The 5 Finest Climbing Harnesses for Girls of 2024

Finest General Climbing Harness

Arc’teryx AR-385a

Weight (measurement small): 13 oz | Designed for: Trad, Alpine

Should you wish to climb within the mountains, hit the crag together with your double set of cams, or rack attracts to your alpine sport mission, the Arc’teryx AR-385a is the do-it-all harness for you. The AR-385a is a formidable piece of engineering: it is snug, modern, and useful, and it’s certain to draw compliments on the crag and invite questions on its design. The patented Warp Energy Expertise evenly distributes weight throughout the harness, virtually eliminating padding whereas sustaining consolation. Whereas it consists of all the needed options for an all-around harness, it actually shines for trad and alpine climbing. The huge waistband offers consolation at hanging belays, and the extra-wide gear loops guarantee ample room for a double rack plus some. There may be additionally a big haul loop within the rear to clip method sneakers or haul a tagline. Should you’re on the lookout for a compact possibility for lengthy rock climbs or an alpine mission, this harness is a superb selection.

A small gripe with the design of this harness is that it absorbs extra sweat than most. So in case you usually climb in scorching and humid climates, it’s doubtless value contemplating one thing with a mesh again, just like the ultra-breathable however equally costly Black Diamond airNET. The principle draw back to the AR-385a, nonetheless, is the value tag. It’s, for sure, one of many costlier fashions we have examined and certain higher fitted to somebody who climbs so much. Should you’re simply new to climbing, otherwise you largely plan to stay with sport climbing, different inexpensive choices will higher serve your wants.

Learn extra: Arc’teryx AR-385a assessment

Finest Bang for the Buck

Black Diamond Momentum – Girls’s

Weight (measurement small): 10.5 oz | Designed for: Sport, Trad

An iteration of a harness that Black Diamond has been promoting for years, the Black Diamond Momentum doesn’t disappoint. It is a versatile, all-around mannequin that’s snug, adjustable, and cheap. It has Black Diamond’s distinctive trakFIT adjustable leg loops, which give a little bit of adjustability however nonetheless the safety of a fixed-leg system. The plastic-covered gear loops are inflexible and stand proud of the waist belt for straightforward clipping and unclipping, and there’s a sturdy haul loop within the again.

The Momentum has a thickly padded waist belt, which is superb for hanging belays however not so nice on heat days. We at all times discovered ourselves with a sweaty again on this one, and one thing you actually ought to take into accout in case you usually climb in scorching climate or tropical climates. If that sounds such as you, it is value contemplating upgrading to a extra breathable harness just like the Black Diamond Answer. Aside from that, the Momentum is an inexpensive purchase for a brand new climber who desires a assured all-around versatile harness or for a seasoned rope climber trying to economize.

Learn extra: Black Diamond Momentum assessment

Finest for Sport Climbing

Black Diamond Answer – Girls’s

Weight (measurement small): 11.4 oz | Designed for: Sport

Whereas we do not love each harness that Black Diamond is at present making — we’re you, Technician — we’ll admit we do love the Black Diamond Answer for each trad and sport climbing. The Answer is light-weight and breathable, and it’s surprisingly snug contemplating the minimal quantity of padding. The load is dispersed all through the waist belt and leg loops by way of three completely different strands of skinny webbing so that you by no means really feel a strain level in a single spot. The elastic on the leg loops have nice stretch and mobility, and they’re tapered simply the correct quantity for the place they cross by way of your thighs.

The leg loops on the Answer have a little bit of stretch, however they are not adjustable. When you’ve got bigger or smaller thighs relative to your waist, the Answer might not fit your needs properly. And although this harness felt nice whereas hang-dogging and giving our associates epic belays, it would not be our first selection for a Grade V with hanging belays. For top-grade alpine climbs, it is properly value contemplating investing in a harness just like the Arc’teryx AR-385a. Nonetheless, if single-pitch tad or sport cragging is your jam, you will recognize the light-weight nature of the Answer and the stunning stage of consolation it offers.

Learn extra: Black Diamond Answer assessment

Finest for Lengthy Mutipitch Routes

Blue Ice Cuesta – Girls’s

Weight (measurement small): 9.7 oz | Designed for: Sport, Trad

The Blue Ice Cuesta is a ladies’s-specific climbing harness designed for consolation and freedom of motion on lengthy days. Its light-weight design makes it ultimate for climbing within the backcountry, the place each ounce in your backpack issues. As our prime decide for multi-pitch climbs, it strikes an ideal steadiness between performance, consolation, and sturdiness. The harness has adequately sized gear loops able to accommodating a double rack, whereas its abrasion-resistant cloth stands as much as burly chimney climbing and scumming on sharp granite. Moreover, the rear gear loops lie flush together with your physique, which makes climbing with a backpack way more snug.

Though the leg loops are outfitted with elastic that gives some stretch, they do not enable for giant changes. Should you want only a bit of additional wiggle room to accommodate an additional layer or a pair of lengthy underwear, it should not be an issue and should not prohibit mobility. The Cuesta lacks ice clipper slots, limiting it to a three-season harness. Should you’re on the lookout for a flexible harness for all forms of climbing, it is value contemplating investing in a four-season possibility just like the Arc’teryx AR-385a. Regardless of these few drawbacks, the Cuesta stays an inexpensive and comfy selection tailor-made to the feminine type.

Learn extra: Blue Ice Cuesta assessment

Finest for Alpine Climbing

Blue Ice Addax

Weight (measurement small): 4.9 oz | Designed for: Sport, Alpine, Ice

The Blue Ice Addax is good for alpine or backcountry climbs that prioritize lightness and pace. That is the final word ultralight possibility, simply so long as you are not going to be hanging in your harness or rappelling by way of the evening. It additionally works nice for basic mountaineering and glacier journey whenever you simply want a harness for crevasse security. Regardless of its light-weight design, it gives distinctive sturdiness, defying expectations typically related to lighter gear, which carries the stigma of carrying out quicker than heavier options. With 4 gear loops, a haul loop, and ice clipper slots, it is a versatile and dependable selection for climbers seeking to reduce weight from their backcountry equipment.

However being one of many lightest harnesses available on the market has its drawbacks. Its minimalist design contains a fairly slim waistbelt and leg loops that aren’t very snug to hold in for prolonged durations of time. That mentioned, its breathable materials will hold you from getting too sweaty throughout scorching days of climbing or lengthy journey days throughout glaciers. Though the Addax can technically do all of it, it isn’t the most suitable choice for climbs that require a heavy double rack or huge partitions – that is higher reserved for a harness with extra padding and inflexible gear loops, just like the Blue Ice Cuesta. It is higher to avoid wasting the Addax for these fast-and-light missions the place saving weight is vital.

Learn extra: Blue Ice Addax assessment

Examine Merchandise

How We Take a look at Climbing Harnesses

At Outside GearLab, we have been reviewing ladies’s climbing harnesses for seven years and have examined over 20 fashions. We’re continuously researching the latest merchandise available on the market and including new ones to this assessment as they change into accessible. We purchase every harness at retail worth and check them side-by-side in a collection of goal and subjective exams to get a good suggestion of how they stack up. We put on them for hours on the crag and use them in varied disciplines, from sport climbing to trad climbing and alpine climbing. We additionally look in depth on the options of every harness and be aware what number of items of drugs every gear loop can maintain. We make the most of data from an enormous community of testers to make sure our judgments are correct. If you’d like extra detailed information on our testing processes, see our full How We Take a look at article.

Our climbing harness testing is analyzed primarily based on 5 completely different metrics:

• Hanging Consolation (30% of general rating weighting)

• Standing Consolation and Mobility (25% weighting)

• Versatility (15% weighting)

• Adjustability (10% weighting)

Why Belief GearLab

This assessment was dropped at you by Jane Jackson and Whitney Clark. Jane and Whitney have spent years hanging round huge partitions and crags all around the world. From multi-day journeys up El Capitan in Yosemite to multi-day climbs within the mountains, our testers have skilled the worth of a cushty harness and the downsides of an ill-fitting one. In the mean time, each Jane and Whitney are primarily based in Bishop, California, the place entry to conventional and sport climbing routes appears limitless. They put these harnesses to the check on lengthy trad routes in Yosemite, sport climbing classes within the Owens River Gorge, and the basalt crags of northern Arizona.

The fashions on this assessment are our favorites from the handfuls of girls’s particular harnesses accessible on-line. After spending months carrying and testing this yr’s prime fashions — assessing consolation, versatility, adjustability, and discipline-specific options — now we have ended up with a complete assessment that ought to information you towards the harness of your belay-duty desires!

Evaluation and Take a look at Outcomes

This assessment focuses on ladies’s rock, gymnasium, support, and mountaineering harnesses. Some are constructed for ultralight alpine missions, some supply hanging consolation, and others characteristic a number of loops to maximise gear storage. To objectively examine every in our testing, we fee them on hanging consolation, standing consolation, options, versatility, and adjustability. This text gives recommendation and compares every product in-depth. Learn extra about how to decide on a ladies’s climbing harness.

What is the Finest Worth?

The ladies’s climbing harnesses we examined on this assessment had a major worth vary. What do you get from an costly one which you do not from a funds possibility? Generally, not a lot! Some “cheaper” fashions won’t have probably the most sophisticated waist belt designs, which means they won’t distribute the load properly or won’t be as snug for extended hanging. The high-value Black Diamond Momentum performs the perfect of all lower-priced choices and is useful for every type of climbing. The Edelrid Jayne is one other lower-cost mannequin, however its cumbersome rear gear loop is not as useful as others – this harness is best for the newbie who plans to climb solely often.

Hanging Consolation

This metric is commonly the dealbreaker when buying a brand new harness. It could feel and appear nice, but when hanging in it does not really feel proper, it’s best to transfer on to the following mannequin. As producers transfer to lighter and extra intricate designs, typically the padding is left by the wayside. We usually want some padding to melt the burden of our our bodies towards the harness’s body. Unsurprisingly, the fashions with extra padding scored larger on this metric than these with out.

The Arc’teryx AR-385a, Black Diamond Momentum, and Blue Ice Cuesta had been our favorites for hanging consolation. These harnesses had ample padding and assist with no bizarre options that dug into our sides or pinched us.

Hold Testing

Climbing gear outlets usually have a clip-in level that you should utilize to do your cling check earlier than making a purchase order. It is a essential check, as our testing has proven that what may really feel good whereas standing and strolling round a retailer is not going to essentially really feel good when hanging.

You may suppose this metric is simply essential for folks doing lengthy multi-pitch routes with hanging belays, however sport climbers are inclined to spend a good period of time hanging of their harnesses, so it is a key consideration for many climbers. We additionally just like the hanging consolation of the sporty Black Diamond Answer.

Sometimes, a climbing harness holds 70% of your weight on the leg loops and solely 30% on the waist. So, whereas producers tout the consolation of the waist belt above all, you need to make certain the legs are simply as snug, if no more so. The AR-385a harness is snug within the waist, and the leg loops sit properly on our thighs and the again of our legs.

Match for Girls’s Particular Fashions

Most producers make a number of ladies’s particular fashions to select from; some also have a ladies’s model of each males’s mannequin of their line-up. Whether or not you want a “ladies’s” mannequin depends upon how your physique is proportioned. The producer has deemed the everyday feminine climber’s type (and so they appear to all have completely different concepts of what that’s). Do not be afraid to attempt on some males’s or unisex variations when procuring – whilst you might choose the extra “girly” styling on the feminine choices, the match ought to come in the beginning when shopping for this important piece of drugs. In the remainder of this text, we’ll cowl how the varied fashions fared in our check metrics and talk about what to contemplate when on the lookout for an inexpensive mannequin.

The Black Diamond Technician additionally has a cushty waist belt, however the leg loops have an excessive amount of webbing and never sufficient assist, and we felt pinched by them. The Black Diamond Momentum performs properly on this metric due to its huge waistband and well-padded leg loops. This is a superb and cheaper possibility for multi-pitch and trad.

Standing Consolation and Mobility

We have given consolation a giant a part of our ranking metric however cut up it between standing and hanging. Why? Whereas the hanging consolation is vital, except you are at all times caught at hanging belays, you will doubtless spend extra time standing round, belaying, or sitting down in your harness on the crag than you can be hanging in it. Since most climbers do not need to take it off after each pitch, we want it to be at all times snug.

The fashions that ranked the very best on this metric had been (not surprisingly) the light-weight and minimalist ones. We just like the Black Diamond Answer greatest for standing consolation. We just like the leg loops on the Answer, that are huge within the again however taper between the legs for minimal bulk in that space. The Blue Ice Cuesta has a ladies’s particular match with a better waist and bigger leg loops, making it go nearly unnoticed whereas carrying all day.

One other prime mannequin for standing consolation was the Arc’teryx AR-385a. It was light-weight and breathable, making it much less noticeable and extra snug all through the day. Some had been straightforward to put on beneath a pack and hike round, and we most popular the Arc’teryx mannequin when climbing or scrambling with our harness.

We do not love the waist belt on the Petzl fashions and discover that the broader waistband digs into us within the fallacious locations if we attempt to put on them on our waists. These girls that put on theirs just a little decrease and round their hips may discover it extra snug.

Options

For this metric, we thought-about what kind of climbing every harness was designed for and the way properly its options work for these disciplines. Some fashions have many options (ice clipper slots, further gear loops, and so on.). In case you are on the lookout for a sport harness and don’t desire or want all of these extras, however you continue to need one thing light-weight with simply accessible gear loops, take into account the characteristic set.

We won’t say that there was ever a time that we felt very restricted by the fabric or construction of the fashions that we had been testing — these aren’t the outdated, cumbersome, and confining climbing harnesses of yesteryear. As a substitute, all fashions have motion and fluidity constructed into their design.

For a traditional-only harness, we thought the Arc’teryx AR-385a had the perfect options, together with huge gear loops, an easy-to-use haul loop, and a waist belt constructed for hanging belays. We might rack it full of drugs and quickdraws and nonetheless had room for our descent sneakers, anchoring gear, and belay setups. For fast-and-light alpine missions the place you will spend little time hanging in your harness, the Blue Ice Addax is certainly the best way to go. It is without doubt one of the lightest harnesses available on the market, tremendous sturdy contemplating its minimalist design, and goes virtually unnoticed in your pack.

These on the lookout for a sport harness will recognize the gear loops and easy design of the Black Diamond Answer. It is light-weight however can nonetheless carry a ton of attracts, not like the Petzl Selena, with its hard-to-reach rear gear loops. The Black Diamond airNET can also be a terrific sport climbing harness, however we’d have favored to see the strain molded gear loops on each the entrance and the again somewhat than the light-weight webbing on the rear two gear loops. We favored the plastic protector discovered on some harnesses, just like the Edelrid Jayne. It prevents put on in a hard-to-see spot and may assist enhance the longevity of your harness.

We’d pay explicit consideration to this metric if we had been on the lookout for a climbing harness that we’d use largely for alpine adventures, say a season within the Excessive Sierras in California. Since a lot of the climbing there typically entails scrambling in between technical pitches with out lots of hanging belays, we might desire a harness that’s light-weight, minimalist, straightforward to maneuver round in, and comfy beneath a pack — just like the Addax or the AR-385a.

Versatility

Versatility is a crucial metric for anybody who likes to do lots of various kinds of climbing, or for somebody new to the game who just isn’t certain what type they like greatest and needs to attempt all of it. It is also a key consideration for these of us who haven’t got a lot cash to spend on gear and would like to personal just one harness and have some more cash to spend on a set of cams or quickdraws.

Essentially the most versatile climbing harnesses we examined had been the all-around fashions, just like the Blue Ice Addax, the Arc’teryx AR-385a, and the Petzl Sitta. These fashions can do every part, and so they do it properly. All of them excel in a mountain setting as they strike a pleasant steadiness between performance and sturdiness. Every of those harnesses additionally options ice-clipper slots, making them viable choices for mountaineering, too.

Notice that the Petzl Luna now not has ice-clipper slots for the reason that new Caritool Evo from Petzl clips across the total waist belt. The Black Diamond Momentum and Blue Ice Cuesta are barely much less versatile, as they don’t have ice clipper slots, however they’re nonetheless properly suited to conventional or sport climbing.

Adjustability

Our remaining ranking metric evaluated how adjustable every mannequin was to accommodate completely different layers of clothes and physique varieties. It is a key consideration in case you plan on climbing in varied climates and in case your proportions aren’t what the producer has deemed “normal” or “common.”

The Arc’teryx AR-385a has adjustable leg loops that accommodate a 4-6 inch distinction in leg circumference. Adjustable legs enable us to put on the identical harness to the gymnasium in leggings in the future and out on an ice climb over lengthy underwear and softshell pants the following.

Unsurprisingly, the fashions with adjustable leg loops scored larger on this metric than these with out, however not all adjustable leg loops are created equal. We would like one thing that also offers padding round most of our thighs at any time when doable. The Black Diamond Technician doesn’t – it has much less leg loop and extra webbing, which makes it uncomfortable to hold in.

Whereas adjustable leg loops add extra weight to a climbing harness — the adjustable Petzl Luna weighs about two ounces greater than the non-adjustable however related Petzl Selena — that distinction is fairly minimal. The Black Diamond Momentum has a trakFIT closure that mixes the performance of an adjustable leg loop with the lighter weight of a hard and fast one. A sliding buckle can tighten or loosen the fastened loop with elastic hooked up beneath it for stretch. Whereas we like this method, it doesn’t supply as a lot adjustability as a buckle system (2-3 inches as an alternative of 4-6).

Conclusion

A harness is a necessity for all roped climbers; the truth that it might probably hold you alive makes the decision-making course of that a lot tougher. It’s essential to discover a mannequin that matches your climbing type and your construct. We hope you should utilize the knowledge on this assessment to make an knowledgeable determination about the kind of harness that is best for you.