This is essentially a gri-gri that requires a larger force to activate the camming (braking) mechanism, which is why it *almost* pays out slack like an ATC. You don't have to manually override the camming mechanism, but you do need to pull the leading end gently and it needs to be parallel to the brake end. Still much better than lead belaying with the gri-gri. I also like that it's much lighter than the gri-gri, and pretty to boot! Would recommend for sport climbers.
This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.