Edelrid Ohm II Review

Overview

The Ohm II is Edelrid’s second-generation “assisted-braking resistor” — not a belay device itself, but an add-on that clips to the first bolt of a sport route to add friction to the rope during a fall. It’s built for climbing pairs with a significant weight mismatch, where the lighter belayer would otherwise get yanked off the ground or slammed into the wall catching a heavier leader. If you and your regular partner differ by more than about 22 lbs (10 kg), this is the piece of gear that lets you keep climbing together without one of you white-knuckling every clip.

Key Specs

Spec	Value
Weight	450 g (15.9 oz)
Rope diameter compatibility	8.9–11.0 mm (single ropes)
Minimum belayer weight	40 kg (88 lbs)
Braking effect	~25 kg added resistance
Recommended weight difference	10–40 kg (22–88 lbs)
Certification	EN 566
Attachment point	First bolt of the safety chain

Performance

The core mechanism hasn’t changed from the original Ohm: when a climber falls, the upward pull of the rope pulls the Ohm out away from the wall and the unit starts creating friction on the rope, slowing down its upward pull. It’s not a hard lock like a GriGri — the rope getting pulled taut rotates the whole unit roughly 90 degrees, which engages the camming mechanism and introduces friction, slowing the passage of the rope through it rather than stopping it dead.

What’s actually new on the II is the hardware, not the physics. This second-generation Ohm incorporates a swivel joint so that the clipping direction no longer matters when the device is clipped to the first bolt, which sounds minor until you’ve fumbled with the original at a gym anchor and realized you clipped it backwards. Edelrid also added a locking system that prevents accidental openings and makes the operations of inserting the rope and removing the device during descent much simpler and quicker.

On the actual braking feel, one detailed side-by-side comparison against the original found the catches noticeably harder on the II, attributing it to Edelrid going from roughly 40 pounds of added resistance on the old model to roughly 55 pounds on the new one — though Edelrid’s own published spec cites 25 kg (about 55 lbs) of added resistance, so this tracks. Practically, that reviewer found that with the old Ohm you could take practice falls all day and nothing made it feel like a hard catch, whereas with the new Ohm the belayer reports a hard catch unless you actively work to give a soft one. Translation: the II does its job more aggressively, but you’ll need to consciously feed a bit of dynamic give on the brake strand to keep falls comfortable for the climber, especially on lower clips.

One nitpick from that same comparison: the climber-side and belayer-side orientation icons on the new model are smaller and more hidden, making it harder to check the device is oriented correctly during partner checks. Worth a habit of double-checking before you leave the ground.

On engagement behavior, it’s worth knowing that particularly fast or hard clips can also engage the device accidentally. This isn’t unique to the II, and in practice it’s usually a non-event — if you accidentally engage it while clipping, you lower your hand, give the rope a flick, and try again, and honestly it’s hard to tell the difference between an accidental engagement and just getting shortroped by your belayer.

On the weight-difference sweet spot, testing at the lower end of Edelrid’s stated range suggests the device works best when there’s real separation between partners: Edelrid designs the Ohm for a 10-40 kg (22-88 lb) weight difference, but after trying it at the lower end, testers felt it’s more effective with a minimum of 30 lbs difference. If your partner mismatch is closer to 15-20 lbs, you may not notice much benefit, and it becomes an extra piece of gear to carry and clip for marginal gain.

Durability seems to be a genuine strength across both generations — the Ohm is described as incredibly durable and well-made, and Edelrid’s own materials back this up, citing the device’s high steel content as a durability factor.

It’s also worth stressing what the Ohm is not: it was not created as a replacement for a good and attentive belay. One tester noted a case that illustrates the risk of misusing it as a crutch — a couple without a large weight difference using it on every climb because the belayer didn’t know how to belay very well. If your belay technique is shaky, fix that first; the Ohm addresses physics, not skill.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Swivel joint means you no longer have to think about clipping orientation — genuinely useful at a busy crag or gym where you’re moving fast between routes
• New locking system makes rope insertion and removal noticeably easier, especially when lowering
• Meaningfully reduces the chance of a lighter belayer getting yanked off the ground or slammed into the first bolt
• Durable build with a high steel content that should hold up to years of gym and crag use
• Doesn’t interfere with normal rope handling when paying out slack

Cons

• Catches feel noticeably harder than the original Ohm — belayers need to actively practice giving softer catches
• Orientation icons are small and easy to miss during partner checks
• Fast or hard clips can trigger accidental engagement, which some climbers find annoying even if it’s easy to clear
• Added weight (450 g) and bulk on the first draw, plus one more thing to remember to bring and clip correctly
• Diminishing returns below roughly a 30 lb partner weight difference

Who Should Buy This

This is a niche but genuinely useful piece of gear for climbing pairs with a real weight gap — think a 110 lb belayer regularly catching a 180+ lb leader. If that’s your situation and you climb together often enough to justify owning one, the Ohm II removes a real source of anxiety (and risk) from every lead session. Casual partners with only a modest weight difference, or belayers still working on fundamentals, will get less value and should focus on technique first.

Verdict

The Ohm II refines a genuinely clever solution to a real problem in mixed-weight climbing partnerships — the swivel joint and improved locking system fix the original’s biggest usability gripes. The catches run harder than the first-gen Ohm, so budget some practice falls to dial in a soft catch, but for the right partnership this is close to essential gear rather than a nice-to-have. I’d put it at an 8/10.