The engineers over at Petzl must never be satisfied, because although the Grigri is already a best-seller and perhaps the most popular assisted braking belay device on the market, the Grigri + Belay Device offers a smoother, safer performance than its predecessors. Petzl promises your rope-as long as it isn't skinnier than 8.9mm-will slide through the device so smoothly that you won't have to place your thumb over the brake in order to dish out a lot of slack, meaning you can belay with this device in the same way that you would a standard tube device. Petzl integrated an anti-panic locking system that will lock the Grigi + up when overzealous beginners-or advanced climbers for that matter-pull down on the brake's handle too hard.