Thoughts on Metolius Harnesses

I am in need of a new harness and have always been curious about Metolius. I would fit into a small or medium and I am considering the all around or deluxe for sport and trad.

Any thoughts on fit and finish, comfort, longevity, or overall satisfaction would be great!

My experience is that they run small in size. Order the next size up. Good harnesses.

I have the safe tech. I'm a 30" pant size and I have the small which is 27-30". I can cinch it tight to get the padding almost touching, which is good. A size larger would be way too big.

It's super comfy and I got it for the adjustable rise. Most harnesses don't have an adjustable rise so for someone with a super short or long rise these are great. Super durable with only aesthetic issues after a few years. My only gripe is the semi-circular gear loops aren't too big and it makes a loaded gear loops collapse on themselves making it tough to get gear out efficiently. Subjectively, this is a big deal to me. If not for this one issue and Metolius not seeing the future of big, shaped loops, I'd be very happy to buy a Metolius harness again. 

I really like my safetech harness. It’s holding up well. Initially it seemed a bit bulky to me compared to the Petzl harnesses I’ve been in the habit of getting, but I’ve gotten used to it and it is quite comfortable. 

Jake woo wrote:

I have the safe tech. I'm a 30" pant size and I have the small which is 27-30". I can cinch it tight to get the padding almost touching, which is good. A size larger would be way too big.

It's super comfy and I got it for the adjustable rise. Most harnesses don't have an adjustable rise so for someone with a super short or long rise these are great. Super durable with only aesthetic issues after a few years. My only gripe is the semi-circular gear loops aren't too big and it makes a loaded gear loops collapse on themselves making it tough to get gear out efficiently. Subjectively, this is a big deal to me. If not for this one issue and Metolius not seeing the future of big, shaped loops, I'd be very happy to buy a Metolius harness again. 

How much gear do you usually carry? When I sport climb i have 12 draws, a spare locker and non-locker, and maybe a sling. When i trad climb i am usually using a single rack with 12-14 draws and anchor material. Do you think that amount would collapse on the gear loops?

safe tech comp harness is lightweight, comfy to hang in, durable, and easily fits a double rack with slings and multi pitch stuff. favorite harness I’ve ever had

Thomas Worsham wrote:

How much gear do you usually carry? When I sport climb i have 12 draws, a spare locker and non-locker, and maybe a sling. When i trad climb i am usually using a single rack with 12-14 draws and anchor material. Do you think that amount would collapse on the gear loops?

I often climb w a double rack and plenty of anchor\rescue\etc gear. It can all fit in there ok. And I mis-termed the loops collapsing. The loops are sturdy and fine. The issue is the gear all collapses on top of itself when the loops are loaded. Until you've dispensed some of the rack it can be difficult to quickly and efficiently unclip the piece you want. This is an issue that doesn't need to exist, in my opinion, with bigger, flatter gear loops. 

I have had a gear loop break on another harness. By incredible good fortune, I was six feet off the ground when the half a dozen cams went flying. Immediately bought a Safe Tech harness with ultra strong gear loops.

After buying it, I discovered what a fantastic feature the adjustable rise is. You can fine tune the angle and pressure of the harness on your waist versus your legs. This was 20 years ago and I have only used these harnesses since then. 

Jake woo wrote:

I often climb w a double rack and plenty of anchor\rescue\etc gear. It can all fit in there ok. And I mis-termed the loops collapsing. The loops are sturdy and fine. The issue is the gear all collapses on top of itself when the loops are loaded. Until you've dispensed some of the rack it can be difficult to quickly and efficiently unclip the piece you want. This is an issue that doesn't need to exist, in my opinion, with bigger, flatter gear loops. 

That's good to know. I usually try to climb with a single rack but I might have to start racking slings over my shoulders to avoid that problem. I wonder if you could make your own gear loops and sew them on...

As acrophobe mentioned, Metolius harnesses are built with full strength gear loops. You could take a whipper on it and it would hold you;however uncomfortable that would be. So I wouldn't want to sew my own gear loops and not use their superior-in-strength ones. I just wish they made plastic overmolds for their loops like Arc'teryx and Mammut do. Plus, I don't want to sew gear loops nor do I think I can do a better job myself. 

I just switched from a misty mountain caddy to a safetech trad and I love it. Comfy, holds gear well. My waist is 30, I got a medium, wish I got a small. 

Tito Alvidrez wrote:

I just switched from a misty mountain caddy to a safetech trad and I love it. Comfy, holds gear well. My waist is 30, I got a medium, wish I got a small. 

I am glad I got a small then! my current Petzl harness is a medium and it just doesn't fit right any more. I had to hang in it for about 20 minutes on Sunday and my lower back still hurts.

Jake woo wrote:

As acrophobe mentioned, Metolius harnesses are built with full strength gear loops. You could take a whipper on it and it would hold you;however uncomfortable that would be. So I wouldn't want to sew my own gear loops and not use their superior-in-strength ones. I just wish they made plastic overmolds for their loops like Arc'teryx and Mammut do. Plus, I don't want to sew gear loops nor do I think I can do a better job myself. 

I was thinking I could steal the front gear loops and 5th gear loop off my current Petzl harness and find a way to tack them on. Probably not worth it since I dont own a sewing machine.

If you want to add a 5th loop in the rear, you can tie a piece of 2 or 3mm cord between the rear loops to bridge the gap. This worked pretty well for me. Some people even add a piece of plastic tubing over the cord to mimic the other gear loops.

That was my plan. I don't think I can go back to only 4 gear loops.