Products - TopStop Rope Brake

TopStop rope brake: SIMPLER – SAFER – BETTER

Our TopStop enhances the safety of the climber by facilitating the belay process – mistakes such as falsely inserting the rope into the belay device or incorrect belay moves can thus be minimized.

When using easy to handle TopStop these mistakes cannot occur anymore. Neither a special belay device nor a special belay technique are needed. In contrast to conventional belay devices, the rope runs across several pulleys. As a result the load the belayer has to bear when lowering the climber is reduced to ca. 1/10 of the climber's body weight.

This means: A person weighing 70 kg only generates a load of 7 kg on the belay rope.

As a consequence the weight difference between the climbing partners doesn't play an important part anymore since with TopStop a very light-weight person can now without effort belay a heavier climber.

Below some of the advantages of this patented belay system are listed and contrasted with conventional belay techniques:

Advantages concerning belay security

• easy to learn system for beginners
• its function can be taught easily, especially when instructing large groups (e. g. school classes)
• belaying becomes even safer compared to conventional belay techniques because possible mistakes can be outruled, such as:
     - wrongly inserting the rope into the belay device, 
     - unlocked karabiner or harness of belay device
• possible wrong movements of the belayer are reduced to a minimum since changing hands from climbing to braking rope used when belaying with a figure-of-eight descender or an Italian hitch is dropped
• double belay is possible - TopStop + figure-of-eight belay - ; this reduces the dangers of belaying even further and makes a dangerless figure-of-eight belay technique training possible

Advantages from a pedagogical point of view

• children be introduced to this simplified belay principle already at a very early stage (ca. at the age of 8) and develop important social skills through belaying (responsibility, concentration)
• with TopStop over-weight persons suffering from anxieties such as 'Who is able to hold me?' can be belayed without any problems
• new partner combinations are possible: 
     - e.g. parent and child (father / son, etc)
     - heavy and light-weight persons,
     - wheelchair users as belayer
• fearful persons find an easier approach to sport climbing due to this simplified belay technique
• the number of instructors / security personnel at group events, such as beginner instructions, school classes etc., is significantly reduced because TopStop rules out possible sources of error and makes belaying simpler and safer.

Advantages concerning economic aspects

• ropes don't twist like when using conventional belay devices and their life-span is 2 to 3 times longer
• potential for new user and client groups
• fewer group instructors are needed 

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