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Mammut Smart Alpine Belay Device 8.9 - 10.5mm

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The Mammut Smart Alpine belay device employs all the great belay-assist features of the original Smart device, but can also be used with half or twin ropes for trips up alpine peaks.

Smart Alpine belay device has the same non-mechanical design of the original Smart device that pinches the rope during a fall to make catching and holding falls easy
Extended lever lets you easily release the pinching of the rope when you need to lower a climber
Smart Alpine device can also be used in auto-block mode to allow the lead climber to belay 1 or 2 seconding climbers directly from the anchor
Ropes feed through the belay device quickly and easily while belaying a leader
Accepts a wide range of ropes, from 8.9mm - 10.5mm in diameter
The Mammut Smart Alpine belay device is also suitable for rappelling

Please note: Mammut products can only be shipped to the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

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Item 809472

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Mammut Smart Alpine Belay Device 8.9 - 10.5mm Customer Reviews

REVIEW SNAPSHOT®

by PowerReviews

Mammut Smart Alpine Belay Device 8.9 - 10.5mm

3.9

(based on 8 reviews)

75%

of respondents would recommend this to a friend.

Pros

Simple (4)

Cons

Best Uses

Climbing (11)

- Reviewer Profile:
- Avid climber (7)
- Was this a gift?:
- No (7)

Reviewed by 8 customers

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Displaying reviews 1-8

Mar

2013

4.0

Smart Alpine

By PfanDistner

from NH

See all my reviews

Pros

Autolocking
Intuitive
Lightweight
Simple

Cons

Best Uses

Indoor climbing
Outdoor climbing
Sport climbing
Toproping
Trad Climbing

Comments about Mammut Smart Alpine Belay Device 8.9 - 10.5mm:

I just got back from my first day of using my new smart alpine, which included sport climbing and a little toproping, and the device worked perfectly with my 9.8 mm rope and a Petzl WIlliam (bigger carabiners seem to work best). It engaged the autolock function every time I needed it to, and never when I didn't. Paying out rope and taking in slack were extremely simple and smooth. The only downside I encountered was that lowering with the Smart Alpine seems to be a little jerky at first, although I think that once I get used to it (it's true that there's a sweet spot, and hey: a GriGri isn't the smoothest when it comes time to lower either..) It'll be just a good as an ATC.

Seeing as this belay device does everything a GriGri can do, costs way less, weighs way less, and uses no mechanism to lock off (aside from a well-designed shape), I'd say everyone should start looking at this thing.

Comment on this review

Mar

2013

5.0

Wow

By JoeDot

from South Korea

About Me Avid Climber

See all my reviews

Pros

Easy to use
Lightweight
Simple

Cons

Best Uses

Indoor climbing
Lead climbing
Outdoor climbing
Top Roping

Comments about Mammut Smart Alpine Belay Device 8.9 - 10.5mm:

Extremely easy to use.

I've seen countless reviews that mention this device is tough to use when paying out slack to a leader.
These folks could not be any more incorrect. Once you put it on your harness and feed in a bite of rope, it's plain to see how it works. The hooked end is for your thumb, you just pull up that end of the device, and voila!! You can feed out rope as fast as your hand can pull it.

Above all, this thing auto-blocks better than any device I've seen. I've used the ATC Guide and a Petzl Reverso 4, both of which I thought were great. But the Mammut Smart blows them out of the water. It does all the work for you once the climber weights the rope. You have to exert very minimal force with your brake hand to stop a fall or hold your climber in place.

Only downside I've found is that lowering your climber can be tricky. Theres a sweet spot when picking up the end to disengage the auto-block. It's hard to find, and if you're not in it, it's a bumpy ride for the climber on the way down. With time, you can feel it out.

You do need a large carabiner, but just about any large HMS biner should do. I've got 2 BD RockLock biners (one screw-gate, one twist-lock) and both work out fantastic.

Service and delivery comments:

As always, REI delivered promply, and in great condition.

Comment on this review

Oct

2012

4.0

Great Belay Device

By bda9426

from Tacoma, WA

About Me Avid Climber

See all my reviews

Pros

Assisted Lock
Comfortable
Feeds Smoothly
Great price
No Moving Parts
Versatile

Cons

Bulky
Requires Big Biner
Rough Rappel

Best Uses

Cragging
Indoor climbing
Multi Pitch

Comments about Mammut Smart Alpine Belay Device 8.9 - 10.5mm:

A few months ago I was belaying a friend who was quite a bit heavier than myself, he took a fall, and my Reverso took a long time to catch his fall. Plus my hand got quite the rope burn. It was frightening for both of us! I decided that maybe it was time I get a belay device with the assisted locking feature.

I was definitely hesitant to get this piece of gear, but thought I'd try it out and decide it if fit my needs or not. YES...it sure did. Now I use this and my Reverso when climbing multi pitch, giving this to my belayer. It is a condifence booster.

Another plus is that when catching a fall, it has a dynamic arrest, allowing a little slip of the rope (amount depends on rope diameter). This is partictularly helpful in trad and alpine climbing cause it lowers the probability of pulling out an anchor.

Downsides are that it has a narrow sweet spot for rapelling, which means it tends to jerk a bit. And it needs a big biner, which could potentially put you in a fix if you drop the biner and don't have extra.

I trust it and use it all the time, totally satisfied every route!

Comment on this review

Dec

2011

(2 of 2 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Best with a large carabiner

By mvk

from Atlanta, GA

About Me Avid Climber

See all my reviews

Pros

Assisted locking
Easy To learn
Intuitive
Quick feeding slack
Simple

Cons

Requires large carabiner
Too Big

Best Uses

Indoor climbing
Lead belaying
Long Climbs
Outdoor climbing
Top Rope Belaying

Comments about Mammut Smart Alpine Belay Device 8.9 - 10.5mm:

I was trying to use it with the Petzl Am'D carabiner and a BD Rocklock, which didn't work very well. The rope was sometimes snagging because the carabiner would rotate and pinch it in a way that was very hard to release.
I gave another shot this time using the Mammut Smart Element HMS carabiner and now everything works great. I haven't experienced any cross-loading or pinching on the rope. It is easy to feed slack, and it makes belaying slow climbers very easy. It works well with thick ropes. With thin ropes, I have to pull down the break hand to help the locking. It will still auto-lock. It is just that the rope slowly slides after the lock. Note: Like in any autoblock device, always keep your break hand on the rope.
If you don't need to belay with double ropes or to rappel on double strands, I would suggest to buy the single slot version. It is smaller, less expensive and it should work well with any locking carabiner. Although I'd still recommend buying a carabiner that will prevent cross-loading.

Comment on this review

Nov

2011

(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Easy To Use And Works Great.

By metzrus4

from Bellevue, WA

About Me Avid Climber

See all my reviews

Pros

Quick to open
Simple

Cons

Best Uses

Indoor climbing
Outdoor climbing

Comments about Mammut Smart Alpine Belay Device 8.9 - 10.5mm:

I purchased this to use at the climbing gym where I was looking for a device that would do more of the braking on its own vs an ATC. As with any belay device, you still need to pay attention to what you are doing. However, it is very easy to learn to use the smart alpine belay device and it makes it posssible to belay a buddy when your arms are tired from climbing or when the climber outweighs the belayer.

Comment on this review

Jul

2011

(2 of 2 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

best device out there

By a climber

from east coast

About Me Avid Climber

See all my reviews

Pros

Cons

Best Uses

Comments about Mammut Smart Alpine Belay Device 8.9 - 10.5mm:

I have used the smaller double rope variant (7.5-9.5mm) for a little while now and must say it does everything a belay device should and more. Its light, cheap and simple. Locks as reliably as a grigri AND can handle a double rope rappel or belay for second or leader. The motions are more natural than a grigri, and the lowering safer since both hands can be on the brake strand.

There is a slight learning curve to feeding out slack as there is with a grigri, but if you cant figure it out in 5 minutes, I am not sure you should be belaying.

Comment on this review

Apr

2011

(6 of 6 customers found this review helpful)

3.0

High Maintenance

By ROCKofGLOVE

from SoCAL

About Me Avid Climber

See all my reviews

Pros

Does Everything

Cons

Fastidious

Best Uses

Multipitch

Comments about Mammut Smart Alpine Belay Device 8.9 - 10.5mm:

I met a Mammut rep at a Las Vegas climbing expo who really sold me on this; he said it's the only belay device he uses now, it does everything, and well. So I buy one and play with it at home. It's one of those belay devices that REQUIRES a HMS carabiner. I take it to Joshua Tree, I lead pitch one, autoblocks great, smooth, no stick. Switch to belay, and it becomes a headache. Belay carabiners usually don't stay where they're supposed to, and it either slides down the gate side, getting caught on the screw gate, dangerous; or slides down the spine, and if the carabiner flips, it crossloads with the spine becoming the rope bearing surface, and the auto-assist lock-off feature becomes less effective to maybe even non-existent, dangerous. Double rope rappels are more of a strain, too (leverage/small window), but auto locks off, a trade-off. So I'm really trying to make it work, using different carabiners, adjusting my belay style, but like any other high-maintenance relationship, it's hard.

Comment on this review

Feb

2011

(2 of 6 customers found this review helpful)

2.0

so so belay device..

By toclimb

from highlands ranch, colorado

About Me Avid Climber

See all my reviews

Pros

Cons

To wide for locking biner

Best Uses

Outdoor climbing

Comments about Mammut Smart Alpine Belay Device 8.9 - 10.5mm:

have been waiting in the wings for mammut to drop this new device. definitely has more use that just there smart belay device. liked that it had a semi locking feature that the other devices(reverso and atc guide) didn't have. in the gym it seemed to work fairly well, even with ropes that get rode hard and put away wet. the true test was taking it out and using it for it's intended purpose..I just came back from an ice climbing trip to lake willoughby. it belayed ok but I didn't think it was as smooth in the auto locking position as my atc guide. the true opportunity came when I dropped my large locking carabiner from the top of the climb at the rap station. I thought no worries I have other locking biners. low and behold none of them were wide enough to fit through the slots where you feed the rope. this isn't the case with the atc guide and the reverso. in fact if it came down to it you could run two small biners opposite and opposed to make it down with a guide or a reverso. not the case with the smart alpine.. save the dollars and by the later.