GrandWall
Wedgemount
GrandWall | Wedgemount |
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I acquired my GrandWall from Zach Bullock in 2015.
The GrandWall is a belay tube. It is forged from aluminum alloy and soft anodized. Mine is 55 mm. long, 47 mm. wide, 98 mm. high, and weighs 58 g. The slots are 35 mm. long and 16 mm. wide. The top of the Omega oval carabiner that I use for comparing belay tubes sits 9 mm. below the ends of the slots.
Each side is printed with the GrandWall logo and "1112."
The following closely-related belay tubes include the GrandWall as an example:
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Each of these is 55±1 mm. long and 47±1 mm. wide, and has a weight in the 54±3 g. range. Their slots are all 35±1 mm. long and 16 mm. wide. The main differences are that most have cable keepers and U-shaped notches on both ends, but some have rod keepers and V-shaped notches on the high end.
These have several distinctive features, but overall, perform like most devices of this type. The rope slots are hour-glass shaped, but this does not appear to affect their performance. They are slightly asymmetrical with a high and a low end, giving two distinct riggings. One would expect a difference in friction for the two riggings, with more friction if the braking line runs over the shorter end; however, I do not notice much difference.
Most of these have shallow U-notches at both ends. The Clog Flyer, Ellis Brigham Climb and Unknown have V-notches at the high end, so I call these notched belay tubes. The V-notches are not as tall and acute as those on the Trango Jaws and its equivalents, so they do not provide as much braking. The U-notches on the others are are too shallow to noticeably amplify braking.
I prefer the ones with the rigid rod keeper. For the others, the plastic-coated cable keeper is moderately flexible, but stiff enough that it tends to stay out from under the rope.
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I acquired my GrandWall Wedgemount from GrandWall Equipment in 2015.
The GrandWall Wedgemount is a belay tube. Mine is 52 mm. long, 45 mm. wide, 92 mm. high, and weighs 60 g. It is forged from aluminum alloy and soft anodized. It has two slots that are 33 mm. long and 14 mm. wide. The top of the Omega oval carabiner that I use for comparing belay tubes sits 17 mm. below the ends of the slots.
Each side is printed with the GrandWall logo and "0713."
The GrandWall Wedgemount is one of the following closely-related belay tubes, all called "ATCs" after the original Black Diamond Air Traffic Controller:
Each of these is 54±3 mm. long, 46±1 mm. wide, and weighs 59±9 g. Their slots are all 32±1 mm. long and 14±1 mm. wide. They all have plastic-covered cable keepers.
The Black Diamond ATC was the first of these to appear, by many years. The basic design evolved and similar devices appeared from others.
The ATC is a lightweight, popular belaying device among climbers. Rigging is simple: insert a bight of rope and clip it with a suitably anchored carabiner, making sure that the rope is not running over the keeper. Two-rope rigging is similar. On thinner ropes, adding another carabiner helps.
My biggest complaint is that none of these give me enough friction when rappelling with a heavy load on fast 9 mm. rope. I also prefer more friction while belaying, unless my partner is particularly lightweight. For these reasons, I prefer using a Trango Jaws or one of its equivalents.
Any of these will overheat badly on long rappels. Overheating is not an issue when belaying, but can be a concern when lowering someone more than a short distance.
There are four different shell styles in use::
The differences between the styles are cosmetic rather than functional.
None of the keepers-to-shell are strong enough to support body weight, so don't be stupid enough to rely on a keeper to protect you.
There are also several different diameter keeper cables used on these. Cable keepers are a compromise between a cord that stows easily but tends to get tangled in use, and a rigid rod that stands up to the rope running over it (by accident, of course). I prefer a stiff keeper, but any of these are stiff enough to be used without significant problems.
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