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Welcome to a master class 
about climbing harnesses.

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In this video I'm gonna explain the 
anatomy of the climbing harness.

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Including some little things like

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what is this loop for 
on the back of the harness

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or this one on this harness 
it even says zero kilonewtons.

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Or why there is these elastic straps 
on the back of the harness.

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And some of them are even detachable.

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So all of that plus my recommendations 
on how to choose a climbing harness.

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Correct Fit of a Harness

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A typical climbing harness will have 
a waist loop and two leg loops.

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So put it in like you're 
putting your pants.

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Make sure that your waist loop is 
above your hip bones.

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Boom!

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You don't need to be crazy 
when tightening your waist belt.

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It only needs to be tight enough
so it would be not possible

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to pull down the waist loop 
through your hip bones.

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And that's in case you flip upside down

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you won't slide out of your harness.

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Whoa!

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It's not comfortable to hang upside down.

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And also put the tail of the waist belt

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to its designed place,
every harness has a one.

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It prevents the buckle 
from undoing itself.

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And also you don't need stuff dangling 
around you when you're climbing.

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So put it in its place.

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And that's it. Since my harness has only
one adjustable buckle I'm ready to climb.

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While other harnesses might have 
multiple buckles on a waist belt.

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So you tighten both of them.

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And this is useful in case you're 
planning to put on some size

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That's when you're climbing
in colder conditions

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and you need many layers of clothing.

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So two buckles allow

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you to adjust the center of the harness

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a little bit better than one.

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And same goes for the leg loops.

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Harnesses that are designed 
more for alpine situations

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where you might want to put 
multiple layers of clothing

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will have adjustable leg loops.

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But since I do mostly sport climbing and

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I wear only single layer of pants or

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sometimes no pants

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I don't need all of that adjustability
and single buckle is enough.

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And it also saves
some weight on the harness.

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So the fit of the harness.

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For leg loops they shouldn't be loose.

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But they shouldn't be very tight as well.

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You should be able to put a hand or two

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between your leg and the harness.

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Because you will be moving
your legs a lot.

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And you don't want your harness
to limit your movement.

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Now for the waist as i said

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not too tight but you should 
not be able to pull it down your waist.

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If you pull the waist belt all the way

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and there is no more to pull,

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your harness is too big for you.

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The ideal sizing would be when 
waste belt paddings (these things)

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gently touch each other
or slightly overlap.

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And you still have some room to pull more

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in case you lost some layers

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Belay loop.

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This is the strongest point 
on your harness.

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It's required to be at least 
15 kilonewtons strong.

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But most manufacturers 
will make it even stronger.

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So used properly it's impossible to break.

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However if you're doing
something you shouldn't

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you might get surprises.

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And I've talked already about that story

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in this video about slings.
So if you're curious watch that.

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As the name suggests,

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the belay loop is used for 
attaching your belay device.

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And in general most of the metal climbing 
equipment will go to your belay loop.

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So carabiners - belay loop.

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Tie-in loops.

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Again as the name suggests
they are used for tying in your rope.

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And also for attaching your 
soft climbing equipment like slings.

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Tie-in points usually will have extra 
protection, especially the bottom one.

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Because that sees a lot of rope friction.

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And that point will 
wear down the quickest.

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For example this is 
my old climbing harness.

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And the bottom tie-in point,
as you can see, is completely worn down

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to the point where 
I can see the orange inside.

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So this is really not good
to climb anymore with

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I really like what Mammut did here
by putting this extra plastic.

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It should greatly extend 
the lifespan of this harness.

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Gear loops.

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That's where you are gonna
carry your quickdraws

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and other climbing equipment.

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I like to store my quickdraws
from short to long front to back.

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So if i need a long quickdraw,
I'm reaching on the back.

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If i need a short quickdraw, 
I'm reaching on the front.

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Gear loops are not load bearing

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meaning you should not attach
yourself to the gear loop.

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On some harnesses
they might hold only five kilograms.

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So don't do this!

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In such case it's better to grab 
the person through entire waist loop.

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Like so.

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Haul Loop

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The little loop 
on the back of your harness

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is called the haul loop or haul loop.

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I don't know how to pronounce it.

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Basically it's used to carrying

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extra rope or some other extra load.

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And on some of the harnesses it can be
stronger than gear loops.

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For example on this Mammut harness
it's rated for 2 kilonewtons.

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While on this Black Diamond 
harness it says 0 kilonewtons.

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So I don't know 
what it's supposed to mean.

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Probably do not attach anything 
significantly heavy.

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In any case this is 
rarely used in sport climbing.

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But you can use it as an extra gear loop

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and just attach something that 
you're not planning to use very often.

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Because it's going to be 
at the back of your harness.

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And this little guy is just 
an extra feature on this harness

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where you can clip your chalk bag.

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Elastic Straps.
And why you Need to Adjust them!

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OK, so what about these elastics
at the back of your harness?

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Most of the people
actually ignore these straps.

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But what they do is that
they allow you to adjust

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how high your leg loops 
sit on your leg.

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So if i would loosen up
those straps completely,

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now this lets the leg loops
to fall lower on the legs.

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Now if I hang on my harness 
I'm actually being pulled backwards

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much more than before.

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And that's simply because the leg loops 
are lower on the leg.

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And it's pulling the legs like this.

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I would adjust my leg loops
to the position where I like them,

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and then adjust the elastic strap to keep
the leg loops in that position,

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and try to hang.

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Now I'm sitting way more straight 
and this is much more comfortable.

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So by adjusting 
these straps on the back,

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you can drastically change the way 
you sit in your harness.

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I'm actually surprised 
how comfortable this harness is.

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And it's not because Mammut
is sponsoring this video, which is true.

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It's actually very comfortable.
I like it.

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Now on some of the harnesses
you can completely detach this.

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And that's for you ladies.

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If you want to do your business,

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and you don't want to remove your harness,

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now you can.

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How to Choose a Harness?

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Good!

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So how do you choose a harness?

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When there is so many different brands
and types and models and whatever.

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Actually if you know what 
type of climbing you're gonna do

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choosing a harness is pretty easy.

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Let's say I'm looking for 
a sport harness for myself.

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My favorite method is 
to go to a climbing shop and ask:

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What harnesses do you have 
for sport climbing?

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And suddenly out of huge amount
of harnesses in the climbing shop

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you will get maybe five to try.

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So you dismiss the ones that
look ugly to you, and try the rest.

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Any decent climbing shop will have a place

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where you can hang
in your harness to test it.

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And that's actually 
the best way to understand

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if this harness is actually 
comfortable for your body

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Harnesses that are designed
for sport climbing

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typically will be a bit lower profile,

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they will have a bit less padding,
but they will be lighter.

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However manufacturers try really hard

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to make even such harnesses
as comfortable as possible.

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So as long as you're not planning to sit
in your harness for really really long,

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it should be good for
any type of climbing you're gonna do.

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So single pitches, multi pitches, 
all of that should be totally fine.

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Now if you are planning to be hanging 
in your harness for really really long,

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hen you should look for 
a harness with a bit higher profile

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and a bit more padding.

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And that should make 
sitting in that harness

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a little bit more comfortable.

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So once you identify the harnesses 
that are comfortable for you,

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then you can look into other features.

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For example, how do you like the 
closing mechanism,

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does it go smooth for you 
compare that with another harness.

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Okay that was not intended

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but

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that's how it is.

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I don't know why,
what the fuck is happening.

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Or which shape of 
the gear loops you prefer.

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For example on this harness it's
angled a little bit towards the front.

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So when you clip your gear
it kind of falls forward,

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as if it would be feeding
the quickdraws for you as you climb.

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While most of the climbing harnesses

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will have at least four gear loops,

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Some of them might have just two.
This saves weight.

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And it's mostly designed
for single pitch sport climbing.

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And now, a lot of companies started 
to come up with a hybrid solution

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where you have two very big 
sturdy gear loops for your quickdraws,

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but then you have extra thin gear loops

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for any extra gear
you might want to carry.

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For example, on a multi-pitch
I think this is really cool and smart.

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You save a little bit of weight
but you don't lose functionality

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If you are a hardcore elite climber,

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maybe you want to check
the weight of the harness.

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Maybe these few grams are gonna
change something for you.

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And then any other extra features
that the harness might have

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like indicator technology which

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shows you when you
wear down your belay loop

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or tie-in points too much

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or extra protection on the tie-in point.

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And then in the end just consult
with your wallet.

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And it's easy. You have a harness.

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Can You Wear Opposite Gender Harness?

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Now a bonus question.

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Can you wear the opposite gender harness?

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The short answer is yes.

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Typically a harness designed for females

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will have a little bit bigger leg loops

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and a little bit narrower waist loop.

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And the waist loop will be sitting
slightly higher compared to male version.

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If that fits your body, enjoy.

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Some harnesses like this one
is designed to be unisex.

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So there is no difference at all.

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Lifespan of a Harness

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Normally a harness should last you 
between two and five years,

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maybe seven years, 
if you don't use it very often.

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While manufacturers will say that if you

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buy a harness and never use it and

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put it in ideal conditions in your closet,

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you should still retire it after 10 years.

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And as mentioned before the tie-in points
on the harness tend to wear down quickest,

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and then maybe the belay loop.

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So it's a good idea to keep an eye on
these parts of the harness specifically,

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but also the rest of your harness.

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All right, I hope that 
was helpful for you

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If you are planning to buy a harness,

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I will put some recommendations,
in the description,

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but keep in mind that all manufacturers

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are competing really hard
to make even better harness.

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So whatever you choose is 
probably gonna be fine.

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And also really big thank you for Mammut.

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And for everyone who is supporting me 
to produce these videos.

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It makes a huge difference.

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And if you want to contribute
here is a link.

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And if not then see you in the next video.
And enjoy climbing!