Regular visitors to the Alps will no doubt have seen magic plates in action at the hands of suave continental guides. The original Plaquette Magique was a simple, elongate plate with two slots. Combined with two carabiners, it becomes an auto-locking device for belaying one of two seconds, allowing the safe management of two clients simultaneously and even one handed belaying. Learning from guides, some keen alpinists took on the idea, finding that being able to let go of the device during operation allowed for sorting of the rack and ropes, eating and drinking or checking where the route goes next. On long routes, the use of magic plates can save considerable time.
Similar devices, like Kong’s Gi-Gi, copied this principle, but the practice never made it to the mainstream, as the devices were useless for belaying a leader and awkward to abseil with. Fine if you’re a guide leading all the pitches, but not much use for the average alpinist.
Petzl – no strangers to innovation – took the next logical step by incorporating the magic plate principle into a useable, all-round belay device. The Reverso was born, and its unconventional looks and smooth operation switched a generation on to magic plates.
Like most new ideas, the Reverso was not quite right: its soft metal meant that the device wore out far quicker than most and it was very slick: operating like a dream on fat singles, but skinny ropes became unmanageable when abseiling or catching a leader fall.
Inspired, Black Diamond took up the baton and saw that they could combine the mechanics of the Reverso with the body of the excellent ATC XP to produce the ATC Guide, which is probably the best all round belay device on the market.
Its design is, like the rest of their range, reassuringly solid and well made. In use in standard mode, the device is extremely smooth, offering similar performance to the ATC XP. By having a grooved side and a plain side, the device functions effectively with all rope diameters, from the thinnest twins to fat singles.
In ‘guide mode’ (auto-locking), the device functions best with supple, sub 10mm ropes. With fat singles, things can become quite stiff, and if you are wanting a device for ropes over 10.5mm, then the old Reverso might be a better choice.
One issue which the ATC Guide has sought to address is the difficulty of lowering with the device in guide mode. Black Diamond have added an extra release hole at the base of the device, which can be attached to a sling to release the device by pulling upward (for instructions, see the BD website here: http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/gear/detail/atc_guide_detail.php). While this is a better solution than the old Reverso, in practice it is not particularly easy to achieve, and relies on having suitable anchors and stance arrangements. If you think you might have to lower your second on a pitch it is better to use the device in standard mode. The beauty of the ATC Guide is that it is flexible enough to allow this.
I bought mine as soon as it came into the shops, having used an old style magic plate but been frustrated by its inflexibility. In the intervening three years it has received heavy use but is still in good condition. The wire is very hard wearing and the main body has worn far better than the old Reverso did.