Harness choice

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 cuppatea 07 Jan 2013
Sorry for the ramble!

I'm looking for a new harness, and would welcome help in narrowing the choice down to a short list of ones to try on.

I'm after one with a threadback buckle, not a ziplock speed buckle (call me a Luddite if you will).

I tried on a Black Diamond Momentum this afternoon in Go Outdoors, which would have been a bargain at a price matched £31.49 and was perfect to hang in. The problem is that in BD measurements I need a large waist and XL legs. I seem to be losing weight steadily doing the intermittent fasting so I have put the harness buying on hold for a while until I'm down to a more sensible weight and size.

I would have bought it but they were out of stock of the new style and the only large was a display model of the old version... but I figured it's better to buy a harness that definately fits even if it costs me a tenner more.

My old Petzl Guru still fits me well, and it's a medium. Most odd.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom.
 spearing05 07 Jan 2013
In reply to cuppatea: Recently got a DMM renegade. They do these with a thread back buckle (pro?) I'm a Luddite too.
OP cuppatea 07 Jan 2013
In reply to spearing05:

Thanks! We seem to be a dying breed!

Young people must be in such a hurry these days
Even Metolius seem to be going down the speed unzip route - not that you can buy them in the south of Englandshire, and I'd sooner avoid mail order.


I've just found reference to ladies having large thighs and small waists.. I might *cough* investigate a female harness.

Any recommendations? My first harness was bright pink so I'm not totally averse to a non manly colour scheme but I was young then and these days I'd sooner avoid any wishy-washy pastel colours.

 jkarran 08 Jan 2013
In reply to cuppatea:

Get one that fits and allows you to hand comfortably in a sitting position without effort. The simplest way to do it is to try on all the shop has, female fit included, shortlist the ones that fit well then pick the one that works features/price wise. If you're losing weight at the moment then get one with adjustable loops. Personally I wouldn't worry about the buckles going from traditional double-back to pre-threaded, both are perfectly safe and it's not like you have a whole new habit to learn as you would were you going the other way.

jk
 nniff 08 Jan 2013
In reply to cuppatea:

I'm a Luddite.

I use a Metolius Safetech harness for several reasons.
Firstly, it's got an adjustable raise (i.e. the distance between the leg loops and the waist belt can be changed).
Secondly, it's got adjsutable leg loops and it's comfortable - summer or winter.
Thirdly, everything (including gear loops and the elastic at the back) has got a serious strength rating and it's got a double back buckle.
Finally, it weighs much the same as any other harness.
OP cuppatea 08 Jan 2013
In reply to cuppatea:

Thanks all.

While I know that the speed buckles are safe, in the same way that a bomber RP is safe, I'd just prefer a big hex..or a 'thread' dadum tish!

nniff, where did you buy your harness? The only stockists I cab find are oop Norf.
 ianstevens 08 Jan 2013
In reply to cuppatea:

Luddite.

In all seriousness though, I prefer a ziplock/ABS/whatever silly name a double buckle gets not because it's quicker, because it removes an opportunity to do something wrong. So, in my opinion at least, they're safer... (let the slightly irrelevant arguments begin)
 spidermonkey09 08 Jan 2013
In reply to cuppatea:

I'm a Luddite too!
Has to be the DMM Renegade Pro version, which is threadback. Ludicrous amount of gear loops and has adjustable legs so you should be fine. Really comfy as well.
It is a little boring to look at, but reassuringly so, and it has shiny red buckles which lightens it up a bit.
Only thing missing from it is a hall loop, depends if thats a big deal for you.
 nniff 08 Jan 2013
In reply to cuppatea:
> (In reply to cuppatea)
>
>
> nniff, where did you buy your harness? The only stockists I cab find are oop Norf.

Off the internet - all you need to measure is your waist size as the rest is adjustable. The metolius site has the sizes experessed in inches.

In reply to cuppatea:

I'm climbing in a BD Aspect harness at the moment. Fully adjustable, super comfy and usable for almost anything. I got it on sale though so not sure how much it would cost now...
OP cuppatea 08 Jan 2013
In reply to nniff:

Thanks nniff. If I have to go down the mail order route then the metolius harnesses look like a safeish bet re fit as they have an adjustable rise. How well does this work in practice?


In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Thanks for the suggestion I'll have a look. Does it have a luddite buckle?
In reply to cuppatea:

I'm sorry did you mean another kind of buckle? Not sure what that is...
 nniff 09 Jan 2013
In reply to cuppatea:

It's my second Metolius harness (the first I did buy in a shop).

The adjustable raise is easy - I change it periodically for winter climbing when I'm wearing more clothing and back again for cragging/indoor. But it's not something that you do every time - in essence, set it and forget it.

It's basically a small rethreaded buckle on each leg loop that both moves the point at which the leg loops are formed away/towards the tie in point and also adjusts the size of the leg loops. Very simple. It has bar tacked markers on the leg loops to make getting them in the same position easy.
firewireguy 09 Jan 2013
In reply to cuppatea:

I have the DMM Renegade Pro also and quite like it. The waist band is very comfy, but occasionally the leg loops are a little uncomfortable and I need to move them. Perhaps I just need to adjust them.

The one thing I'm not all that keen on is the gear loops. I like that there are a lot of them, but they overlap each other and being on an angle makes it difficult to clip / unclip gear imho.

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