How to Choose Climbing Harnesses

A light, full-featured harness for technical big mountain lines, crevassed ski terrain or moderate glacier climbs, the redesigned Black Diamond Couloir harness packs down to the size of an orange.
Imported.
View all Black Diamond Men's Climbing HarnessesBest Use | Backcountry Skiing Mountaineering |
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Fits Waist | S/M: 26-33 inches M/L: 30-36 inches L/XL: 33-39 inches XL/XXL: 36-44 inches |
Leg Loop Size | S/M: 19-24 inches M/L: 21-26 inches L/XL: 23-27 inches XL/XXL: 25-34 inches |
Gear Loops | 2 Loops |
Belay Loop | Yes |
Droppable Leg Loops | Yes |
Weight | 135 grams |
Gender | Unisex |
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If you need a harness which is light and takes up a tiny portion of your pack, this will do the job. Because the waistband is narrow I wouldn’t recommend it for frequent long rappelling but for shorter ones it’s perfect. I used it recently for the long north approach to Montana’s Granite Peak and was completely satisfied. Didn’t need it until the final 3 hours of the climb and was happy not having to carry something heavier and bulkier during the 12+ miles of the approach.
Ignore the reviewers saying this harness is “unsafe” because the leg buckles broke. Those people do not have any clue what they are talking about. The buckles are NOT meant to be load bearing. They are to keep the leg loops in place while walking. It is expected that they may come apart when the harness is weighted. The harness is designed to still support you without those buckles fastened. This is an ultralight harness that is designed to be extremely packable. It is small enough to easily fit in a pocket. It can also be donned while wearing skis or crampons—hence the previously mentioned buckles. This harness is for a specific purpose. IT IS NOT MEANT TO BE A REGULAR CRAIG HARNESS. There seems to be a class of reviewer who doesn’t understand this. If you end up falling in this harness or catching someone else who has fallen, something has gone wrong. This is for roping up for safety in the mountains and, at most, for making a short rappel. It does that job perfectly. It is lightweight and comfortable to wear and easy to put on. But if you end up hanging on it, it will be very uncomfortable, and if you put sudden heavy forces on it, you might break the buckles. For the buckles to withstand greater forces, they would need to be much bigger and heavier, and that would undermine the primary objective of making this harness lightweight and packable. This is not a safety problem, it is just a design trade off to achieve packability and ease of use.
Used once outside. Upside: I really liked that I could put it on over my layers of pants on a cold ice climb. Really liked that I didn't have to step through with my crampons already on. Downside, on the last climb of the first day of use, a plastic leg clip broke. I tilted sideways and can't climb in it anymore. Maybe the plastic was brittle because of the cold weather, but at 5F, I didn't think it was particularly cold. Would love another harness in this style, but won't be buying another one of these. One harness per day makes it much too pricey (and honestly, too dangerous).
It might seem like a great light weight harness, perfect for mountaineering...I thought so too, but let me tell you this harness won't save your life, might as well travel glaciers unroped. The buckle system will fail around your leg loops. I took it for a slight scramble with a friend, I slipped and my friend caught me on the rope (fell less than 6inches), it was enough force to snap both the buckles open on the leg loops. I tried it again. I was practicing self crevasse using prusiks to climb out at home, the wight of me just sitting in the harness made the leg buckles snap out again. I weigh 152lbs pretty. Don't buy the harness. Buy one with out the plastic buckles.
Light and versatile harness for Classic Mountaneering and glacier skiing. Fast to put and take out, confortable and simple , great option !
Everything about this harness was great, as advertised until... I was wearing it for the fifth time - and only for training purposes. I have yet to take it on a glacier. However, on that fifth outing, one of the clips holding the leg loops in place snapped and became unusual. For the day, I was able to tie it in, but I would not want to rely on that. I can't trust the other clips not to break, so this is being returned the next time I go to REI.
this terrifically light harness takes up less space than a couple of granola bars and weighs less. It’s the kind of thing you could toss in your pack and forget about until the moment you need it. Fits well and while it’s not meant to be super comfortable, it is exactly what it’s designed to be.
The videos on the different harnesses are super helpful. I was really torn about which size to get because I need this to fit over ski gear. I got the M/L and need to cinch it fully down in more lightweight gear, so I think the S/M would have worked fine. As a women, I find that unisex harnesses can sometimes fit fine in the waist but be tight in the legs, so I sized up. That wasn't an issue here. For those debating sizes...
Easy to put on. It can be put on even when wearing crampons. Lightweight, packs very small but trouble getting it back into it's carrying bag. Stays cinched and tight. I've used it multiple times and buckles and gear loops are still intact although I was concerned because of the loops seeming to be thin. 5'4, 135 pounds, XS or size 0 pants, so I was able to find a XS/small. Small was too big.
The belt is relatively easy to manipulate but (and this has been a problem with other BD gear I have) the plastic buckles are difficult to manipulate especially with gloves on. The other problem I have with this is the two front elastic straps are sewn in at the wrong angle and they rotate the harness crotch strap. It’s not really a problem but it’s a detail that would be nice if it was corrected.