Mammut Smart

At first it was difficult to accept the fact that one could have an auto-locking belay device with no mechanical parts. When I first got hold of the Smart, I was amazed by how light and simple the device appeared. Setup and disassembly is very straight forward, just like almost all other belay and repel devices.

In actual use, the device shows its true colors as a smooth and functional sport climbing tool. However, there was a little difficulty in learning the appropriate hand motions to really gain any advantage with the device. The major breakthrough to understanding its true potential was in reading its instructions, then looking at the illustrations. If you look at the illustrations first you get the impression of using the device in a certain fashion that does not really turn out the way one expects. By reading about the operation of the device, then looking at the illustrations, I really began to understand how the device worked and how to use it to best affect.

The Smarts "lever" is really not a lever in a sense you have to rotate the device. It works best as a "hook" that you use to "push" against to control the amount of friction you feel on the rope. By using both hands, one on the "hook", the other on the brake side of the rope, lowering can be as smooth as any belay device found in use. Which everyone really wants in an auto-locking belay device anyway.

I am extremely impressed with my Smart. It is the perfect secondary belay device in any sport rack.