Consumer Reports

Looking for the most comfortable harness you can find, regardless of whether you are belaying your buddy for hours on his project, hanging and repeatedly falling as you suss out the crux moves, or simply hanging out at the base of the crag day after day? Look no further than the Black Diamond Solution. It features a thin and lightly padded waist belt that is far wider than most and mimics this design for the leg loops as well. Featuring Fusion Comfort Construction, it employs three very thin strips of webbing spread out through the waist belt and leg loops to help diffuse the pressure against the back, hips, and hamstrings. The result is the most comfortable harness we have ever worn, and we love that it also comes at a very reasonable price.
Worth mentioning, however, is the notable downside that its feature set &#40;minimal small gear loops, no haul loop, fixed width leg loops&#41;, precludes it from extensive use on larger climbing objectives. While there is room on its gear loops for a light rack if you happen to find yourself out for a day of trad cragging, it would not be the harness of choice for long free or alpine routes. If you love the Solution, but do want the versatility for adventuring, be sure to check out the Black Diamond Solution Guide. But if your climbing days are primarily spent clipping bolts or hitting the gym, we don't feel there is any better harness you could buy.

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The Black Diamond Solution has everything we want in a sport climbing harness. The leg loops and waist belt are super comfortable, both while climbing, walking around the crag, or belaying your partner on their project. The molded gear loops are easy to clip, and while they won't hold enough gear for most trad climbing, they hold plenty of quickdraws and associated belay and rappelling gear for multi-pitch sport climbing. The Solution also makes a great gym harness.
If we are going trad, alpine, ice, or mixed climbing, we reach for a different harness. This BD Solution is great for sport climbing but less versatile since it's not great for other styles of climbing. Also, its features make life at the crag easy, but they add on the ounces, as this is one of the heavier sport-climbing specific harnesses out there. But if hanging and climbing comfort is most important to you for your sport climbing addiction, this is the best harness you can buy.
Read more: Black Diamond Solution review

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After putting all of the sit harnesses head to head, it's obvious the Mammut Ophir crushes the competition. Across the board, it does its job surprisingly well. We've put it through the paces on everything from overhanging gym routes to Joshua Tree slots, following multi-pitch adventure routes, and top-roping with friends. The Ophir is loaded with great features like wear indicators in the belay loop that add safety and tell the climber when it's time to retire, dual waist adjustment buckles that help keep the gear loops square on the hips, and breathable panels that help keep air flowing. All of these add extra value to an already great option.
The Ophir has a lot going for it. Honestly, it's hard to find much wrong. Sure, we could say it's not the lightest option in the test or that the huge gear loops arent the biggest, but all that seems a bit nit-picky unless those are your main reasons to buy a harness. All in all, the Ophir is one of the best all-around harnesses that should be considered by anyone looking for a kids' sit harness.

After putting all of the sit harnesses head to head, it's obvious the Mammut Ophir crushes the competition. Across the board, it does its job surprisingly well. We've put it through the paces on everything from overhanging gym routes to Joshua Tree slots, following multi-pitch adventure routes, and top-roping with friends. The Ophir is loaded with great features like wear indicators in the belay loop that add safety and tell the climber when it's time to retire, dual waist adjustment buckles that help keep the gear loops square on the hips, and breathable panels that help keep air flowing. All of these add extra value to an already great option.
The Ophir has a lot going for it. Honestly, it's hard to find much wrong. Sure, we could say it's not the lightest option in the test or that the huge gear loops arent the biggest, but all that seems a bit nit-picky unless those are your main reasons to buy a harness. All in all, the Ophir is one of the best all-around harnesses that should be considered by anyone looking for a kids' sit harness.
Read more: Mammut Ophir - Kids review

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REVIEW: Mammut Ophir Harness

The Petzl Ouistiti stands out for its excellent performance. It's the perfect harness to help kids transition towards a sit harness due to its sit harness style waist belt and lower positioned tie-in point. Because of that, lowering will feel a little more like the way a sit harness feels. Padded panels all around help to give a comfortable, yet supportive fit for both hanging and off the wall, and fully functional gear loops &#40;x2&#41; provide a place to clip gear, whether it's a belay device, rack of draws, or Jack, the stuffed dog. We also found this to be one of the most secure harnesses tested. The double-backed buckles are located on the upper back of the child making sure idle, fiddly hands don't mess with them.
This harness is one of the higher-tech full-body harnesses available, but due to the limitations in its size range, it is mainly used for young kids. Slightly older kids who may be top-heavy and benefit from a full-body harness may not fit and would have to go with another option. However, other than limited size range, this harness does a great job of keeping little kids safe and comfortable for a good day on the wall.  

The Petzl Ouistiti stands out for its excellent performance. It's the perfect harness to help kids transition towards a sit harness due to its sit harness style waist belt and lower positioned tie-in point. Because of that, lowering will feel a little more like the way a sit harness feels. Padded panels all around help to give a comfortable, yet supportive fit for both hanging and off the wall, and fully functional gear loops &#40;x2&#41; provide a place to clip gear, whether it's a belay device, rack of draws, or Jack, the stuffed dog. We also found this to be one of the most secure harnesses tested. The double-backed buckles are located on the upper back of the child making sure idle, fiddly hands don't mess with them.
This harness is one of the higher-tech full-body harnesses available, but due to the limitations in its size range, it is mainly used for young kids. Slightly older kids who may be top-heavy and benefit from a full-body harness may not fit and would have to go with another option. However, other than limited size range, this harness does a great job of keeping little kids safe and comfortable for a good day on the wall.  
Read more: Petzl Ouistiti - Kids review

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REVIEW: Petzl OUISTITI Kid's Harness & PICCHU Helmet

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It's hard to beat the price of the Trango Junior. Not only is it the cheapest full-body option in our group, but it also offers a lot of security and comfort for young climbers. This basic harness has fully adjustable shoulder straps and leg loops that allow it to fit kids of all sizes from 25 lbs up to 8o lbs. Once the harness is set up, kids can easily slip in and out, and the buckles offer quite a bit of adjustment range to accommodate growing climbers or a wide range of kids.
The Junior is the only harness in our test that still uses the old "double back" style non-sliding buckles. With 20+ years of sliding buckle use behind us, the Junior shows how dated it is. While the design is old-school, the function is great, and comfort is pretty decent. We would recommend this harness to the casual climber not looking for the highest-end gear, but rather one looking for a basic functional harness. This wouldn't be our go-to choice for older kids, but for new young climbers, a camp fleet, or gym rentals, this harness would work really well and for a great price.

It's hard to beat the price of the Trango Junior. Not only is it the cheapest full-body option in our group, but it also offers a lot of security and comfort for young climbers. This basic harness has fully adjustable shoulder straps and leg loops that allow it to fit kids of all sizes from 25 lbs up to 8o lbs. Once the harness is set up, kids can easily slip in and out, and the buckles offer quite a bit of adjustment range to accommodate growing climbers or a wide range of kids.
The Junior is the only harness in our test that still uses the old "double back" style non-sliding buckles. With 20+ years of sliding buckle use behind us, the Junior shows how dated it is. While the design is old-school, the function is great, and comfort is pretty decent. We would recommend this harness to the casual climber not looking for the highest-end gear, but rather one looking for a basic functional harness. This wouldn't be our go-to choice for older kids, but for new young climbers, a camp fleet, or gym rentals, this harness would work really well and for a great price.
Read more: Trango Junior - Kids review

The Petzl Sama is a great choice for pretty much any kind of rock climbing. While there are other, less expensive harnesses available, the performance they offer is nowhere near that of the super comfortable Sama, and it's still a bit cheaper than most other alternatives, ensuring it's a great value. Whether one is hanging out that the base of a crag, or hanging at belays many pitches off the ground, this is one comfortable harness. We also love how the elastic fixed leg loops allow for greatly increased mobility without any noticeable constrictions of movement. Although it's designed primarily for sport climbing, we also think it's a solid choice for trad climbing because of the wide and rigid front gear loops, combined with large and easy to access rear gear loops that give one plenty of room for storing all of the long route necessities. 
Nothing is ever truly perfect, however, and the Sama still comes with a couple of tiny flaws. In some instances, we found the Black Diamond Solution to be a hair more comfortable. The Sama also weighs a couple of ounces more than the lightest harnesses that we tested, and we would really love it if it included a larger, but still low profile, fifth gear loop in the back. It also isn't a great choice for alpine and ice climbing due to a lack of ice clipper slots. Whether you prefer plugging cams, clipping bolts, or hanging at the gym, and especially if you prefer all of the above at an affordable price, the Sama will not disappoint.

The Petzl Sama is a great choice for pretty much any kind of rock climbing. While there are other, less expensive harnesses available, the performance they offer is nowhere near that of the super comfortable Sama, and it's still a bit cheaper than most other alternatives. Whether hanging out at the base of a crag or hanging at belays many pitches off the ground, this is one comfortable harness. We also love how the elastic fixed leg loops allow for greatly increased mobility without any noticeable constrictions of movement. Although it's designed primarily for sport climbing, it's also a solid choice for trad climbing, thanks to the wide, rigid front gear loops and large, easy-to-access rear gear loops, which give you plenty of room for storing all of the long route necessities. 
Nothing is ever truly perfect, however, and the Sama still comes with a few small flaws. We would really love it if it included a larger, but still low profile, fifth gear loop in the back. It also isn't a great choice for alpine and ice climbing due to a lack of ice clipper slots. But if you prefer plugging cams, clipping bolts, or hanging at the gym, and especially if you prefer all of the above at an affordable price, the Sama will not disappoint.
Read more: Petzl Sama review

Petzl Sama Harness | Blister

Petzl Sama Review | Gear Institute

Climbing is a game where every ounce matters, which is why you should seriously consider investing in the Petzl Sitta. We have seen this harness at the crags for years and worn by professional climbers of all varieties, but we've always speculated that a harness so small and dainty couldn't possibly be comfortable for actually climbing in. Turns out we were wrong. When walking or hanging out, it's so light and form-fitting as to be virtually unnoticeable, making it an excellent choice for alpine climbing, mountaineering, or skimo, where glacier travel and staying roped up while walking is necessary. That said, it has just as much gear storage capacity as the Petzl Sama, as well as ice clipper slots, ensuring that you can find plenty of room for a large rack or even ice tools for alpine missions.
The glaring downside to this harness is its price tag. However, we still think it presents a good value, as it can be used literally any day you go climbing, no matter what type or style it is, and is a better value as a mountaineering or alpine climbing harness. We won't argue that this is a harness suitable for everyone, but if you care about weight and love all styles of climbing, the Sitta is one to consider.
Read more: Petzl Sitta review

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