Just picked one up the other day.

I needed to be able to set up four RADS systems in a tree for a climb I was leading so I went to the only store in Jacksonville that sells climbing gear and bought what they had on the shelf.

I made sure that it was a post recall production.

It's a lot smaller than my original GRIGRI. That's nice. The Handle seems to have a bit of a mechanical advantage. That's nice too.

What I don't like is that the thing seems to heat up quickly and really hold the heat on descent. I ended up with a fun stripe on my first descent.

I have been using a Trango Cinch for a coupe of years now and I have never gotten a single fun stripe using it.

Anyways, I am still not a fan of the GRIGRI. It doesn't manage heat well. I am not a big fan of the way spring tension has to be overcome before it grabs either.

Anybody else out there that has used BOTH a GRIGRI and a Cinch in RADS configurations?

What are your thoughts?

I've used both Grigri verions and the Cinch for SRT descent. Cinch was too squirrelly for me on 10mm static, much more so than the original Grigri.

Grigri 2 is excellent on a 10mm static, I never rip that fast on any levered rappel device so I haven't had problems with melting with either Grigri.

11mm ropes are tight in a Grigri 2, will definitely have poorer heat performance, much prefer the Grigri v1 for 11mm.

Do you still use your ring on the Cinch? If so I wonder if that is helping it perform better for you.

Did you try the ring on the GG2?
-AJ

What's a fun stripe?

I have both devices. The Cinch heats up more than the GG2 on everything. For my ropes, the Cinch is no good on anything over 10.5 (too sticky) and the GG2 is no good on anything under 10 (too fast). Km111 9mm is my favorite static at the moment, so I use the Cinch. Sometimes I will add some extra friction, like a ring or biner, but usually (like Moss) I am not flying down the rope.

My GG2 works great on 11.5 ropes. There is definitely tolerance differences between the same device from Petzl. I had two, and they behaved differently.

I would like to see a manufacturer make a device that would combine the Cinch and GG2. Compact size, but handle a wider range of ropes.

Bob,
The 'fun stripe' is a strip of surface melt on the rope.

The ring works differently on the GG and GG2 than the Cinch. The friction parts of the Cinch are fixed on the Cinch frame and causes a significant rope path/angle to be formed with the down rope, providing a significant increase in friction and hence braking and control.

Plus, GG-like devices require a half turn, or twist, to get the down rope over the GG lip. This half turn WILL impart twist on the down rope. I've seen this repeatedly and severely. The Cinch does NOT require a half turn and hence does not impart twist like a GG.

The GG/GG2 does not provide the same rope path/angle as the Cinch and as a result the ring is much less effective.

At least that's what I've seen.

Thanks Ron, answers that question. The lip on a Grigri is an important part of the friction equation, so if you add a ring, even though you're putting additional friction into the system you're subtracting friction/control that you get bending the rope over the lip, if I understand correctly.
-AJ