Petzl GRIGRI Rock Climbing Belay Device - Blue

Why it's worth it

The GRIGRI is the assisted-braking belay device that most American gyms have standardized on. It's the rare climbing gift that's expensive enough to feel significant, universal enough to suit almost any climber, and completely size-free.

This is the closest thing climbing has to a default. 99Boulders' market analysis puts the GriGri at more than 70% of assisted-braking device sales at U.S. gyms. That matters for a gift: your recipient won't have to learn a new technique, and their partners will already know how it works. If they climb indoors at all, they've used one.

No sizing, no color preference, no fit anxiety. That's the quiet reason this works so well as a present. You don't need to know their waist measurement or whether they like a low-volume last. You just need to know they climb with a rope — gym top-roping, sport routes outside, either one.

From our review of 8 gifts for rock climbers

What we like

• +This is the closest thing climbing has to a default
• +No sizing, no color preference, no fit anxiety
• +The cam pinches the rope automatically when the climber falls or sits back, which takes some of the panic out of belaying
• +It works with single dynamic ropes from 8.5 to 11 mm, which covers essentially every rope your climber is likely to own or rent

What to know

• –It's only useful to rope climbers
• –There's also a real chance they already own one, precisely because it's the standard