: Can anyone explain why the soloist (and solo-aid?) won't hold an inverted or low-angled fall? What about a "death-mod" grigri, will that guy hold an inverted fall? Thanks
For the rope to feed automatically, the cam does not engage when the rope is pulled from below.
When pulled from above it locks (like in an upright fall on lead or TR).
However, an inverted fall will look to the Soloist like playing out slack because the rope is pulling from below, and it won't catch.
The low angle issue has to do with where the rope is not straight up and down and it starts acting the same as it would in an inverted fall.
If that doesn't explain it well enough, look at the manual previously mentioned and linked.
I have had a Soloist for about a year now, but have not used it. I don't do a lot of soloing, and when I do it is only TR. I don't like my pack weighing too much since there is no one to share the load with, so I opt for my ascender. The teeth are not a problem if you understand how they work, it will catch an inverted fall and it weighs a fraction of what the soloist does. If the Soloist fed better than the ascender, I would probably carry the Soloist instead. Oh, the ascender is rated for TR soloing by WC (the company that makes it), and by Petzl who made the design that WC riped off.
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steelmonkey
Dec 2, 2004, 7:17 PM
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Have both and have used them. They're both good for solo leading. Don't think they're all that great for solo TRing, but other cheaper devices are.
The Silent Partner has this thing where you have to have a loop of rope clipped to you, or the weight of the rope will cause more and more drag on the moving clove hitch around the device. That's sort of annoying, but once you work through that, it's all good and works quite smoothly.
People like to cite that the Soloist won't hold an upside down fall, but (as noted in other posts here) you should always tie backup knots with any solo device, so if you don't get caught by the knot you should have tied, you sorta asked for it. Otherwise, it usually feeds nice and works well.
If you're working on leading something that's maybe harder than you might be able to climb or you have some other issue that requires you to hang, the Soloist allows you to suck up the rope and hang on a piece. The only way to lock up the SP for the most part is to jump off (or you have to clip into a piece to hang).
Usually when I'm leading rope solo I take along a separate device for cleaning my pitches. I've used various devices for this, but my favs are probebly the Microscender, and more recently, the Mini Traxion. The difference between those two is that the Traxion has teeth in the cam that pinches the rope and the Microscender has a smooth machined cam interface.
Might be obvious, but I think it's a good idea to climb fairly conservatively when rope soloing. I usually (but not always) stay on stuff I'm pretty sure I can climb clean just to keep the odds of having some sort of unexpected event to a minimum.
Have fun, climb safe!
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sandstone
Dec 2, 2004, 7:59 PM
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Registered: Apr 21, 2004
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In reply to: What's the best device for solo top roping?
If everything goes right, and you never get slack in the system, there are several different models of ascenders that can be used (check the manufacturers specs).
However, if you assume the worst (fall with slack in the system and generate a shock load), then most of those devices start to look very unappealing to me. They're not intended for shock loads, and severe rope damage is a very real possibility. You can extrapolate from there...
I've used several different things over the years (the first was prusik knots, back in the early 70's), but my favorite is the Rescuecender, for these reasons:
- it's designed to slip a little under high loads (protects the rope)
- non-toothed cam (less chance of stripping the sheath off the rope)
- curved cam interface pocket (spreads out the "pinch point" on the rope over a larger area)
- very secure rope attachment mechanism
- slides smoothly up the rope
- it's beefy (its larger size helps spread out the load on the rope, and looking down to see a very strong device attaching you to the rope helps the head :-)
Be careful how you attach an ascender to your harness, make sure you don't crossload a carabiner (consider using a screw link). Always clip into backup knots. Always be prepared to either ascend or descend the rope if you fall off an overhanging climb.
On moderate climbs where I can free a hand to pull slack through the device I sometimes use a Gri-Gri (un-modified). It's plenty strong, and by default it is pre-rigged for a rappel -- very convenient. The Gri-Gri can fail to lock if you're using a slick (new), and/or thin rope. I always use a well broken in 11mm when solo TR'ing. I also always weight the free end of the rope (usually by just coiling up the excess rope). This weight helps an ascender slide up easily, and it helps make sure a Gri-Gri locks properly in a fall.
Howard Peel has an excellent article on this subject.
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glyrocks
Dec 3, 2004, 3:44 PM
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Registered: Nov 10, 2004
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Thanks, that makes a little more sense but I think I need to see one in action.
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