Alpine Harness

By dubu Ranked #186 - Harnesses and Climbing Helmets April 30, 2009

I find myself in between sizes for harnesses: small waist, larger legs. While I like BD Alpine bod (easy to put on) the med is too large in the waist and the small too small in the legs. I tried the BD Vario but the rise was incredibly short.

I haven't used the Pandion but so far, I like what I see. The rise is good; it seems to fit me well. One reason I like the design is that it looks easy to go pee (using a freshette) without removing the harness. With my regular climbing harness it's awkward but doable but the extra layers when mountaineering makes the whole belay loop/dual tie in points cumbersome. This harness has the tie in up and the fly area clear.

The single gear loop is a downside but I mean to fix that. I originally thought that Petzl had a free floating gear loop which I thought was a cool idea (because I could position it where I want) but no matter that they fixed it with stitching. I intend to add more gear loops (but free floating). It may not work but I'm game to try. I just have to figure out how to have gear loops on the buckle side....

(four stars because only one gear loop)

View Details: Petzl Pandion Harness

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