Climbing Harness

[Brian Barnes]

Looking for suggestions for a general use lightweight harness to accomplish two purposes:

1) Glacier travel / mountaineering
2) Traditional indoor/outdoor rock climbing (no lead climbing, just your usual half day top roped climbing…)

I'd like to have adjustable leg loops to accommodate varying clothing layers on my legs. EDIT: would also like a drop seat… (Good suggestion Eric, see below)

Of course CAMP, Mammut, and Black Diamond make glacier harnesses that are super light but I'm some what concerned these may be quite uncomfortable without any padding… Was hoping for slight padding, adjustable leg loops, and under 12 ounces.

What do you use?

Some thoughts…

Arc'teryx X350a (12.2oz, but geez its expensive)
Black Diamond Momentum SA (weighs in at 14 though…)

[James holden]

dead bird 350a

for something around 12 oz with fully separating gear looks, ice clips, comfortable to hang in, good for sport/trad/ice/alpine … etc …

pros … super light for a full trad/ice harness, comfy, cool dead bird gear will get you the chicks, fully adjustable and separating leg loops

cons … price, haul loop is cr@p, drop seat wears out if yr gonna chimney

im still waiting for someone else to make something with all the features at the same weight …

http://www.backcountry.com/arcteryx-x350a-all-around-climbing-harness?avad=1768_df99d29

if you dont care about weight get this or one of the other hanesses for 20-30$ … how much is an ounce worth? … lol

http://www.camp-usa.com/products/harnesses/closeout/closeout-quartz-cr-316.asp

http://www.camp-usa.com/products/harnesses/closeout/closeout-jasper-cr-336.asp

[James holden]

oh and the camp harness you listed dont appear to have a drop seat …

highly recommend one for those times on the glacier mountain when you cant untie … but feel those burritos … lol

[Brian Barnes]

Oh, good point on the drop seat… those camp harness on sale would have been sweet. At the price I would have pulled the trigger but they are out of stock.

[James holden]

my bad …

then i recommend the BD momentum SA at 14oz …

i have one and used it till i got the dead bird … it totally bomber, has 4 gear loops, full seperating, very padded, at 14oz only weights 2 more oz than the 350a, and most importantly has quick release drop seats for those calls of nature … lol

best of all it costs only 45$

it doesnt have ice clippers … but you can get the attach on ones anyways

you wont wear this harness out

http://www.spadout.com/p/black-diamond-momentum-sa-harness/

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Eric…what would you recommend for a really light harness just for glacier travel? Light and cheap are what I'm looking for since I'd likely only use it a couple times.

[James holden]

dan … depends if you want the drop seat, adjustable leg loops and self adjusting belt

in other words do you want to be able to take a dump, put on yr harness without taking off your cramps/skis, and never worry about having to double back yr harness (or die)

for all those features the BD one i posted is the one to bear … yo could save maybe 2-3 oz and go to something like the arcteryx but spend 100-200% more

if you dont need to do any of the above … get this … 4 oz or so …. you can find it around $30 on campsaver or STP usually, though with import duties im not sure if its worth it

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442629379&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302691023

if you want to borrow my old BD harness for a weekend let me know … or you could just get it from mec and return it ;)

[. .]

For Glacier travel, have a look at the Edelrid Loopo Light:

http://www.amazon.com/EDELRID-Edelrid-Loopo-Light-Harness/dp/B003IXSZ5S

+1 on the 350a if you expect to hang on it at all and for all-around use and comfort.

[Brian Barnes]

Eric – Thanks for your suggestions. I found a BD Momentum SA for $40. At that price, I can always pick up a separate glacier harness for glacier travel if I need to reduce climbing gear weight.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Thanks guys….I'll keep these in mind and I'll pick one up once I've definitely got a glacier travel trip planned.

[Matt Mioduszewski]

http://www.backcountry.com/black-diamond-couloir-harness
an improvement on the alpine bod, imho. I have the BD momentum of some variety and while yes it does serve double-duty just dandy for glacier/alpine and rock/gym climbing…compared to the Alpine Bod, and especially compared to the couloir harness, it is just plain bulky.. compare a nalagene to a small apple.. plus at 8oz it cuts the weight nearly in half, and it doesn't break the bank like the 350a–and is quite comfortable under a pack, and has the drop seat, adjustable, etc. Again, specially for glacier travel, without having a piece of un-adjustable floss like some of the CAMP and elerid things..

Also I had a friend who climbed in his alpine bod plenty, though that isn't most people's cup of tea, but it did him fine for climbing for 4-6 hours at a time.

[Douglas Ray]

I have messed with a lot of the light harnesses on the market, and here are some thoughts.

The CAMP ALP 95 is a rather specialized harness for alpine trips where weight is critical and you aren't planning to do anything very technical. It is my go-to glacier travel harness, but I would never take it sport climbing or anything like that. I'd be afraid of wearing it out prematurely and it doesn't really have gear loops and it's not that great to hang in.

I use a CAMP Air CR for most everything else these days. Around 8.5 oz, belay loop, four gear loops, haul loop, pretty good to hang in. I honestly think it's the better choice than Arcter'x offerings for serious Alpine climbing. It is missing a drop seat, so far that hasn't been a problem.

The new Black Diamons Coulor harness looks like a major improvement on the old Alpine Bod (which I used for years). Honestly I'd say it's probably the best choice for your described usage. It's fairly cheap and simple and ideal for glacier mountaineering. It won't be that comfortable to hang in for very long and it doesn't have enough racking space for serious trad climbing, but neither of those is much of an issue for you.

[Sieto van der Heide]

+1 on the Camp AIR CR
I've got one in size L. It's 290gr, so just over 10oz.
Used it for indoor/toprope climbing and glacier travel, works great for both.

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