All About Harnesses

A harness is a fairly simple piece of equipment with a lot of options. I used thirty foot of seatbelt webbing for the first few years I climbed, and it was all the way into the eighties before I owned a store bought harness with leg loops. (A Colorado sit harness tied out of webbing didn't look good with spandex.) Now days harnesses come with gear loops, hammer holsters, padded leg loops, belay loops, and haul rope loops. Modern harnesses are lighter, safer and more comfortable than the old "tie it yourself" webbing harnesses or even the sewn climbing belts of the seventies. Gone are the days when you had to worry about ending up with a swami belt around your chest squeezing the air out of your lungs while crushing your rib cage, or hanging you upside-down by your knees while your head is smacked repeatedly into the wall.

Parts of a Harness

Fit

The Waist belt

The fit of a harness is important. The most important part of fitting a harness is to be sure that the waist belt is all the way up on to the waist and not down on the hips. The top of the waist belt should be near your belly button for most harnesses. If your harness has a really wide swami belt like some of the Yates big wall harnesses, it will probably totally cover your belly button. The bottom of the harness belt absolutely must clear your hip pointers or the harness is not safe. Most of the time when a harness is fitting down on the hips, it is because the leg loops are too small and they are preventing the harness from being pulled all the way up. If you have a harness with adjustable leg loops, you should always adjust the waist belt first then the leg loops. The waist belt should be tight against your waist. If you can easily slide your hand under it, then it is too loose. Care should also be taken to make sure that the tie in loop is centered right below your belly button. (Don't mistake the belay loop for the tie on loop.) If the tie on loop is off to the left or right when the harness is tightened, then you need a different size harness. Some harnesses will have two buckles in the front so that it is easier to center the tie on loops.

Leg Loops

At one point in time leg loops were considered an option that you only needed if you were doing a lot of hanging in the harness, or if you were rappelling a lot. I usually leave my leg loops loose enough I can get my hand in them while I am standing up. Adjustable leg loops sound like a real necessity, but they are actually more useless than you might imagine. They are useful if you have really big or really small thighs, or you will be doing alpine climbing where you might be wearing an exposure suit.

Putting on a Harness

The easiest way to slip on a harness is to untangle the leg loops, hold the belt over the loops, then step into it like a pair of shorts. Pull the harness all the way up on the waist. It maybe necessary to loosen the leg loops if the waist belt does not come up high enough to clear the hip pointers. The biggest, and most dangerous, mistake that I see people make is when they want their harness to fit really low like their jeans. REMEMBER, ITS A PIECE OF SAFTEY EQUIPMENT, NOT A FASION ITEM. If you like the crotch of your jeans down at your knees, then you need to buy some climbing pants with a normal crotch for climbing. If your Harness irritates your belly button stud, then take it out till you are finished climbing. I like my leg loops to be loose enough that I can slip my hands in them. Most harneses have adjustable support starps in the back. I usally keep mine tight enough to keep the leg loops off of the cargo pockets but not up on my butt cheeks.

REMEMBER TO DOUBLE BACK ALL BUCKLES

Kids and Harnesses

Little kids should never lead from a sit harness, since they do not have large enough hips to keep from sliding out of the harness if the become inverted. If your child is under the age of five or weighs under fifty pounds, I would strongly consider getting a full body harness. There are a couple of real nice seat harnesses available for larger kids. My personal preference is to get a kids harness rather than a "One Size Fits All" harness. Part of the thing is the coolness factor, and the other is the fact that most of the One size fits all harnesses will leave the strap tags hanging down so far, that they become trip hazards on kids. See my kids rant for more information about climbing with kids.

Tying into a harness

I use a figure eight not. Some really old timers and a lot of european climbers use a bowline to fasten on to a rope. I suggest having someone who is experienced at climbing check your knots the first few times.

Companies that make Harnesses

Arc'Teryx

Black Diamond

Metolius

ABC (Advanced Base Camp)

Petzl

Yates

Mammut

Wild country

Fish

Singing Rock

Edelweiss

Camp

Trango

Ocun

Liberty Mountain

Misty Mountain

Bluewater Ropes

DMM