Harness that doesn't end up round my ankles

[domestos bend]

Hi All

I have currently got an AV avalon harness but I find it very hard to get it tight enough so that it doesn't slip down when I am not actually on the rope. Not sure if it is the design and / or my body shape but I don't get the problem with climbing harnesses which are more leg loop / waist belt design. Any suggestions for a more climbing style caving harness or do I have to make my @rse bigger? Thanks

 

[andrewmcleod]

When new cavers are putting on a more conventional SRT harness (e.g. MDTE Club or Petzl Superavanti), I tell them to make sure the leg loops are completely loosened before pulling the harness up so that the waist loop goes around them high enough to go onto/above the hips. If the leg loops aren't loose it's very easy to have the waist loop too low (as you can't pull it any higher because of the leg loops).

Given you are using a different sort of harness and I have no idea what your body shape is or how you are putting it on, this is likely to be unhelpful advice for you; probably worth speaking to your preferred gear seller and trying a load on but also talking about fit and making sure you hang in the harness.

You could also try the AV Krubera harness with a built-in chest harness which _might_ help but I think fundamentally a harness that you can pull down without loosening anything doesn't fit (and may not hold you in an inverted fall).

 

[alanw]

Don't you have a chest harness through your chest ascender, over your shoulders and down to the back of your harness: either a Petzl Torse or a length of tape with a one-way buckle on one end? I use a Torse now, but I've used a chest strap in the past, and might go back to one one day - I find Petzl doesn't seem to accommodate my body length (nor my head size). The Torse is a lot easier to put on, though.

 

[domestos bend]

Don't you have a chest harness through your chest ascender, over your shoulders and down to the back of your harness: either a Petzl Torse or a length of tape with a one-way buckle on one end? I use a Torse now, but I've used a chest strap in the past, and might go back to one one day - I find Petzl doesn't seem to accommodate my body length (nor my head size). The Torse is a lot easier to put on, though.

Finding a way to attach a chest strap to back of harness (currently doesn't) might be a way forward but as Andrew Mcleod pointed out the bottom line (ha) might be that the harness just doesn't fit if it can be pulled down without loosening.

 

[David Rose]

I have wrestled with this problem for many a year. I have finally found the solution: I wear traditional elastic braces (what Americans call "suspenders") clipped to my waistbelt to keep it up. They do tend to get ruined after a trip or two, but they work perfectly until shredded. I have found that John Lewis sells models that match the blue of my AV oversuit, so that's nice, too.

 

[ChrisB]

I also had this problem with an AV Technobat, and solved it by using a Petzl Torse shoulder harness to hold up the back of the harness. However, the 'solution' created more problems. I found it fiddly to loop the Torse over both shoulders and through the Croll every time I put the harness on, so I left it threaded. Combined with the double waist strap on the Technobat, and the leg loops being tied back to waist strap, it was rare for me to get the harness on without something being looped the wrong way. So I recently tried a very simple MDTE Club, unfastened the leg loops, tied it round my waist then threaded and tightened the leg loops, with a separate chest harness - this was much easier to put on, didn't fall down and felt very comfortable.

 

[pwhole]

Yep, the MTDE Club (and Picos) get my vote every time - along with their Garma chest harness. I use an additional strap with a snap buckle to connect that to the waistbelt of the harness. The Petzl Torse was too short (and consequently painful) for me, and I'm hardly tall. Obviously most men have smaller hips relative to our waist size, but my waist is still smaller than my hips, so I've never had this problem, even without the chest harness.

 

[Ed]

Eat more pies

 

[Cantclimbtom]

Eat more pies

No!!! Eat LESS pies.
Eating more pies causes the waist belt (even when tight) to be bigger than the hips, enabling it to slip down. Just don't ask me how I know this...

 

[Pony]

Glue it to the over suit.

 

[tomferry]

Yep, the MTDE Club (and Picos) get my vote every time - along with their Garma chest harness. I use an additional strap with a snap buckle to connect that to the waistbelt of the harness. The Petzl Torse was too short (and consequently painful) for me, and I'm hardly tall. Obviously most men have smaller hips relative to our waist size, but my waist is still smaller than my hips, so I've never had this problem, even without the chest harness.

I am also having this problem with the torse .

Currently have a 8mm Dmm sling in the back , I am about 81kg 5 ft 11 . 34” trousers fall of me .

I was thinking of changing my cheat harness , it’s so uncomfortable.

 

[BigDyl]

Could you use your footloop draped over your shoulder and connected at the back to hold it up? Saves you having to faff with anything else