Review of the Coffee Creek Arbee Chest Harness

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Review of the Coffee Creek Arbee Chest Harness

Postby PaulSiegel86 » Mar 25, 2012 3:10 pm

I have never quite been satisfied with my Frog rig. I was in the middle of switching over to a Mitchell System, I ran across Coffee Creek Gear, out of Denton, MT. Rick, owns and sews, you may have seen his Friday Projects in the equipment forum. What initially intrigued me about the Arbee was the greater support that it would give to the upper body; additionally, I felt that it could be easily and quickly converted to work with chest rollers. I contacted Rick about the possibility of modifying it to that end and he was very accommodating. I will be reviewing that usage in another review. But, for the purpose of this review I will be looking at it from a Frogger's perspective.

I am barrel chested and top heavy. I enjoy lifting weights and that has given me a physique that is not conductive to frogging. When hanging from my croll, I am almost horizontal. The PMI H-harness I was using didn't do much to support me even at it's tightest setting. I used the Arbee in its' frog version in the Warm -Up Pit in Ellison's Cave and throughout the cave that day(we didn't drop Fantastic that day), I've also used it at various permutations at various pits throughout TAG. This is not an exhaustive, multi-month review, but I feel that it was enough to give me an impression of it's abilities. I will update this review after I have more experience with it.

In cave, I didn't really notice it. It didn't catch on anything and hugged my closely. There was no chafing, but that could have been my cave suit. However, if I were wearing it over a t-shirt I don't believe it would be a problem.

On rope, it did very well. I worried initially that having that a strap around my chest would lead to shortness of breath, there was nothing of the sort. I felt more supported in the upper body, and I arrived at the top significantly less tired. My core was not as wore out as it has been in the past when doing pits of the same length. I think this stems from the greater support of the upper body. It may have encouraged a change in my rest and drive positions. It was not a great enough change to prevent me from switching to a Mitchell. I do think that in a cave where a Frog Rig would be better suited, I will wear it.

One of the things I didn't like was the fiddleness of the whole apparatus. It took some doing to get it set at first. Probably about 30 minutes of fitting and jiggering around with straps. Another aspect of the fiddleness is getting on rope. It takes pulling 1" webbing through a few buckles to get it finally set-up and ready to go. However, these complaints are relatively minor.

Overall, for those of you dealing with Big Guy Frog Syndrome (BGFS) and committed to sticking with a Frog, I would recommend looking into the Arbee or something similar.

I bought and paid for this piece of gear. I have no business interest in Coffee Creek Gear.
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Re: Review of the Coffee Creek Arbee Chest Harness

Postby Cody JW » Mar 25, 2012 8:10 pm

I would love to see a photo of this. I too am barrel chested and love to frog but have the same " horizontal " issues as you. The tipping back for me does not bother me as much on climb because my feet are in the stirrups and that help keep me upright but I have mentioned the problem on rappel in other threads. I love the torse because it is compact. Compact and light weight is why I prefer frog over ropewalker in most except the big drops.
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Re: Review of the Coffee Creek Arbee Chest Harness

Postby Lava » Mar 27, 2012 10:51 pm

After seeing a lot of people using them in Croatia, I picked up one of these:

Image

http://www.starlessriver.com/shop/harne ... st_harness

I haven't had a chance to give it a proper workout yet, only a few minor drops, but so far it blows away my old webbing-loop-with-a-twist chest harness.
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Re: Review of the Coffee Creek Arbee Chest Harness

Postby Cody JW » Mar 28, 2012 9:26 am

I have stated before on other threads that the most important thing to any chest harness ( frog or rope walker) is to have the type of buckle that allows you one handed adjustment to tighten or loosen the harness when on rope. A harness may feel tight when putting it on , but as soon as you get on rope and get some resistance on it the harness can end up being several inches from your torso and hamper the efficiency of the system. I am barrel chested like Paul and maybe this is more of an issue for someone like me. Not sure what kind of buckle the Coffee Creek has or the one Lava posted. If they do they both may be a nice option. The Torse is very compact and will allow adjustment when on rope with one hand. I have a custom harness made locally for my rope walker that allows the same type of one handed adjustment.
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Re: Review of the Coffee Creek Arbee Chest Harness

Postby PaulSiegel86 » Mar 28, 2012 3:40 pm

Jeff,

This is probably a relevant video for you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8-fzmiAFaE&feature=player_embedded. Like I said: the buckle is fiddly; but, once it is set-it is set .I have never felt the need to adjust it on rope, once it was tightened down.

I'll try and get some pictures of it in use. Although I'm having a hard time convincing myself to come back from the Mitchell.

Paul
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Re: Review of the Coffee Creek Arbee Chest Harness

Postby Cody JW » Mar 28, 2012 4:01 pm

It appears it takes some doing to attach it if you are used to a Torse or similar. It also appears bulky compared to the Torse or similar.Maybe it does support your upper body better as the Torse is not designed to support the upper body.It is just made to hold the croll at the proper angle and advance the croll up the rope as your torso moves up. I suspect a frog chest harnesses will not support your back like a rope walker harness will . I say that because if you lean back too far on a frog harness it will put the croll at an undesirable angle and it may not feed up the rope correctly, causing you to self start more than necessary . This is just an assumption on my part . With the Torse you can just grab the webbing that comes out of the buckle and pull with one hand when on rope to get the desired fit. I use the frog on short stuff to take advantage of the compactness of the system, especially on multi drops. When climbing if I put a little downward pressure on the foot loops it will keep me from tipping back . I have a 48" chest so I suspect I have the same issue as you. For me the tipping back issue is more of an issue on rappel. Also I notice if I climb against a wall like you do near the top of most pits you can put your toes on the wall and that will keep you from tipping back. When frogging I prefer to be close to the wall if possible for that reason.
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