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A rock climbing harness is one of the first pieces of gear people buy. Climbing harness have evolved a lot way since the days of Jan an Herb Conn putting up first ascents with a bowline tied around their waist. Perhaps the thought of falling and breaking a rib or three made them hold onto the rock that much harder. As for me, I'm thankful for strong harnesses with padded waist belts, leg loops and gear loops for everything.
After Todd Skinner's tragic fall in Yosemite, I'm sure many of us took a close look at our climbing harnesses, and more than one of us replaced an old unit. These pieces of climbing equipment are essential, and it's essential that we take proper care of them. Nylon is amazingly strong, but does not last forever, and needs to be stored correctly in order to stay that way.
When looking for a harness, here are a few models I've put through the paces
Misty Mountain Climbing Harnesses 
Misty Threadworks made my first real climbing harness 18 years ago, and Cheryl and I have worn several of the many great harnesses from Misty since then. The Finesse, The Sonic, and the Cadillac are common among the Sylvan Rocks Climbing Crew. These rock climbing harnesses are built tough and comfortable. Compared to many other companies, I feel Misty really makes a superior trad harness. It’s a simple thing, but having the gear loops lay flat and come off the top of the harness is important if you even think about climbing a chimney. And if sized properly (go bigger if in question), the gear loops are forward enough that you can see the climbing gear that’s hanging on them. This is important if you need to find the right cam and not just grab a quick draw. If there were one thing I’d improve it would be the belt stiffness on some of the harnesses meant for hangin’ out. Without a little stiffner in the belts, too much force is put on the webbing, and on my boney hip bones and aching kidneys.
The Mad Rock Mars PSI Climbing Harness  
I just broke this bad boy out of the wrapper, and can already feel the comfort when hanging out. It's climbed up Devils Tower several times and I love it. Due to the plastic gear loops that are placed towards the rear of the harness, it will definitely be my favorite sport climbing harness, and the comfort makes it worth wearing on long traditional climbing days as well. The first time I took off up the Durance Pitch I cursed it a little as the gear loops are so far back, that you have to remove all your climbing gear from your right side else your equipment ends up between you and the rock column you are trying to lean against and climb. Carabiners and cordolettes do not offer the greatest of friction, and the Mad Rock Mars puts them right where you don’t want them. The rigid gear loops hang up a bit when chimney climbing. If you were just grabbing draws though, the ease and speed at which you can clip and unclip carabiners is noticeable.
The PSI waistbelt wraps around my bony waist as good as any. The short belay loop is quite comfortable, and the build and material quality seem terrific. The leg loops even have the great little safety loops for clipping a prussic knot backup to while rappelling. I thought this feature was totally geeky till I started guiding. Now its something I look for when buying a climbing harness.
Best of all, these harnesses are a super value (that means you get a super harness for you hard earned bucks).
Wild Country Climbing Harnesses  
Ounce for ounce, you will not find a more comfortable harness. I guided and climbed over 100 days this season alone in my Helios Wild Country Climbing Harness. The batwing belt and zip lock do exactly what they were designed to do…get you in and out of a harness easily and let you hang out in climbing comfort. The 6 gear loops are placed so that you can look down and find what you need. Wild Country has been making rock climbing gear for a long time and they know how to make a great harness. The 2007 and 2008 models look even nicer. So as I retire this one, I already have my eye on an Elite Mens Adjustable. With the new features, it looks great. The one gripe I have about the model I have is that the waist loop material was a little on the light side. I trusted in Wild Countries Sigma testing and knew it was OK, but the little voice inside my head said..”don’t take this harness offwidth climbing, as it just won’t hold up." But that is not what this harness was built for. If choosing a harness to carry into some far away climb in the Wind River Range or deep into Patagonia, I’m picking the lightweight comfort of a Wild Country.
The Black Diamond Chaos Rock Climbing Harness  
After retiring her last Misty Mountain Harness, Cheryl tried 3 harnesses before settling on the Chaos. Our Head Guide Matt, has been wearing one for several years now and swears by them. I must admit, that the TPU lumbar support is brilliant. Like it our not, as a rock climbing guide you spend a heck of a lot of time hanging out in your harness waiting on your guest to follow you up, so a harness with a nice stiff waist belt that evens out the pressure is a great thing. If my legs were not too big for the non adjustable leg loops, I’d consider wearing one myself, but my skinny waist and big thighs just don’t allow me to properly fit into one. The traditional gear loops and super strong haul loop round out a great piece of climbing equipment. The normal double back buckle is a trusted asset to this workhorse of a climbing harness. To sum it all up… Matt is really hard on gear, you know, one of the few people who really use gear as it was meant to be used, and this harness was comfortable and wore like iron for him.
- The Metolius Safe Tech Climbing Harness
- Perhaps a little over kill, but a brilliant idea in a comfortable package. This harness allows you to some screw ups and still live to tell about it. The good folks in Bend, OR took a look at how they could make the safest climbing harness on the market and did it. No velcro on the waitbelt here. I had a fellow guide and very expereinced climber friend belay me, and follow me up a route with his harness held on by only the velcro. Classic bone head move that could have been his last mistake. Luckily, neither of us fell.
- So with the Safe Tech you can clip in about anywhere and have it be OK. Even the elastic on the leg loops is rated to 6.6 kN. They are using the best materials to make one of the strongest safest harnesses on the planet. This results in a very comfortable harness. For the gram counters among us, its not the lightest harness out there, but heck, what does a few grams matter when you are tossing back pizza and a beer after a great day on the crag.
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