Petzl GRIGRI+ D015AA00 vs Black Diamond Big Air XP

Buy the Petzl GRIGRI+, part D015AA00, yellow, ASIN B0GCHG5KL9, when you want an assisted-braking belay device whose card says a single rope from 8.5 to 11 mm, an anti-panic handle, and a top-rope mode plus a lead mode. Buy the Black Diamond Big Air XP package, ASIN B019NUN6OO, UPC 793661287902, when you want an ATC-XP and a locking carabiner sold together. One card is a cam device. The other card is a tube and a screwgate. They are not two versions of the same belay device. The GRIGRI model-name cell says GRIGRI, not GRIGRI+. The part cell is what says the plus.

Short version. A running watch does not belay. A road tire is the wrong round thing. A pair of goggles is for the pool. Sunglasses do not hold a rope. Match D015AA00 or the Big Air XP package before you match the word belay.

The Petzl detail ASIN is B0GCHG5KL9. The part is D015AA00. The model-name cell says GRIGRI. The title and the part are the plus. A search for GRIGRI without the plus returns the older device, which does not have the mode selector this card describes. The color cell says Yellow. The size cell says One Size. The material cell says Aluminum, Nylon, and Stainless Steel. The rope cell says 8.5 to 11 mm single rope. The card names an anti-panic handle and two modes, top-rope and lead. The warranty cell says 3 years. The included-components cell says Belay Device. That is one object, not a package with a carabiner. The package-dimensions cell says 6.22 x 3.19 x 2.13 inches. The package-weight cell says 0.24 kg. The item-dimensions cell says 5.12 x 5.12 x 1.97 inches. Those item dimensions are box-shaped numbers, close to the package cell and not a measurement of the yellow side plate you can see. There is no device-weight cell. Do not import a gram figure from a manufacturer page this article did not use. The suggested-users cell says unisex-adult. The number-of-items cell says 1. The manufacturer cell says Petzl. A belay device is a life-safety tool. One size on the cell does not mean one skill level. The card does not print a certification line this fetch is willing to treat as a complete standard citation. Read the paper that comes in the box, and get instruction before you belay a person.

The Black Diamond listing is a package. The title and the included-components cell say the Big Air XP package. The color cell says “Big Air XP Belay Package,” which is not a color. The shape cell says D-Shape, which is the carabiner, not the belay device. The material cell says Aluminum. The lock-type cell says Screw Lock. The weight cell says 50 grams. Fifty grams is light for a tube device plus a locking carabiner. Treat 50 g as a cell that may be the carabiner, the device, or a bad copy, and weigh the package. The UPC is 793661287902. The GTIN is 00793661287902. The manufacturer cell says Black Diamond. The warranty cell says Warranty, with no duration. There is no model-number cell. There is no numeric rope-diameter cell. A bullet says two friction modes and “up to three times greater holding force” without a baseline and without saying three times greater than what. A bullet says a hot-forged aluminum ATC-XP, an HMS RockLock, and a keylock nose. The description says the package includes a belay device and a locking carabiner. That sentence is the honest contents line. The photo is a blue ATC-style device on a keeper cord clipped to a gray screwgate with an orange gate. If the box contains only the blue device, the package claim failed. If it contains a different carabiner, the RockLock bullet failed. Count two pieces.

A GRIGRI-style device and an ATC are different methods. The Petzl card’s anti-panic handle and the top-rope mode are features the tube does not claim. The tube’s two friction modes are a rope-path choice, not a cam. The “three times greater holding force” line is not comparable to the Petzl card because the Petzl card does not print a holding-force number at all. You cannot divide one missing number by another. The rope range 8.5 to 11 mm is only on the Petzl card. The Black Diamond card says a wide range and does not print millimeters. Do not copy 8.5 to 11 onto the ATC-XP. Do not copy “wide range” onto the GRIGRI+. Use the device in your hand with the rope range printed for that device, and discard a rope that is outside it. A half-rope or a twin rope is not what the Petzl cell says. It says single.

The Petzl package weight of 0.24 kg is 240 grams for the parcel, not a certified device weight. The Black Diamond 50-gram cell cannot be the same kind of number if the package includes a locker, unless the cell is wrong or it is only one of the two objects. Put both on a scale if the grams matter for a rack. The yellow color cell is specific. A gray or red GRIGRI+ is a different finish and may be a different part. D015AA00 is the part this card uses. The Big Air color cell’s failure to name a color is why the photo matters: blue device, gray locker, orange gate. A different gate color may still be a RockLock, and it may be a substitution. The UPC is the check.

Who should buy the GRIGRI+, and who should buy the package?

Buy D015AA00 if you want the yellow assisted-braking device, you will belay on a single rope inside 8.5 to 11 mm, and you already have a locking carabiner the included-components cell does not provide. Buy the Big Air XP package if you want a tube-style device and a screwgate together, you accept that the rope range is not printed in millimeters, and you will ignore “three times greater” until someone names the baseline. Do not buy the GRIGRI+ because you think the package weight 0.24 kg is the weight on your harness. That cell is the package. Do not buy the tube because it is cheaper to learn and then skip instruction. Both devices can drop a climber if the brake hand leaves the rope. The Petzl card’s whole point, in the handle and the mode knob, still assumes a person who was taught. The tube assumes the same person and gives them fewer mechanical helps. This article is not that class.

A 3-year warranty on the Petzl card is a duration. The Black Diamond warranty cell that says Warranty is not a duration. Do not copy three years across. Unisex-adult on the Petzl card is a suggested-user cell, not a body-weight rating. There is no climber-weight cell on either card. Do not invent a maximum kilonewton from memory of a different device. If the stamped rating on the metal differs from a number you remember, the stamp wins, and this article will not quote a number it did not read in the cells above.

What the Petzl D015AA00 is actually for

It is a yellow assisted-braking belay device for a single rope, with a handle the card calls anti-panic and a selector the card calls top-rope mode and lead mode. Top-rope mode is for taking rope in on a top rope. Lead mode is for paying rope out to a leader. The card does not say you may switch modes while a climber is hanging. It does not say the device replaces the brake hand. Anti-panic means the handle is designed to stop a lower if you pull too hard. It does not mean a panicked belayer is safe. The included cell is the device alone. You still need a locking carabiner to attach it to the belay loop, and this ASIN does not include one. The Big Air package is the listing that includes a locker, and that locker is for the tube, not a promise that the same locker is the one Petzl wants on a GRIGRI. Use a locker rated for the job and shaped so the device sits correctly. The card does not name the carabiner model.

Yellow is the color cell. The side plate in the photo is yellow. The model-name cell’s missing plus is the reorder hazard. D015AA00 is the string to give a shop. One size means one device size, not every rope. The rope cell is the limit. A rope under 8.5 mm or over 11 mm is outside this card even if it is a rope you already own. Package dimensions and the square-ish item dimensions are shipping numbers. They are not the height of the device on a harness. Nylon in the material list is the handle or the cam cover, aluminum is the plate, stainless is a small part. The card does not assign each material to a part. Do not disassemble it to find out.

What the Big Air XP package is actually for

It is a blue tube-style belay device kept on a cord with a screwgate carabiner. The tube gives two friction modes by which way you clip the rope through it. The bullet’s holding-force claim has no baseline, so it is not a number you can compare in a gym. The keylock nose is a carabiner feature, a nose that does not snag a rope. The HMS line means the locker is a pear shape meant to take a hitch, which is a feature of the carabiner, not of the blue tube. D-shape in the shape cell and HMS in the bullet can both be loose names for the same locker. Look at the photo: a pear-ish gray locker with an orange screwgate. Screw Lock in the lock-type cell means you screw the gate shut. It does not auto-lock. A screwgate left open is an open gate. The 50-gram cell remains the number to check on a scale before you write it on a rack list.

There is no model-number cell, so the UPC 793661287902 and the package name are the identifiers. A Big Air package that is not XP, or an ATC-XP sold alone, is a different listing. The description’s two-piece contents are the test at the door. The color cell will not help. It does not name blue, gray, or orange. Those colors are in the photo only. If Black Diamond changes the gate color and keeps the UPC, the UPC is still the match and the photo on the page may lag. Weigh, count, and read the stamp on the metal.

How to belay with the card you actually bought

Take a class. This paragraph is not the class. On the GRIGRI+, the brake hand stays on the brake strand in both modes. The handle lowers. It does not replace the hand. The selector is set before the climber leaves the ground, for the style of belay you are doing. On the tube, the rope is clipped in the mode you chose, the locking carabiner is screwed shut, and the brake hand stays on the brake strand. The keeper cord in the photo is there so you do not drop the tube. It is not a backup belay. Neither card says the device works on a wet rope, an icy rope, or a rope outside its range. If you do not know the diameter of your rope, you do not know whether the Petzl cell includes it, and you have no millimeter cell at all on the tube.

Do not borrow the RockLock off the Big Air package and assume it is the carabiner Petzl specifies. Do not put the GRIGRI+ on the keeper cord and call the package complete. Do not teach a new belayer the tube’s “three times” line. There is no baseline. Do not teach the anti-panic handle as permission to let go. Do not rappell on either device from a sentence in this article. The cards describe belay devices. A rappel is a different setup, and the Petzl card in this fetch did not give a rappel procedure worth repeating secondhand.

What actually fails on these two cards

The Petzl card fails when the model-name cell’s GRIGRI, without the plus, is the string a shop orders. It fails when 0.24 kg is published as the device weight. It fails when the item dimensions are published as the device size. It fails when a carabiner is assumed included. It fails when 8.5 to 11 mm is treated as every rope in a gym. The Black Diamond card fails when 50 g is published as the weight of both pieces without a scale. It fails when the color cell is read as a color. It fails when “three times greater holding force” is repeated without the missing baseline. It fails when D-shape and HMS are treated as a precise geometry. It fails when one of the two pieces is missing from the box. It fails when a buyer looks for a model number the card does not have and grabs a different ATC.

Both cards fail if they are used as a substitute for instruction. Both fail if a harness is not part of the purchase and someone expected a harness bundle. A harness package is a different ASIN and a different article. Both fail if the brake hand is described as optional. It is not optional on either design, and neither card says it is.

What this comparison is not

This is not a UIAA certificate and it is not a fall-test report. This is not the original GRIGRI without the plus, even though the model-name cell invites that confusion. This is not a price quote. This is not the Black Diamond ATC-Guide, which is a different device and was not this ASIN. Petzl’s film “GRIGRI+ Belay device with assisted braking, top-rope mode & anti-panic handle” shows a GRIGRI+. The film was published in 2017. Part D015AA00 on this card is a current yellow listing, and the film is not a frame-by-frame of this exact yellow unit. The film does not show the Big Air XP package. Use it to see how Petzl presents the plus features, not as a measurement of UPC 793661287902 and not as proof that every GRIGRI+ ever made is D015AA00.

So which belay setup should you buy?

Buy Petzl part D015AA00 if you want the yellow GRIGRI+, the 8.5 to 11 mm single-rope cell, the anti-panic handle, and the two modes, and if you already have a locker and a person who can teach you. Buy the Black Diamond Big Air XP package if you want the tube and the screwgate together and you will treat 50 g and “three times” as cells that do not finish their own sentences. Do not buy the tube to avoid learning the GRIGRI, and do not buy the GRIGRI to avoid learning the brake hand. Match the part or the UPC. Then take the class the card cannot give you.