A Professional Guide’s Review: The Edelrid Giga Jul

March 11, 2025 forreststavishGear Reviews

“Have you felt the power?”“What?” “The power of the Giga Jul?” my instructor said with a grin as we traded devices. I was on my American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) alpine guide course, and we’d just had a significant rockfall event happen. We were evacuating everyone off of the buttress, and it was my turn to rappel down towards safety. As I descended, my curiosity piqued as to why this funky looking device could be a better tool for almost all belay/rappel applications.Fast forward to the present day. I’ve had a Giga Jul on my harness for years now, with enough mileage on it to provide an effective review.

What is the Giga Jul?

One of Edelrid’s solutions for a multi-functional Assisted Braking Device (ABD) is the Giga Jul. The geometry of the device is used to pinch the rope and quickly arrest a fall, increasing security but not complexity. This idea isn’t new; devices like the Mammut Smart, the Black Diamond Pilot, and Edelrid’s own Mega Jul all have a similar design. What sets the Giga Jul apart is the addition of a sliding spacer that gives better options to the end user.

Why is the Giga Jul Be

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