A climbing harness is a piece of equipment used in certain types of rock-climbing, abseiling or other activities requiring the use of ropes to provide access and/or safety (eg industrial rope access, working at heights, etc.). A climbing harness is used to secure a person to a piece of rope or an anchor point of some kind. In its simplest form a harness can be fashioned from a length of rope or a nylon tape sling tied round the waist and attached to the rope, usually by means of a carabiner. More sophisticated climbing harnesses exist in many different patterns, designed to give greater comfort and security, and to provide more options for carrying equipment. A climbing harness allows a rope to be safely and comfortably attached to a climber, stopping the climber’s fall before he or she hits the ground.  The rope passes through one or two webbing loops and these loops are one of the most important parts of the chain of protection that stops your fall, including the rope, rock protection, and belay device.

Several years ago, buying a climbing harness, meant kissing comfort goodbye. That isn’t the case today. There’s a bevy of lightweight, comfortable climbing harnesses on the market. This past spring I took 11 of them out and put them through their paces, hanging, falling, and occasionally sending. Our terrain ran the gamut from mid-5.11 to hard 5.13, and the testers’ physiques included the full range from beefy, stout-legged skiers to rail-thin sportsters. The primary testing ground was Rifle Mountain Park, which sees as much hang and air time as it does actual sending, but one lucky harness made it as far as France’s Ceüse. Climbing harnesses come in a range of sizes and designs, and it’s tough to get climbers to agree on what climbing harness is the best.  All climbers agree on one thing, however: for a climbing harness to be safe, comfortable, and effective, it must fit the climber properly.

The only way a climbing harness will fail is if you put it on wrong, so take the extra time and effort to do it right. Untangle the harness and hold it up in front of you. Identify the front and back of the harness and the left and right leg loops. Make sure there are no twists in the harness, then step through the leg loops. Pull the harness up your legs until the leg loops are at the top of your thighs. Wrap around the waist belt above your hips, and feed the nylon strap through the belt buckle. Snug the waist belt tightly so you won't fall out of your harness if you flip upside down. Back-feed the buckle (meaning refeed the belt back in through the buckle) so the waist belt cannot slip. This is a crucial step, so check twice to make sure you did it correctly. If you have to take off your harness for any reason during the climbing day, be very careful to put it back on correctly.