Harness keeps slipping down when fully loaded

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 discosucks 27 May 2017
I use a Petzl Calidris Harness for climbing outside , The fit seems to be perfect but I sometimes have an issue were when fully loaded with gear the harness can start to slip down below my hips during a climb .

Im not sure if its the harness or my shape thats causing this , I feel like my body shape is like a triangle , I have a big chest and i narrow at the centre but don't really have large hips to hold the harness up lol

Now i often seen 'larger' people at crags or walls with there harness below there protruding belly and I know this cant be right and dangerous if they ended up upside down .

Does this just happen everyone when fully loaded with gear or should I seek a different harness style

Or maybe start doing squats haha
 deacondeacon 27 May 2017
In reply to discosucks:
You just need a smaller harness
2
In reply to discosucks:
I would personally downsize a bit, and tighten it well over the hips. You definitely don't want it being able to slide past... This is how you fall out if you invert.
Post edited at 13:17
 brianjcooper 27 May 2017
In reply to deacondeacon:

> You just need a smaller harness

Or eat more pies.
1
 slab_happy 27 May 2017
In reply to discosucks:

> Now i often seen 'larger' people at crags or walls with there harness below there protruding belly and I know this cant be right and dangerous if they ended up upside down .

That's actually fine if their body weight distribution allows them to tighten the harness below a roll of belly but at a point which is above and narrower than their hips. Which will be true for some fat people but not others -- people come in very different shapes, and some are more hourglass-y than others.

> I have a big chest and i narrow at the centre but don't really have large hips to hold the harness up lol

Do you have a waist which is at all narrower than your hipbones?

If so, tighten the harness at that point so it's also narrower than your hipbones, and gear will make it sag but can't pull it down over your hips (and also you can't fall out if you get turned upside down).

"Large hips" and squats aren't necessary because it's not your glutes that should be keeping it up, it's your iliac crests. *g*

If the waist belt can't be tightened that much, then it's too big.

I have a friend who's extremely V-shaped with very narrow hips, and once (having forgotten to bring his harness to the wall) he had to resort to renting a "children's" harness to get one that fitted.

If you don't have a waist point which is narrower than your hipbones (for whatever reason), then you'd need to think about a full body harness (or adding a chest harness to your existing harness).
 Mark Kemball 27 May 2017
In reply to slab_happy:

This! What I was about to write couldn't have put it better.
baron 27 May 2017
In reply to discosucks:

Rack your gear on a bandolier.
2
In reply to baron:

That's missing the point that the harness does not seem to fit (or be fitted) properly. If it can be pulled down by static weight of gear, what's going to happen in an inverted fall, with multiple bodyweight applied to it (deceleration > 1g)?

The fact that it's being pulled down by gear shows that it's dangerous.
1
OP discosucks 27 May 2017
In reply to slab_happy:

Awesome , thanks for the advice .

See i have a box full of harnesses that belong to the college club , the smaller sizes seems to work better at the expense of feeling a bit over tight , but I think will go with it for a while and see how i get on ,

the idea of the petzle chest adapter had crossed my mind . or some kinda of suspender extension

cheers .
baron 27 May 2017
In reply to captain paranoia:

Oh for goodness sake!
I've been climbing for years and I've never met anybody who's fallen out of their harness and died!
6
 Fraser 27 May 2017
In reply to deacondeacon:

> You just need a smaller harness

...or a smaller rack!

Gravity's always going to pull a fully-loaded harness down a bit. I personally wouldn't worry about it too much. Just learn to place lots of gear fast, to lighten the load
2
 JIMBO 27 May 2017
In reply to discosucks:

I've had this recently and put it down to the first harness I've bought without a thread-back buckle...
OP discosucks 27 May 2017
In reply to JIMBO

does it come loose?

I have a feeling that may be my problem after some experimentation this evening
OP discosucks 27 May 2017
In reply to baron:

Good for you , that must mean it's never happened .
2
 JIMBO 27 May 2017
In reply to discosucks:

Seems to slowly slacken off with movement and I have to keep zipping it up tighter again. Thread back buckles never did that but you can't really buy them anymore...
 John Kelly 27 May 2017
In reply to discosucks:

Had same problem and cured it by using the next size up
Rigid Raider 28 May 2017
In reply to discosucks:

Have you got a flat arse? Get a road bike and grow some glutes.
 deacondeacon 28 May 2017
In reply to discosucks:
Can you tighten your harness to its minimum width, or is there still some 'play' in it? If it's at it's minimum it's more than likely too big for you.
Also are you wearing it high enough? The waist belt should be more 'bellybutton' height rather than hip height.
Having a triangular build really isn't uncommon in climbing whereas people wearing there harnesses a little low is
 Wayne S 28 May 2017
In reply to discosucks:

Hi, not much additional to add but I seem to recall the Calidris had an odd fit for me (I had to buy a harness in a hurry in Spain), and changed it quite quickly after returning home. Different harnesses have different relative height between leg loops and swami belt. If this is short for the user shape then walking alone seems to work the belt down.

Women's specific harnesses have a different length belay loop sometimes for instance.

Any fit issue will be exaggerated by a heavy rack, but equally all harnesses will suffer from overloading. It's possible you need to look at harness fit as well as rack weight.

Equally I remember having to hoist my harness up more when I was sub optimally proportioned for rock climbing.

Might be worth going to a well stocked retailer at a quiet time and trying a good variety on, maybe take some weight to load it up even. As long as it's quiet most good independents should be accommodating.

Harnesses have changed a lot in recent years, good design has removed the need for bulky padding for instance. My skinny harness is more comfortable than any old school padded harness I have ever owned for instance, even when hanging. A thinner flexible waist belt may hold up better for instance.

Wayne
 slab_happy 28 May 2017
In reply to JIMBO:

Yes, I gather it's a known issue that the ziplock buckles can "creep" very slowly, and that therefore it's a good idea to check your waistbelt occasionally over the course of the day and re-adjust it as needed.
 oldie 28 May 2017
In reply to discosucks:

If you are persisting with the harness it would probably be easy to make an item from cord/thin tape similar to a chest harness but purely for gear, with the loops exactly where you wanted them. Many find a bandolier with lots of gear too cumbersome (I imagine something similar may already be retailed).
Years ago I used to keep up a Davek sit harness with a system of braces made from narrow climbing tape with just one tape knot at the front needed when putting in the harness.
 Toerag 28 May 2017
In reply to discosucks:

Fit some braces to it, and tighten it up. The top of the belt should be level with the top of your hips so you can tighten it as hard as possible without it really hurting - you can't crush your pelvis, so go as tight as you can. Slab_happy's advice to tighten it above your hips is wrong in that all the load is on the soft bits of your waist and is painful to wear (i.e. holding a fallen second on a direct belay) although you won't fall out of it.
The modern fashion for wearing one's trousers halfway down one's arse means novices often put their harnesses on badly.
 timjones 28 May 2017
In reply to discosucks:

I tried using a Petzl Calidris and found that due to the thick waistbelt and silly buckles I could never get it adjusted right.

I always like a harness with threadback buckles to allow easy and ecure adjustment.
 Mr Moac 28 May 2017
In reply to discosucks:

> Good for you , that must mean it's never happened .

I think you missed the joke there,
OP discosucks 29 May 2017
In reply to baron:

I'v Got to be honest I originally didn't get the joke LOL
baron 29 May 2017
In reply to discosucks:

It wasn't the funniest joke ever.

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