Petzl Reverso

For 7 years, I've used this for all three functions, belay, rappel, and in guide position. Love it! Except...

I've used this device for at least 7 years and do love it. I've taken my time growing into it and will always have one on my harness. I love using it on multi pitches as it is a very fast switch from guide to standard belay as your climber passes.  

The drawback is I don't like the release for guide position. Meaning the release when belaying up my climber and (for some reason) there is a need to lower. A small lower of a few centimetres is fine by me but the control for a longer release is not great.

After some experiences this spooks me and I've decided it is not the safest way to lower. So I avoid it. I carry a piece of extra gear to change over to a lowering system and everybody gets out alive - hence the star and a half penalty.

I highly recommend this piece of kit but with caution that a buyer know a little extra when deciding to put this into use.

It covers a good diameter range and it's a solid tool. Light, easy to use, multipurpose tool. I use it for alpine climbing and mountaineering when double ropes are needed.

You can belay and rappel with this one and it has an auto block mode for belaying one/two seconds. It has three friction levels.

One minus would be the fact that is difficult to lower the second while in auto blocking mode.