After playing with my Cinch for a while I thought I'd tell you what I think. I had previously read the reviews here and agree with many of the earlier findings.


1. It is MUCH easier to feed rope when lead belaying: In many ways I found this to be a great advantage. I have climbed for 10+ years, and used the Grigri for many. The tendency of the Grigri to lock up when feeding out rope to a leader seems to be the cause for many of the belay errors I have seen and heard of with this device. One must somehow prevent the Grigri from locking up while feeding slack. This usually entails holding down the mechanism with a few fingers. Although the only time this is ever necessary is when the leader is clipping, many belayers constantly hold the device in this manner. This has led to several belayers dropping leaders (although not always to the ground). The lack of a spring loaded locking mechanism combined with the point below may prevent similar errors from occurring with the Cinch - time will tell.


2. The Cinch locks off faster then a Grigri (creating a less dynamic belay): This may or may not be an issue depending on the type of climbing one is doing. Those requiring a dynamic belay, and proficient in accomplishing this, will no doubt choose to use a different device. Those bouncing on bolts may not care or may appreciate this 'feature' (a more static belay can prevent the need to "boing" on long roof routes). I will not be using it for ice climbing however.


3. Lowering can be tough to regulate: Yes and no. Lowering seemed to go faster on steeper routes and with thinner or newer ropes. However, I have had similar difficulties with the Grigri. This is one reason that I and many other folks choose to use gloves. That said I really had little difficulty with the Cinch (even without gloves). It seems only slightly more difficult to regulate descent speed. The longer handle that is in the works may help this.


4. Simplicity: The Cinch is a much simpler device than the Grigri. This fact alone would make me consider taking it into the mountains. The knowledge that a Titanium version is on the way makes me think about this even more. The drawback is the more static belay and the fact that I primarily use 1/2 ropes on long alpine routes.


5. As noted before, this is a not a failsafe device. It does require knowledge and attention to use it properly. I don't know of any device that works properly in the hands of the untrained neophyte.


There are the pros and cons I found. With further use I may edit this, but I doubt I will find much new. If I did not have the Cinch or the Grigri I would likely opt for the Cinch. I mostly use these devices on sport routes so the lockup is not a problem. Yes the price is somewhat lower, but I don't really consider this much of a selling point in my case. Not that I have an abundance of cash mind you, it's just that I'd rather the device with the features best suited to my needs. For me the ease of feed that the Cinch provides does this.


VT

Best resole I have ever had! They did work wonders on some beat up Miuras. To top it off their prices are better than others ($25 for a 1/2 sole!) and they are quick. Highly recommended.