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Sit harness
A climbing harness is an item of climbing equipment for rock-climbing, abseiling,
or other activities requiring the use of ropes to provide access or safety such as
industrial rope access, working at heights, etc. A harness secures a person to a
rope or an anchor point.[1]
In its simplest form, a harness can be made from a length of rope or a nylon
webbing tied round the waist. However this is extremely uncomfortable unless the
wearer is very light. It can also ride up to the abdomen or even the diaphragm
under load and cause serious injury. Looping the rope between the legs will prevent
this, though care should be taken to avoid sensitive areas. More sophisticated
harnesses exist in many patterns, designed to give greater comfort and security,
and more options for carrying equipment.
Attachment of the rope to the harness is done using a knot called a figure-eight
follow through, and often backed up with a stopper knot. Other knots are possible
for the purpose, primarily a variation of the double bowline,[2][3][4] but the
figure-eight is usually preferred. Although it is harder to untie after a fall, it
is inherently more secure,[5] easier to tie, and easier to verify that it has been
tied correctly.[3] There are many variations of the bowline knot, and some will
untie themselves when repeatedly stressed and unstressed, as is common in climbing.
[3][4][6][7]
In addition to the weight bearing parts of the harness, there are parts of the
harness that are not designed to be part of the safety system. These include the
gear loops, used for carrying equipment e.g. protection devices, carabiners, etc.,
and the elastic cords which pass behind the buttocks for the purpose of keeping the
leg loops from slipping down while not under load. Any attempt to tie the safety
system into these components could lead to failure and an unprotected fall. It is
acceptable to attach the rope to a leg loop via a Prusik knot and carabiner, but
this should only be done with the brake end of the rope in an abseil system in
order to keep the Prusik clear of the belay plate. This end of the rope experiences
considerably lower forces than the "live" end, due to the action of the belay
device.
Contents
1 History
2 Types
2.1 Materials
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
History
The invention of the climbing harness has been attributed to Jeanne Immink, a Dutch
climber in the late nineteenth century.[8] Some of the first climbing harnesses
were devised in the U.K. in the early 1960s by Alan Waterhouse, Paul Seddon and
Tony Howard who went on to form the Troll climbing equipment manufacturers.[9] A
harness designed by British climber Don Whillans was made by Troll for the 1970
Annapurna South Face Expedition. It went into mass production shortly afterwards
and soon became popular worldwide.[10]
The sit or seat harness was invented in the 1960s by Yosemite climbers. The first
innovation was the Swami Belt, which was multiple loops of webbing around the
waist. Then quickly came the Swami Seat, a sit harness tied from webbing, including
leg loops and an integrated waist loop. Once the seat/sit harness came to be,
suppliers of climbing gear started making them with stitching replacing the knots.
The Swami Seat was revealed to the climbing world thru an article in Summit
Magazine in the mid-60s. Sewn harnesses came later.
Types
Harness - 01.jpg
A sit harness consists of a waist belt and two leg loops which are normally
connected in the front of the hips through a permanent webbing loop called a belay
loop. Belay loops are extremely strong, but nonetheless still a single point of
failure that caused at least one notorious death.[11] For rock climbing, the rope
typically goes through the two "tie-in loops" that are above and below the "belay
loop". The figure-eight knot is mostly used for rock climbing. These are the most
commonly used harnesses for recreational activities such as abseiling and rock
climbing, as they afford a wide range of movement while still maintaining a high
level of safety. Ensuring the harness fits correctly is key to avoiding pain in the
upper thigh area caused by the leg loops being too tight around the upper legs and
groin area, while at the same time ensuring that a climber flipped over in a fall
does not slip out. The waist belt should be tightened snugly. Leg loops should not
be particularly tight, but for obvious reasons neither should they have enough
slack to allow extraneous parts of a male climber to get caught inside them.
A chest harness is worn around the shoulders, usually with a sit harness so as to
provide an additional attachment point. This attachment point allows for better
balance in some situations such as when carrying a heavy pack (as the centre of
mass is below the connection to the rope) and when the person in the harness may be
unable to maintain an upright position (due to injury or other influences).
A full-body harness is the combination of a sit harness and a chest harness which
are permanently or semi-permanently connected to each other. This kind of harness
normally offers a wide range of attachment points. It is most commonly used in
industrial/rescue situations, and also commonly used by small children instead of a
sit harness which is easier to slip out of.
Materials
Most harnesses are generally made from webbing. This webbing is often nylon webbing
as polyester webbing doesn't hold triglides[clarification needed] and d-rings as
well, and it's easier to untie nylon webbing. Specifically, Nylon 66 is the most
common type of nylon used for this webbing.[13][14][15] The webbing is often also
tubular webbing, instead of flat webbing.[16] Within a single harness, there are
many different weaves of nylon based on the intended function of the specific part
of the harness. These weaves sometimes include polyester. The buckles are typically
made of anodized aluminum. For the leg loops and waist belt, companies use various
methods to make the harness comfortable. The most common method is cushioning the
harness with foam and mesh. However, for more lightweight harnesses, some companies
use wider waist belts and unidirectional fibers going along the waist belt to
distribute the weight evenly and minimize pressure points. Harness designers use
increasingly advanced materials such as Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene
(UHMWPE), aramid fibers (Kevlar, Vectran, etc.), and sailcloth (e.g. the Black
Diamond Vision harness) in order to make harnesses lighter and more comfortable.
Different harnesses use different materials for these fibers across the leg loops
and waist belt.