paul wrote:As a matter of interest, the current issue of the British caving magazine, Descent has an article about SRT efficiency with respect to body shape. I'm not sure how easy it is to obtain the magazine in the US though.
The same article is available in Nylon Highway 53, along with two follow-up articles.
http://www.caves.org/section/vertical/nh/pdfs/nh53.pdf Entire issue
http://www.caves.org/section/vertical/n ... asting.pdf
http://www.caves.org/section/vertical/n ... gPart2.pdf
http://www.caves.org/section/vertical/n ... rtMtoF.pdf
Going back to the original question: Any sit-stand climbing system has some inefficiency. As an example, I once watched a girl climbing in a contest with a sit-stand system. I watched where her head was in relation to her knots. She stood up 18 inches and then sat down 9 inches on each step. She raised her center of gravity, in total, twice the distance of the climb. The distance you lose each time you sit down depends where on your thighs the leg loops are. Climbing harnesses all seem to have the loops low,making them particularly inefficient. I can't say for sure because I have never used a climbing harness. A tight butt strap minimizes the distance lost when you sit down. Most caving harnesses look to be in between.