Harness recommendations

Looking to upgrade soon and I would like to know what is the most comfortable harness you have used and would recommend? Also if there are any other features you love, that would be really helpful!

Thanks!

My two favorites are Arc’teryx (the model  is not important, bc it is no longer longer available, S-something) and Edelrid Solaris. They are very different. They both fit me exceptionally well.

But it doesn’t mean that they would be the best for you. It all comes down to fit. Try what you see around you, there is no substitute for trying the harness on, snd no end to disappointment, if you follow random online recommendations.

Any good climbing shop will have a place for you to hang in, to make sure that the fit is right, and comfortable. Make sure you test the harness by hanging in it.

beyond that... a best harness for what? Sport? Trad? Ice? There is a reason why there are so many offerings out there. 

Thanks for your response! I definitely intend to try out harnesses before purchasing, but just looking to see what other people may have in their regular rotation so I can get other ideas of harnesses to consider. Further, any other particular details they love about their favorite harnesses to see if that would resonate with me. 

I mostly climb sport & trad, just looking for a comfortable harness for those multi-pitch days and hanging belays..

Dug up this old post because I'm also searching for a comfortable harness, mostly for falling off single pitch sport or hanging around easy multi-pitch routes. I used to think the fit is the most important, but having used various harnesses from BD, Arc'T, Petzl, CAMP, Mammut, they all fit about the same. But doing hanging belays or hangdogging your warmups in my current Mammut harness and my god, my back starts to hurt after a while. The waist belt on the Mammut is padded, but it's not very wide and I think doesn't spread out the load as much. I think a thin but wide waist belt may work better than a thick but narrow waist belt. I see those big wall harnesses have really wide waist for a good reason, but seems overkill for my purpose. Any other harnesses out there with wide waist belt?

Edit: AND I didn't realize that this is in the women's forum from the search function... oh well, any recommendations is still appreciated.

Misty Mountain Cadillac is my go to for comfort. They’ll customize as well so you can get exactly what you need. Worth the $$

Kate Michelle wrote:

Misty Mountain Cadillac is my go to for comfort. They’ll customize as well so you can get exactly what you need. Worth the $$

I've heard a lot of good things about Misty Mountain Cadillac, but with 6 gear loops and enough padding for a highball boulder problem, it seems pretty overkill for a sporto like myself. Is there something like a Toyota Camry? More comfortable than a Kia Forte but not as luxurious as the Cadillac. 

aikibujin wrote:

I've heard a lot of good things about Misty Mountain Cadillac, but with 6 gear loops and enough padding for a highball boulder problem, it seems pretty overkill for a sporto like myself. Is there something like a Toyota Camry? More comfortable than a Kia Forte but not as luxurious as the Cadillac. 

Misty does have some more sleek harnesses as well if Caddy plush isn’t your style, or if you don’t need to haul all but the kitchen sink like us crusty traddies. 

Honestly, the BD Solution is hard to beat for sport. If it had bigger gear loops, it wouldn't be half bad for trad either.

aikibujin wrote:

I've heard a lot of good things about Misty Mountain Cadillac, but with 6 gear loops and enough padding for a highball boulder problem, it seems pretty overkill for a sporto like myself. Is there something like a Toyota Camry? More comfortable than a Kia Forte but not as luxurious as the Cadillac. 

The Turbo and Sonic are great for sport and trad climbing. The Bolt is a great rig for sport climbing. 

After looking around for a while, I settled on the Beal Ellipse XT harness. The waist belt is 4 inches at the widest, so it's comfortable to hang in. Besides the comfort though, I also love the fact that it's got two waist belt buckles so I can position the gear loops evenly on both sides. The gear loops are molded which is another plus. About the only additional feature I want would be a 5th gear loop to carry extra stuff on multi-pitch. Besides the lack of a 5th gear loop which is not a deal breaker, this is the most comfortable harness I've used and hits all the right spot for me, and I don't even need to get a second mortgage to buy it. I definitely would recommend it to others!

The edelrid Solaris is so comfy. I would willingly give a hanging belay in my Solaris.

Love my Arcteryx harness. Not a lot of padding but nice wide straps so I still find it very comfy for multi-pitch. I really like that the leg straps are buckle adjustable, I find that more comfortable than non-adjustable.

I use a fixed loop Arcteryx harness as my go-to travel harness. It’s easy to pack and super lightweight you hardly notice it on you. I have the AR version also but have no need to ever adjust the straps, except when layering for ice maybe, which isn’t very often. Though, I find my Arcteryx harness as not the most comfortable on long hangs.  I have different versions of the Petzl Lunas as well which I found more supportive on hanging belays due to the heavier padding.  For the price, I also find the Lunas a great value.

I got a Misty Mountain Cadillac F this year and honestly it's the best harness I've ever worn. It's super comfortable, and the gear loops make racking a breeze. It's the first harness I've used where I feel comfortable carrying my entire trad rack on my harness instead of on a gear sling.

I recently got a Petzl Sama. This is the best harness I've had in my 34 years. I believe the women's equivalent is the Selena.

LL2 wrote:

I recently got a Petzl Sama. This is the best harness I've had in my 34 years. I believe the women's equivalent is the Selena.

What other harnesses have you used in the past to compare to? (I'm sure a bunch in 34 years, but what was your favorite before this?) I've heard good things about the Sama/Selena. It's even cheaper than the ever-present Black Diamond Solution and has way more space for racking.