Black Diamond ATC Guide

I got this device in March 2006. Played with it for two days in the climbing gym, then took it to Red Rocks for a week. I've never owned a reverso because I don't mind belaying off my harness and I do sometimes have to lower a second. Far and away my favorite belay device is the Trango Jaws. I find it gives tons of friction when I need friction and feeds smoothly when I need it to feed. I bought the Guide in hopes that it would be as good a tube device as the Jaws and give me autolock capability when I felt like using it.

In tube mode, the Guide has a decent amount of friction, though not as much as Jaws. The Guide is fairly smooth to use, but not as smooth as the Jaws. There is a good amount of metal in this device and it dissipates heat well on rappel. In autolock mode it locks tight, but is very hard to feed ropes larger than 10mm. Tried using two 10.6mm single ropes (needed two for the rappel and that was all we had), and it was virtually impossible pull rope through the Guide in autolock mode (and very difficult in tube mode). Testing at the gym with thinner ropes it seems to work very well. I did not test with ropes thinner than 9mm, but I expect the Guide to work well with thin ropes.

For hauling, it is possible to set a 3:1 pulley using the Guide, but it is very hard to haul. A 5:1 pulley will probably be necessary for most hauling. This is easy to do and it is nice to not have to escape the belay to haul. Lowering is made a bit easier by using the small tab on the end of the device. An 11mm sling can be crammed through the tab, but it works better with an 8mm sling. Playing with it in the gym, I think the best way to lower a climber is to girth hitch an 8mm sling to the power point of the anchor, then thread through the release tab. Now you have a 2:1 pulley which you lift up. This makes it much easier to let go and return to locking mode which helps prevent "dropped climber syndrome" that seems to be common with this sort of device. Be sure to have good control of the brake strand (redirect if necessary) before pulling the release.

Overall an excellent device if you use ropes of 10mm or less.

By the way, belaying a second autolock mode isn't always the best choice.  Sometimes it is better to belay off your harness with a redirect on the anchor.