New climbing belt

[kitestrings]

I broke down and bought a new belt.  The one I'd been using I had bought some 35 years ago.  It had served me well, but I'm sure by any measure today, it should have been retired.  And, for several years I've resisted purely due to cost.  This year I was able to apply a Wellness Program fitness stipend against a portion of it, so that closed the gap enough for me.


It's very comfortable and has much better support for my lower back.  My old belt had no upper harness section.  This one has many more options for positioning and fall protection attachment.  My one critique is that it is heavy - with lanyards probably ~12# I'd guess.

The positioning lanyard is my favorite addition.  It's made by an Italian company called Kong.  There are others, but this one is very smooth and allows easy adjustments with one hand.  I'm probably going to go back to 'biners on the fall lanyards.  The rebar-hooks are nice on the seat rings, but kind of clunky on the lanyards for my liking.

[MagnetJuice]

Nice, looks really strong KS. That should keep the toothless b@&$rd away for a long time! 

Ed

[SparWeb]

I've tried on some nice Petzl tower-climbing harnesses like that one.  They didn't have the nifty seat, though.

Two fall-arrest lanyards?

[kitestrings]

Two fall-arrest lanyards?

Yes.  The norm seems to be to use a twin-leg fall-arrest lanyard with a single snap-hook to the harness; normally the dorsal ring.  We don't have any sort of cable climb system, nor have used rope grabs or any of the newer SRLs.  I've always just had two, (non-absorbing) single-leg lanyards plus a pair of rebar hooks on my seat-sling.  I'd love to learn more, up-to-date technique(s), but what I was taught was to alternate tie-ins so that your always clipped in while ascending/descending, then once you're stopped, you maintain two points - positioning and fall arrest.


I opted for two, single-leg lanyards because there are times when I find the front D-ring is preferred, and if you unclip from the harness you've lost two (potential tie-points).  It can also be difficult to clip in and out of the dorsal D-ring on the tower.

I looked at some of the Petzl harnesses..and several others.  They used non-metal rings to reduce weight and reportedly are among the most comfortable. The one thing I didn't like (aside from the rings) is that on the closest comparable they have tear-away stitching in the harness.  So, if you fall and it gets deployed your ($$) belt has just become a wall ornament.  I have two aluminum rebar hooks made buy Petzl; love those.  They are the only manufactuturer where you can open a link to connect or remove them.

[Darren73]

the reason the twin lanyards go to one D ring on the harness is the shock absorbing section is in the common part, using 2 separate ones is not recommended as the force exerted on the body from a fall would be too high due to having 2 shock arresting units risking injury.

[kitestrings]

Hi D,

Yes, I follow that logic, although falling the length of my lanyard is always preferred over falling

The issue that I have with it is this:

I normally climb using the sternal D-ring to get where I'm going.  Once situated I use my positioning lanyard (or re-bar hooks where possible/preferred), but generally find the front connection to be a nuisance.  Ideally, I'd like to move it to the dorsal ring once I'm in positioned, unless I'm bridging out for some reason, but changing the connection point on the tower is awkward and at least momentarily leaves you with only one POA.

Is there another way around this that you've seen or used?  ~ks

[Sir Veyor]

I've seen a lot of the guys I work with have the double lanyard on the ring at the top of the back. Then for working, they have a second lanyard or adjustable ropes.

They'll tie from each hip ring with a single one trapping the vertical bit between them and the lanyard.

Or, using another short lanyard, attach to another POA using the front/chest ring.

They can hang out that way for hours sometimes, depending on our task.