Trango Cinch Review

Likes
The design of the Trango Cinch is simple and elegant. Trango describes it as "about as complicated as a door hinge." It really is amazing how effective a couple pieces of sandwiched metal are at catching falls. The Cinch is lighter than the GriGri by a little more than an ounce. More importantly, because it is a smaller, less bulky design, it swings around less when clipped to the side of your harness.

Once you get the hang of it, feeding rope is smoother than with any device we tested. And, if you follow Trango's instructions carefully, you are able to quickly feed rope with your hand still on the brake hand. This is something that is much harder to do with a GriGri. Most climbers you see belaying with the GriGri always have their brake hand on the device and not on the rope. Petzl recommends belaying like this only for a second or two to feed rope fast. If you belay the way Petzl recommends (with your brake hand 99 percent of the time on the rope), it is much less smooth to pay out slack than with the Cinch.

Trango recommends this device on ropes down to 9.4mm. It says you can even use thinner ropes but need to pay much closer attention. In contrast, the GriGri is recommended only down to 10mm. It's an edge for the Cinch. Or is it? You see many people using the GriGri on ropes thinner than 10mm. So what's the deal? This is a complicated issue. Basically the Cinch and GriGri both work on thinner ropes but it comes down to where the manufacturer is comfortable "recommending" a certain diameter. Petzl is only comfortable recommending down to 10mm. Trango is comfortable recommending down to 9.4mm. But both say you can use skinnier ropes than are recommended. So there is no easy answer to the question, "What is the absolute smallest rope size I can use with the Cinch or GriGri." In our tests with 8.5mm ropes we found they both locked off great. What is clear is that the thinner the rope, the more carefully you have to pay attention. For really skinny ropes, using a belay glove is almost mandatory to be able to carefully lower a climber.

Dislikes
The Cinch was not as smooth at lowering climbers or rappelling as the GriGri. It works fine, just not as smoothly. When lowering a climber in the gym, it took more effort to get the right lowering speed. This device was much smoother at feeding rope than the GriGri up to a crucial point: when the leader is reaching to clip and you are not paying out rope fast enough. At this point the Cinch starts to lock up a little and it is harder to get it out of the auto-locking mode. Therefore, you need to be more attentive when belaying to keep from "short roping" the leader.

The Cinch is not as intuitive to use as the GriGri. It is the only device we tested where it was really really important to read all the instructions and watch the How To videos. Once you do that the device gets a lot easier and smoother to use. For example, when lowering you need to put your thumb in just the right spot. When holding the device to belay a leader, it is important to have your fingers in one special spot. At the gym we saw very few people using the device exactly as Trango recommends. They weren't being unsafe, but they were not getting as smooth an operation as was possible.

Trango calls this an "auto-assist" device. They don't want you thinking it is an "auto-locking" device that needs less attention than a manual device. Trango makes it clear that this is a device for advanced climbers and not beginners; it even etches that fact on the newer devices. In contrast, the GriGri is often the only device you see at a gym with first-time climbers. The GriGri is faster to get the hang of and more user friendly for beginners.

Personal Stories
Says Chris McNamara: "At first I had a hard time with this device. But once I read all the instructions and watched the How To videos, I was pleasantly surprised by how easily it feeds rope. I was even more surprised by how well it self-belays, even smoother than a Mini Traxion. This could be awesome for big walls because it means that when jugging a pitch, you would have self-belay backup in case your ascenders popped off (but it would still be important to tie backup knots). I was just about to replace my Mini Traxion and GriGri when I read how Trango strongly recommends against this use. So much for that. Of course Petzl also says you are not supposed to use the GriGri for self- belay."

From OutdoorGearLab gear reviewer and author Ian Nicholson: "The Cinch took a little while to get used to — maybe this is because I was used to a GriGri. The first couple of times I kept short clipping people. It did get better but I would still mess up every so often. I do like that it is smaller and the company stands behind it. It works well with maybe a little more practice than the GriGri. It is also a lot less coin. The lowering handle is even slightly more sensitive than the GriGri as a warning for first-time users not to drop their partner on the ground.

Best Application
This is ideal for experienced climbers for sport, cragging, gym and big walls. It can do it all (except rap two ropes).

Value
This is a great value. It costs $25 less than the GriGri. The only less expensive auto-locking device is the Mammut Smart, but that device does not belay nearly as smoothly and you can't belay off the anchor with it.

The Video Below Shows How to Use the Cinch