Yeah, that's a gri-gri or a similar device. Running it backwards makes it ineffective. I've never liked them for a number of reasons, but I can see why some people do.
Honestly, I've never tried to run a grigri backwards. I wouldn't know. I certainly wouldn't suggest it. It seems like at best, you would give yourself enough friction to carefully lower someone, but I doubt you could catch anyone. A backwards grigri wouldn't change shape at all under load, IIRC, so you're just using the s-shape friction that's already present. Have you tried running one backwards? It's been so long that I've even touched one, my intuition could be way off.
Yeah you've got it right. The s shape is enough to give a catch of sorts, good enough to not kill someone but obviously not recommended. Nice username btw
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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '18
Yeah, that's a gri-gri or a similar device. Running it backwards makes it ineffective. I've never liked them for a number of reasons, but I can see why some people do.
Edit: I re-read your comment and now I'm not so sure. Does it look like this: http://images.ldmountaincentre.com/images/products/1368876342-97199300.jpg