Welcome to a master class about climbing harnesses.
In this video I'm gonna explain the anatomy of the climbing harness.
Including some little things like
what is this loop for on the back of the harness
or this one on this harness it even says zero kilonewtons.
Or why there is these elastic straps on the back of the harness.
And some of them are even detachable.
So all of that plus my recommendations on how to choose a climbing harness.
Correct Fit of a Harness
A typical climbing harness will have a waist loop and two leg loops.
So put it in like you're putting your pants.
Make sure that your waist loop is above your hip bones.
Boom!
You don't need to be crazy when tightening your waist belt.
It only needs to be tight enough so it would be not possible
to pull down the waist loop through your hip bones.
And that's in case you flip upside down
you won't slide out of your harness.
Whoa!
It's not comfortable to hang upside down.
And also put the tail of the waist belt
to its designed place, every harness has a one.
It prevents the buckle from undoing itself.
And also you don't need stuff dangling around you when you're climbing.
So put it in its place.
And that's it. Since my harness has only one adjustable buckle I'm ready to climb.
While other harnesses might have multiple buckles on a waist belt.
So you tighten both of them.
And this is useful in case you're planning to put on some size
That's when you're climbing in colder conditions
and you need many layers of clothing.
So two buckles allow
you to adjust the center of the harness
a little bit better than one.
And same goes for the leg loops.
Harnesses that are designed more for alpine situations
where you might want to put multiple layers of clothing
will have adjustable leg loops.
But since I do mostly sport climbing and
I wear only single layer of pants or
sometimes no pants
I don't need all of that adjustability and single buckle is enough.
And it also saves some weight on the harness.
So the fit of the harness.
For leg loops they shouldn't be loose.
But they shouldn't be very tight as well.
You should be able to put a hand or two
between your leg and the harness.
Because you will be moving your legs a lot.
And you don't want your harness to limit your movement.
Now for the waist as i said
not too tight but you should not be able to pull it down your waist.
If you pull the waist belt all the way
and there is no more to pull,
your harness is too big for you.
The ideal sizing would be when waste belt paddings (these things)
gently touch each other or slightly overlap.
And you still have some room to pull more
in case you lost some layers
Belay loop.
This is the strongest point on your harness.
It's required to be at least 15 kilonewtons strong.
But most manufacturers will make it even stronger.
So used properly it's impossible to break.
However if you're doing something you shouldn't
you might get surprises.
And I've talked already about that story
in this video about slings. So if you're curious watch that.
As the name suggests,
the belay loop is used for attaching your belay device.
And in general most of the metal climbing equipment will go to your belay loop.
So carabiners - belay loop.
Tie-in loops.
Again as the name suggests they are used for tying in your rope.
And also for attaching your soft climbing equipment like slings.
Tie-in points usually will have extra protection, especially the bottom one.
Because that sees a lot of rope friction.
And that point will wear down the quickest.
For example this is my old climbing harness.
And the bottom tie-in point, as you can see, is completely worn down
to the point where I can see the orange inside.
So this is really not good to climb anymore with
I really like what Mammut did here by putting this extra plastic.
It should greatly extend the lifespan of this harness.
Gear loops.
That's where you are gonna carry your quickdraws
and other climbing equipment.
I like to store my quickdraws from short to long front to back.
So if i need a long quickdraw, I'm reaching on the back.
If i need a short quickdraw, I'm reaching on the front.
Gear loops are not load bearing
meaning you should not attach yourself to the gear loop.
On some harnesses they might hold only five kilograms.
So don't do this!
In such case it's better to grab the person through entire waist loop.
Like so.
Haul Loop
The little loop on the back of your harness
is called the haul loop or haul loop.
I don't know how to pronounce it.
Basically it's used to carrying
extra rope or some other extra load.
And on some of the harnesses it can be stronger than gear loops.
For example on this Mammut harness it's rated for 2 kilonewtons.
While on this Black Diamond harness it says 0 kilonewtons.
So I don't know what it's supposed to mean.
Probably do not attach anything significantly heavy.
In any case this is rarely used in sport climbing.
But you can use it as an extra gear loop
and just attach something that you're not planning to use very often.
Because it's going to be at the back of your harness.
And this little guy is just an extra feature on this harness
where you can clip your chalk bag.
Elastic Straps. And why you Need to Adjust them!
OK, so what about these elastics at the back of your harness?
Most of the people actually ignore these straps.
But what they do is that they allow you to adjust
how high your leg loops sit on your leg.
So if i would loosen up those straps completely,
now this lets the leg loops to fall lower on the legs.
Now if I hang on my harness I'm actually being pulled backwards
much more than before.
And that's simply because the leg loops are lower on the leg.
And it's pulling the legs like this.
I would adjust my leg loops to the position where I like them,
and then adjust the elastic strap to keep the leg loops in that position,
and try to hang.
Now I'm sitting way more straight and this is much more comfortable.
So by adjusting these straps on the back,
you can drastically change the way you sit in your harness.
I'm actually surprised how comfortable this harness is.
And it's not because Mammut is sponsoring this video, which is true.
It's actually very comfortable. I like it.
Now on some of the harnesses you can completely detach this.
And that's for you ladies.
If you want to do your business,
and you don't want to remove your harness,
now you can.
How to Choose a Harness?
Good!
So how do you choose a harness?
When there is so many different brands and types and models and whatever.
Actually if you know what type of climbing you're gonna do
choosing a harness is pretty easy.
Let's say I'm looking for a sport harness for myself.
My favorite method is to go to a climbing shop and ask:
What harnesses do you have for sport climbing?
And suddenly out of huge amount of harnesses in the climbing shop
you will get maybe five to try.
So you dismiss the ones that look ugly to you, and try the rest.
Any decent climbing shop will have a place
where you can hang in your harness to test it.
And that's actually the best way to understand
if this harness is actually comfortable for your body
Harnesses that are designed for sport climbing
typically will be a bit lower profile,
they will have a bit less padding, but they will be lighter.
However manufacturers try really hard
to make even such harnesses as comfortable as possible.
So as long as you're not planning to sit in your harness for really really long,
it should be good for any type of climbing you're gonna do.
So single pitches, multi pitches, all of that should be totally fine.
Now if you are planning to be hanging in your harness for really really long,
hen you should look for a harness with a bit higher profile
and a bit more padding.
And that should make sitting in that harness
a little bit more comfortable.
So once you identify the harnesses that are comfortable for you,
then you can look into other features.
For example, how do you like the closing mechanism,
does it go smooth for you compare that with another harness.
Okay that was not intended
but
that's how it is.
I don't know why, what the fuck is happening.
Or which shape of the gear loops you prefer.
For example on this harness it's angled a little bit towards the front.
So when you clip your gear it kind of falls forward,
as if it would be feeding the quickdraws for you as you climb.
While most of the climbing harnesses
will have at least four gear loops,
Some of them might have just two. This saves weight.
And it's mostly designed for single pitch sport climbing.
And now, a lot of companies started to come up with a hybrid solution
where you have two very big sturdy gear loops for your quickdraws,
but then you have extra thin gear loops
for any extra gear you might want to carry.
For example, on a multi-pitch I think this is really cool and smart.
You save a little bit of weight but you don't lose functionality
If you are a hardcore elite climber,
maybe you want to check the weight of the harness.
Maybe these few grams are gonna change something for you.
And then any other extra features that the harness might have
like indicator technology which
shows you when you wear down your belay loop
or tie-in points too much
or extra protection on the tie-in point.
And then in the end just consult with your wallet.
And it's easy. You have a harness.
Can You Wear Opposite Gender Harness?
Now a bonus question.
Can you wear the opposite gender harness?
The short answer is yes.
Typically a harness designed for females
will have a little bit bigger leg loops
and a little bit narrower waist loop.
And the waist loop will be sitting slightly higher compared to male version.
If that fits your body, enjoy.
Some harnesses like this one is designed to be unisex.
So there is no difference at all.
Lifespan of a Harness
Normally a harness should last you between two and five years,
maybe seven years, if you don't use it very often.
While manufacturers will say that if you
buy a harness and never use it and
put it in ideal conditions in your closet,
you should still retire it after 10 years.
And as mentioned before the tie-in points on the harness tend to wear down quickest,
and then maybe the belay loop.
So it's a good idea to keep an eye on these parts of the harness specifically,
but also the rest of your harness.
All right, I hope that was helpful for you
If you are planning to buy a harness,
I will put some recommendations, in the description,
but keep in mind that all manufacturers
are competing really hard to make even better harness.
So whatever you choose is probably gonna be fine.
And also really big thank you for Mammut.
And for everyone who is supporting me to produce these videos.
It makes a huge difference.
And if you want to contribute here is a link.
And if not then see you in the next video. And enjoy climbing!