Climbing can be a dangerous sport if you’re not careful and you don’t know what you’re doing. If you’re going to be climbing, it’s best to know and feel comfortable with what you are doing, or climb with someone who does. One important part of climbing is belaying, or coming down. If you’re going to be doing any kind of climbing beyond bouldering (where you are only a few feet off the ground), you need to know how to belay. When you belay you control the rope’s movements to protect the climber, and an easy way to do that is with a belay device. A belay device acts as a brake on the rope by applying friction. The device along with the belayer’s work, can stop a climbers fall. There are many different kinds of belay devices, but one that many climbers use is called the Figure 8 Belay Device. Here are some great pros and cons of this simple piece of climbing gear.

The Figure 8 Belay Device

The Figure 8 belay device got it’s name because it looks like the number 8 with two holes, one large and one smaller hole. A bend of the rope is fed through the large hole and then looped around the outside of the smaller hole until it rest on the “neck” or middle of the figure 8. Then the smaller hole is clipped to the climber if they are self belaying, or the anchor. Figure 8 belay devices are one of the most popular kinds of belay devices for a climber’s collection of rock climbing gear. The Figure 8 belay device is efficient and smooth for rappelling and works with nearly any climbing rope diameter, but they do have a few drawbacks.

What’s the Catch on the Figure 8?

First of all, the Figure 8 can offer inadequate braking for anything but top-roping, (unless you use it as a belay plate with the rope only going through the smaller hole). Also, a Figure 8 belay device does require more attention and force from the belayer than other devices. What you should really watch out for though is that sometimes the Figure 8 can put a twist in the climbing rope, which could make belaying more difficult. So when you are collecting your rock climbing gear, ask yourself what kind of climbing you’ll be doing before making a decision on what kind of belay devices to pack. It’s a decision that could save your life.

Many experts teach that belaying is one of the most critical of the climbing skills to learn because you have your partner’s safety, and possibly their lives, in your hands. It isn’t something to be joking about.