Kong Gigi
The Kong Gigi is a simple plaquette/guide plate. A popular piece of gear for climbing guides because of the near effortless belay when bringing up clients.
I believe Petzl was the first major company to add a plaquette function into their standard tube device with the release of the Reverso. Since then, other manufacturers have released their own versions of devices with a guide plate feature.
With its main function covered by other belay devices, is there still room for a Gigi on a climber’s harness? For a lot of climbers the answer is probably no. For climbers who enjoy long multi-pitches, then I would say yes. At only 68 grams, the Kong Gigi is well worth carrying. If you are the climber who ends up leading most of the pitches on long routes, then you definitely want one.
Note: You will still want to carry a lead belaying device.
Pulling up slack as your partner follows the pitch takes some effort. Thickness of the rope is a factor. Rope drag is a factor. The number of pitches you’ve already climbed is a factor. The repetition of the belaying movement actually becomes quite tiring on a long day. When climbing long routes, all this expended energy starts to add up. So why not save some of that energy if you can?
The benefits of the Kong Gigi only becomes obvious once you’ve used one for a few pitches. When I started multi-pitching I was using the guide mode features of a Reverso, until that wore out and I replaced it with an ATC Guide. That ATC Guide is barely used because I soon found that there is equipment better designed for the job.
In 2011, Mammut released the Smart Alpine. I was blown away by how slick this device was on guide mode. The rope literally flies through the device as you take in the slack, far less effort than either the Reverso or the ATC Guide. Then I was introduced to the Kong Gigi. The Gigi is even slicker than the Smart Alpine. The Gigi is by far the easiest device to pull slack through!
I’d highly recommend one if you love multi-pitch climbing.
Additionally the Gigi can also be set up for rappelling. And although not its primary purpose, the Gigi can be set up for ascending a line, lead, or top rope belaying if needed. However, the Gigi is not really ideal for these tasks and you would be far better off just using prussiks or a munter hitch.
Setting up a Kong Gigi is slightly different from a Reverso or ATC Guide. With 10mm+ ropes or with two ropes, set it up as you would a Reverso - break strand on top and carabiner behind.
The Gigi's wide channels that makes it effortless to belay can lead to a potential problem with single ropes below 10mm. It needs to be set up with the carabiner capturing the rope strands in front. I personally just set it up this way every time I use it with a single rope, regardless of diameter. See the image below:
Setting up this way prevents the possibility of the climber strand (top) inverting with the brake strand (bottom) if the climber strand gets weighted and flips the carabiner. In the images below I've used 6mm cord to demonstrate how this can happen if the carabiner is behind the device. Having the carabiner capturing the strands will prevent it from twisting/flipping which is what prevents the strands from inverting.
At about $20 CND, a Kong Gigi won't break the bank if you want to try one out. Purchase one in Canada from Vertical Addiction or Spirit West.