BD Zone vs Solution Sport Harness

Besides $30 and 23g (less than a single Oz biner), why did BD fee the need to come out with yet another sport harness (the Zone?)

A) Who is going to pay an extra $30 to shave 0.8 ounces, and B) Why does BD feel like it needs to have so many products that are nearly identical? It's like they're competing with themselves and attempting to confuse customers some times.

BD Zone Harness

The lightest Black Diamond harness built for routes that require maximum focus and minimum weight, the Zone is the ultimate sport climbing workhorse.

307 g (10.8 oz)

$99.95

http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/climbing-harnesses/zone---men%27s-BD651085_cfg.html#start=1

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Solution Harness

Our purpose-built sport climber’s harness, the Solution features Fusion Comfort Technology and a durable, contoured design for superior comfort during long days putting in redpoint burns and marathon belays

330 g (11 oz)

23g

$70.00

http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/climbing-harnesses/solution---men%27s-BD651082_cfg.html#start=1

Because BD harnesses still suck and they must flood the market to outcompete. If you're a giant company and people like Petzl and Edelrid make fantastic products why not spend resources to make sure that stores occupy more of their floor space for your product. Honestly, if you are a small shop and get a good deal on BD, would you risk not getting the dealer volume pricing break by carrying BD hardware and another company's harnesses? Don't get me wrong, I love most of BD stuff but it is a business decision. I am just not a fan of their harnesses, this tactic of occupying floor space just makes me go online to find my euro styles harnesses instead of supporting local shops. 

Critical Words:

IMO the fact that the zone still has those tiny gear loops, an unrated haul loop, and less than 4 ice clipper slots is testament to the fact that BD needs to get its head straight.

Im with you: this could have easily been the most versatile harness on the market at the same Weight as the solution. Instead it's another harness that's designed to only do some of what it could do, hence requiring people to buy extra shit.

Not even our finest gear producers are immune to the stupidity required to play part in the construction of mountains made of garbage.

Of course BD can't take all the blame. Someone's gotta sell plastic to all the schmucks that are addicted to the quest for a harness/doodad that will make them a better climber.

Its a small step up up from the solution, which I wouldn't be surprised to see disappear. The coolest harnesses that exist are coming out in Europe and aren't even sold in the US.... truly some nice and massively versatile harnesses.

DMM just came out with a new harness that I recommend looking into. Too lazy to find a link and post it.... but it's 13oz (not too bad...) with massive racking space, a rated haul loop, 4 clipper slots, and a waist belt design that keeps the gear loops perfectly centered around the waist no matter how it fits. Apparently it's pretty darn comfy too.

GoatSlayer wrote:

IMO the fact that the zone still has those tiny gear loops, an unrated haul loop, and less than 4 ice clipper slots is testament to the fact that BD needs to get its head straight.

Im with you: this could have easily been the most versatile harness on the market at the same Weight as the solution. Instead it's another harness that's designed to only do some of what it could do, hence requiring people to buy extra shit.

I think you may have read more into what my opinion is than is there - as far as a "sport climbing" harness goes, I don't think anyone wants ice clipper slots or cares that much about tiny gear loops. For anything hard, you're pre-hanging the draws anyway, and most climbers will be going up with at most one or two draws hanging off of them.

What I don't understand is having almost two identical products, and the description you give your customers for both sound exactly the same. It's as if they don't have anyone looking over their product line from the mind of a customer and going "yeah, I have no idea why I'd pick between these two products for this purpose."

Do you want "the ultimate sport climbing workhorse", or "Our purpose-built sport climber’s harness"?

All very good questions.
I am just curious - why are you focusing on BD? The Dead Bird seems to be the record holder where prices are concerned - Arcteryx SL-340 weighs in at 340g and sells for 119 USD. And, it does not fit me :)

Sean H wrote:

 Why does BD feel like it needs to have so many products that are nearly identical? It's like they're competing with themselves and attempting to confuse customers some times.

You just described BD's entire apparel line, at least up until this year. Pretty sure they had 7 different fleece models (and most in a pullover, jacket, AND hoody) at one point. It was like they honestly went to polartec, asked how many fabrics they manufacture, then made a production run of every fleece imaginable. 

Through other industry connections I get BD products at cost. I do not climb in a BD harness, they all kill my hips at hanging belays. I buck up and pay retail for dead bird, comfy, pack small, and big front gear loops are great for trad. A rated haul loop has never been a concern for me.

I think when the solution came out they intended it to be their mid range product marketed to the masses (read as most of the world) they did this to have the momentum as their entry level and the chaos and ozone as their "premium" line. This plan all fell apart when it made it to market and people realized that the solution was actually a very comfy and dead bird like harness (possibly more comfortable than their flagship models) so they are responding to the good reviews and good sales by starting to replace their flagship line with the split webbing structure. Enter the zone harness, IMO made by their athletes who keep bringing sport climbing harnesses into the alpine (i keep seeing it in promo footage), practically it's the equivalent to petzl's SITTA harness they are just marketing it all wrong.

Next season i expect to see a clone of the solution (more padding maybe) replace the chaos as their flagship trad harness, BD have really dropped the ball with predicting how well the market took the new tech, I expect the solution will be discontinued eventually and be replaced by something advertised as a allrounder.