Seat Harnesses

[Mark620]

I have recently started doing vertical work and I am currently in possession of 3 seat harnesses.

1. Occun Newton
2. GGG Caver Harness (that came with my GGG RopeWalker System)
3. Forrest Mountaineering - I think it is a climbing harness.

My problem is that the first two seem to ride too low and do not stay in place well. Plus I do not feel comfortable using them as I am kind of top heavy (195# at 5'10" ) and I am afraid that if I let go of the rope, I will loose my vertical orientation and I will become inverted and slip out of the harness.

The 3rd one is a bit too large for me and when I am doing a change over from climb to rappel the carabiner attached to the seat harness interferes with the chest roller making it nearly impossible to get the chest roller off the rope to complete the change over.

Any recommendations.

[pacaver]

I’m 5’6â€

[Ralph E. Powers]

Some "caving" harnesses are designed to sit low so to better accomidate a "Frog" climbing system. Good examples of these would be the Petzl Fractio and Super Avanti caving harnesses. They're designed that when you are "sitting" you'll be upright... your chest strap/harness that goes to the croll portion of the FROG should aid in keeping your body oriented.

It also helps to keep your feet under your center of gravity (located somewhere around your solar plexus)... kinda like when you walk eh?

Hope that helps... at least with explaination...

[Mark620]

I am not worried about going inverted when I ascend...I use a rope walker with a chest roller. I am afraid of inversion when I am rappelling or after doing a change over.

[hank moon]

if you are using a rope walker it doesn't matter so much what type of harness you use. i'd ditch/sell all of your harnesses and get one that works. check out whatever Bruce Smith uses 'cuz his build is (might be?) somewhat similar to yours (trollish) :lol: give onrope1 a call and see what they can tell ya.

[Mark620]

build is somewhat similar to yours (trollish) :lol:

Never heard that saying before...but anyways my waist & hip measurement are the same...hence the problem with the harnesses.

[Dangerjudy]

My ropewalker harness is a Bob n' Bob and it has a high attachment point.

But I think you'd need to try on whatever you're considering to make sure it is fitting the way you want it to.

Of all the suggestions, getting one custom-made by Howie sounds smartest to me.

[cvr602]

I am 5'11 or 6'0 and 185lbs, and I use a GGG caver Harness only. I have never become inverted Rappelling or anything, and I use it for two systems on a regular basis. Texas and Ropewalker, and I use A full size rack.
(oh, and the GGG is a pretty low attachment point also.)

Tony

[Mark620]

getting one custom-made by Howie sounds smartest to me.

Can you PM me(or post) on how to contact Howie as I do not know who he is.

[pacaver]

Here's the link to his website.

http://howiesharnesses.com/catalog/

In the lower left corner is a link that says "Contact Us". If you're on rappel and have the falling backwards sensation, you could probably take a chest harness and attach it to the 'biner which attaches your rappel device to your harness. This could give you the support you need. I'd test that above ground to ensure it works B4 going into a cave.

Hope this helps.

[Mark620]

Thanks for the link,
Thats one I had not found...

[Tim White]

Mark- Bruce of On Rope 1 often suggest that “top heavyâ€