How To Choose a Climbing Harness for Mountaineering

Well, do you love mountaineering or want to be trained for it? It’s important that you choose the best equipment that you need for mountaineering or mountain climbing training. The climbing harness is one of the most essential gears you need to buy before going to the training or mountaineering. When you are doing a roped up climbing, you are bound to spend a lot of time hanging, sitting, standing, and sometimes falling in your harness. So, finding the best climbing harnesses is essential for your safety, comfort, and performance. Let’s explore the top 10 climbing harnesses for you.

How To Choose a Climbing Harness

Arc’Teryx AR 395a Climbing Harness

• The female version of this climbing harness is Arc’teryx AR 385A.
• It has adjustable leg loops, 4 gear loops, 4 ice clipper slots, and 1 rear haul loop.
• The weight of this climbing harness is 13.9 oz.
• It’s lightweight, compact, and very mobile.
• It has some good varieties as well.
• The drawbacks of this harness are that it’s expensive and not ideal for extended hanging.

Black Diamond Chaos

• This climbing harness is only made for men.
• It has fixed leg loops, 4 gear loops, and 1 rear haul loop.
• The weight of this rock climbing harness is 12.6 oz
• It’s comfortable, easy, light, and abrasion resistant.
• Tommy Caldwell chose this harness for climbing the Dawn Wall.
• The drawbacks of this harness are that it’s expensive and has no ice clipper slots.

Black Diamond Aspect

• The female version of this climbing harness is Black Diamond Lotus.
• It has adjustable leg loops, 4 gear loops, 4 ice clipper slots, and 1 rear haul loop.
• The weight of this climbing harness is 14.5 oz.
• It’s easy, comfortable, and extremely durable. It also gives you a good pressure distribution.
• It has some good varieties as well.
• The drawbacks of this harness are that it’s bulky and it sometimes gives trouble to reach back gear loops.

Petzl Corax

• This rock climbing harness is only made for men.
• It has fixed leg loops, 4 gear loops, 2 ice clippers slot, and 1 rear haul loop.
• The weight of this rock climbing harness is 17.3 oz.
• It’s comfortable, easy, versatile, and inexpensive.
• The drawbacks of this harness are that it’s heavy and has lots of buckles, and reduced mobility.

Edelrid Orion

• The female version of this climbing harness is Edelrid Solaris.
• It has adjustable leg loops, 4 gear loops, 2 ice clipper slots, and 1 rear haul loop.
• The weight of this climbing harness is 14.6 oz.
• It’s very comfortable when you are hanging. Its buckles are easy to adjust. It is lightweight and durable. The waist belt of the female version tapers the body.
• It has some good varieties as well.
• The drawbacks of this harness are that it’s expensive and it sometimes gives trouble using the haul loop.

Black Diamond Solution

• It has two different versions for both male and female with the same name.
• It has fixed leg loops, 4 gear loops, and 1 rear haul loop.
• The weight of this climbing harness is 11 oz.
• It’s very comfortable and it does not twist when you are falling.
• The only drawback of this harness is that it has no adjustable leg loops.

Petzl Aquila

• This rock climbing harness is only made for men. There is no female version of this harness.
• It has fixed leg loops, 4 gear loops, 2 ice clippers slot, and 1 rear haul loop.
• The weight of this rock climbing harness is 12.1 oz.
• It’s comfortable, easy, extremely lightweight, and very durable.
• The drawbacks of this harness are that it’s expensive, its leg loop buckles may slip sometimes, and the haul loop of this harness is hard to use.

Mammut Ophir Slide

• It has two different versions for both male and female with the same name.
• It has adjustable leg loops, 4 gear loops, 2 ice clipper slots, and 1 rear haul loop.
• The weight of this climbing harness is 14.8 oz.
• It’s comfortable, easy, light, and abrasion resistant. It’s offset gear loops are easier to fit.
• The drawbacks of this harness are that it’s expensive and it sometimes gives trouble using the haul loop.

Black Diamond Momentum

• The female version of this climbing harness is Black Diamond Primrose. It also has a few kids climbing harness versions.
• It has adjustable leg loops, 4 gear loops, and 1 rear haul loop.
• The weight of this climbing harness is 12 oz.
• It’s inexpensive and it has increased padding for greater comfort easy. Its gear loops are easy to clip.
• The drawbacks of this harness are that it holds fewer gears than the other climbing harnesses and it has poor breathability.

Mammut Realization Shorts

• There is no female version of this climbing harness. It’s a men’s short.
• It has adjustable leg loops and 2 gear loops.
• The weight of this rock climbing harness is 19 oz.
• You don’t need to wear any pants with this harness because this harness is itself a short.
• It’s fully adjustable and comfortable to wear. It has a unique design and is machine-washable.
• The drawback of this short is that there is no clothing option and it’s expensive. This short can also be called a tree climbing harness.

These are the best climbing harness for mountaineering. Choosing the right climbing harness is as important as choosing the best rock climbing shoes whenever you go mountaineering or train for it. So, I believe that you have already chosen the right climbing harness for you from this list according to your needs and choices.