Petzl GRIGRI Review

Overview

The GRIGRI is the gold standard for belay devices, designed for both lead and top rope climbing, making belaying easier with cam-assisted blocking.

It’s the device that essentially invented the active assisted-braking market — and three decades later it still sets the bar.

It’s an ideal device for belaying both leaders and top-ropers, sport or trad climbers, and it’s also great at the gym.

The current version (launched in 2019, informally called the “GriGri 3” by many) is not a radical departure from the GriGri 2, but

it takes the body of the GriGri 2 and adds an updated cam — the same superior camming unit introduced in the GriGri+ — which can accommodate a wider range of ropes and allows for a smoother, more progressive lower.

Key Specs

Spec	Detail
Weight	175 g (6.2 oz)
Rope Compatibility	8.5–11 mm single rope
Optimized Range	8.9–10.5 mm
Side Plates	Aluminum
Cam & Friction Plate	Stainless steel
Handle	Reinforced nylon
Certifications	CE EN 15151-1, UIAA
Best For	Sport, gym, trad, single-pitch multi-pitch
Comparison	See how GRIGRI compares to similar gear

Performance

Fall Arrest & Catch Feel

This is where the GRIGRI earns its keep. The assisted braking is activated when a climber falls: the device pivots, the rope tightens, and the cam pinches and blocks the rope. The result is a catch that requires minimal effort from the belayer — the assisted braking means catching falls takes less energy than most tube-style devices, which leaves less room for user error and means that at the end of an epic day you can worry less about shaky hands. Falls feel positive and confident; I’ve never once wondered whether a catch was going to happen.

One tester put it well: “The GriGri cinches down tight, making it easy to belay my partner when they’re hanging all over their project.”

That tight hold is a genuine advantage when your partner is working a redpoint and spending long stretches hanging on the rope.

Lowering

Lowering is smooth with the current cam geometry. Even though thinner ropes are now facilitated, the lower is actually smoother due to a revised descent control system giving a larger “sweet spot” and more progressive assisted braking capability. That said, the handle still requires some dialing in — give it too little and your partner barely moves; open it a touch too fast and things accelerate more than you’d like. It’s not difficult, but new belayers should expect to practice on a weighted dummy rope before taking someone up a sport route.

Feeding Slack

This is the GRIGRI’s most-discussed trade-off, and the honest answer is: there’s a real learning curve. The GriGri allows the belayer to feed slack relatively simply, but there is a learning curve to do so with ease. You can usually feed slack in the same manner as a tube-style device without the cam locking up. However, when you want to feed out a lot of slack very quickly, the method Petzl teaches is to hold the brake end of the rope in the right hand and at the same time use the right thumb to depress the cam, pulling out an armload of slack with the left hand. One known bugbear is the device locking off when trying to pay rope out quickly — this has happened to many belayers and has even cost redpoint and flash attempts at routes. Once the thumb technique is ingrained it becomes second nature, but there will be short-roped leaders in your future before that happens. Learning to quickly feed out slack takes time and repetitions, as well as a patient leader — but soon enough, the process becomes ingrained, and every experienced climber has no problem with the GriGri’s ability to feed out slack.

Versatility

The GRIGRI feeds slack with ease, securely catches lead falls, and securely auto-blocks when belaying a follower from above on multi-pitch routes.

That third use case — auto-block at an anchor on single-pitch or moderate multi-pitch — is easy to rig and works reliably, though you should always keep a hand on the brake strand and consult Petzl’s guidelines before using it this way.

The one firm limitation: double rope rappels are out, and belaying with two ropes (frequent on trad and ice climbs) is impossible, as is belaying two simultaneous followers. As a result, the GriGri will never completely replace the ATC. Pack a tube device alongside this if you’re doing double-rope rappels or alpine terrain — you’ll need it.

Rope Compatibility

This device now accommodates ropes down to 8.5mm, keeping pace with the skinniest single ropes on the market.

In practice, I’d stay within the optimized 8.9–10.5mm range if you want the smoothest operation.

At least one reviewer found it best to stick with ropes under 10mm in diameter: staying under the 10mm mark in lead mode makes quickly feeding and taking in slack much smoother.

Durability

The aluminum side plates will show wear over time with heavy use, particularly at the rope-contact edge. For those who climb intermittently, it will likely last many years. For those who climb a lot in the desert or outside all the time, there are parts that can wear out relatively quickly — most full-time climbing reviewers say they get around five years of usage before replacing their devices. If you’re logging gym sessions five days a week, the GriGri+ with its stainless steel wear plate is worth the extra 25g and money.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Reliable, low-effort fall arrest — the cam does the hard work
• Smooth, progressive lowering once the technique clicks
• Now compatible with ropes down to 8.5mm — covers nearly every modern single rope
• Works for lead, top rope, and anchor-based belaying
• Compact and light at 175g for what it does
• Intuitive rope-loading pictograms engraved directly on the device
• A built-in rope stopper prevents the rope from escaping the device under a hard fall

Cons

• Significant learning curve for feeding slack quickly; short-roping leaders is a rite of passage
• Cannot be used for double-rope rappels or multi-strand belays — you still need a tube device
• 175g is considerably heavier than a tube device (~80g for an ATC); matters on long multi-pitch where grams add up
• The nylon handle can show wear with sustained abrasive use
• For very heavy use patterns, the aluminum body will groove over time without the steel wear plate of the GriGri+

Who Should Buy This

The GRIGRI is the right tool for the most versatile of active assisted-braking devices, recommended for experienced climbers who want one belay device for all kinds of climbing. That covers the gym regular, the sport crag regular, and the trad climber on single-pitch or moderate multi-pitch. For most experienced climbers, a regular GriGri will be sufficient for everyday use, and those added safety features of the Plus won’t really make a difference. If you’re a guide, instructor, or someone who takes a lot of beginners up routes, look instead at the GriGri+ for its anti-panic handle. And if you’re primarily a multi-pitch or trad climber who rappels on two strands regularly, you’ll still want an ATC in the bag.

Verdict

The GRIGRI is one of the few pieces of climbing gear that genuinely earns its near-universal adoption. It performs well in every belaying and lowering task, and the updated cam in the current version makes it more capable with modern skinny ropes than any previous iteration. The slack-feeding learning curve is real but entirely surmountable, and the single-rope-only limitation is the one structural gap it can’t paper over. For experienced climbers who mainly work single-pitch sport or gym sessions, there isn’t a more confidence-inspiring device at this price. 9/10.