UKH

I know it is possible to make a harness from a sling in an emergency situation. I am considering using it for the roped sections of the cuillin ridge.

Main reasons being; saving a bit of weight and easy to put on wearing big boots

Is this a silly idea?

In reply to jmerrick21:

It's what I did for the abs - for the upward climbing I just used a waist tie and assumed I wouldn't fall off (and then was unpleasantly surprised by how hard the TD Gap is)

In reply to jmerrick21:

Not a silly idea at all, if you clip a sling around your waste reach between your legs get the bottom half of the sling and clip it in as well you can make a serviceable harness. Tape is much more comfortable then dynema. Lightweight mountinering harnesses are also inexpensive and have detachable leg loops making getting them on with boots easy.

In reply to jmerrick21:

On long, light runs I've used a 240 wrapped around and tied to make a waistband and leg loops, and a 120 just twisted to make two holes and stepped into. You wouldn't want to spend all day in either of them, but for a quick 15m rappel here and there they are simple and safe enough.

In reply to Pete Houghton:

Unless you're a giant or made something very odd I suspect you may be using different nomenclature to the modern british norm.

A single 120cm sling and Italian hitches on an HMS is about as light as you can go without going 'classic'.
jk

In reply to jmerrick21:

I have led with a harness improvised from slings when I forgot my harness - I basically got a 120cm sling behind me, brought 2 strands together at the front, and one between the legs, connecting them with a big screwgate. Then an improvised chest harness - a 120 cm sling with a twist at the back between the shoulder blades, arms through the loops created, then join with a Krab. Then join the chest sling to the waist sling - I think I joined them with a tied off sling. This stops the waist harness from falling down and keeps the krabs oriented correctly. Wouldn't really have wanted to fall on it, but it seemed to work at the time! But for the negligible weight of a lightweight harness I would just pack one, if you know in advance you might need it. Far less hassle!

In reply to Chris Sansum:

Thanks for the responses chaps. I think I'll go with this method and use a Italian hitch on the HMS.

In reply to Chris Sansum:


The weight saving on your wallet alone will be considerable

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Yep, they're almost as bad as Patagucci.

In reply to Chris Sansum:

And useless for this sort of mountinering application as you can unclip the leg loops!