True to the motto "Safe on the mountain", we present belay devices for sport climbing. This time: the Jul2 from Edelrid.
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The Jul2 from Edelrid belongs to the autotuber group and is particularly popular in German-speaking countries. Its handling is excellent, both with thin and thicker single ropes. It is robustly built, yet not too heavy and can be used with any HMS carabiner with a locking device.
Facts about the Jul2
The Jul2 is a semi-automatic belay device from Edelrid for belaying with single ropes. The Jul2 can be used for ropes with a diameter between 8.9 and 11 mm. As the blocking support of the Jul2 depends on the shape of the belay carabiner, this belay device must be combined with a symmetrical HMS carabiner with a round cross-section.
The partner check
The partner check before every start is an elementary safety standard. Both partners check five points: the rope knot, the locking mechanism of the carabiner, the function of the belay device due to jerky pulling, the harness buckles and - lastly - whether the end of the rope is tied off.
The rope payout with the Jul2
To release the rope, the guide hand pulls the rope out of the device while the braking hand pushes the rope into the belay device from below. The excess slack rope is then immediately pulled back in and the braking hand slides back into the starting position.
The "braking hand principle"
Equally fundamental - even with semi-automatic belay devices - is the "brake hand principle" during climbing. The brake hand principle means that the belayer grips the brake rope with the brake hand in every phase of the belaying process. In the event of a fall, the braking hand fixes the brake rope and moves downwards. The second hand, the so-called guide hand, merely supports the rope guide.
As semi-automatic systems block immediately, it is necessary for the belayer to actively move towards the wall when holding the fall. This makes the fall more dynamic - "softer" - and prevents a hard impact on the climbing wall.
The strength of semi-automatic belay devices is that they automatically block the rope if the rope is jerked, e.g. in the event of a fall. In other words, even if the belayer grips the braking rope with little manual force.
This desired feature has the disadvantage that the device also locks if the rope is quickly released when an intermediate quick release of the rope isnecessary is necessary. To quickly release the rope without blocking, the braking hand forms a ring around the brake rope with the thumb and index finger, while the thumb holds the thumb pulls the thumb bar of the Jul2 forwards. The guide hand releases the rope. Then the braking hand goes back down and remains on the brake cable.
The Jul2 when lowering
When lowering the braking hand remains at the bottom of the brake rope, the guiding hand goes to the belay device. The thumb of the guiding hand pushes the thumb bar of the Jul2 carefully forwards and upwards. This slowly releases the blockage. The brake hand now lets the rope slip through in a controlled manner and controls the release speed.
Top rope mode
When hauling in the rope and belaying in the top rope, the braking hand pulls the brake rope upwards in an arc out of the belay device and then immediately goes back down again. In the tunnel grip, the braking hand slides back up the braking rope towards the belay device.
SicherAmBerg - the program
Under the overall project "SicherAmBerg", the Austrian Alpine Club provides instructional videos on all relevant core Alpine Club sports such as ski touring, sport climbing, via ferrata and alpine climbing. But SicherAmBerg is not just about video tutorials. Rather, it is an overall concept consisting of high-quality publications, events, training courses and videos with the aim of increasing safety on the mountain or in the climbing gym.
If you would like to find out more about the various topics, you will find what you are lookingfor at www.alpenverein.at/sicheramberg.
