Harness passes one sizing check but fails another - too big or not?

Hi, (obvious) newbie here, I'd really appreciate some advice please. I bought my first climbing harness a few months ago with the help of a shop assistant, and I had no doubts about it fitting at the time. 

Lately I have to tighten it as far as it can go, with the padding overlapping a little. I've heard two different ways to check if it's too big:

A) See if you can pull it down over your hips - I can't pull it down over my hips, so that's fine

B) Make a fist and see if you can slide it through the waistband - I can do this, so that's not fine?

What would you do based on this? I'm happy it won't come down over my hips when I pull on it, but I'm worried about the space that means I can fit a fist through it and I guess potentially come out of it on a weird fall?

In case it makes a difference, I'm a woman, but it is a woman's harness so I'd expect it would account for that, so I'm a little confused how it can pass one safety test but fail another. 

If you can't pull it over your hips id say it's good - you may have a narrow waist compared to your hips which lets you put your hand through, (and maybe small hands) but from a safety perspective if it can't slide over your hips, you can't fall out of it upside down.

It may be uncomfortable to hang in if it's too big around your waist, but that's a different question. Climb on, as they say... 

I find the fist test to be weird and unclear, the human body is soft and the harness would need to be incredibly tight to not be able to get a fist through. So yeah, you're fine. 

 Make a fist and see if you can slide it through the waistband - I can do this, so that's not fine?

This is not a good test— as a guy with fairly large hands, getting my fist through a harness (at least without contorting my torso) would absolutely mean it’s too big, but a woman with small hands will have a much smaller fist circumference, even proportionate to waist/hip measurements.

I have to tighten it as far as it can go, with the padding overlapping a little

Yes, it’s too large, although if it can’t slide over your hips it’s less of a safety issue and more of a comfort issue (it might not distribute fall forces as well as a properly sized harness, but that’s more along the lines of bruising than serious injury). 

The fist advice makes no sense. We all can suck in a stomach enough to make the fist slide through. But in normal use you are probably not sucking it in. If the harness feels comfortable, and you can’t pull it over the hips, it’s fine.

The other thing to double-check is the rise. If the rise is fine, then u wouldn’t worry about the need to cinch the harness belt all the way  

My harness waist belt padding overlaps a little, too. It’s not a problem. They are meant to fit a range of waist sizes, someone has to be near the end of the range.  you can always try one size down, just to check… but, in my case, at least, one size down is too tight around the legs, and the rise is too short.

you’ll likely find that you are in-between sizes, in some models you might be S, and in another harness model you might be XS, etc.  it’s all good.

And having that extra inch of leeway is good, if you are sometimes climbing with several layers. 

Tie in, hang in the harness a couple feet off the (hopefully padded)ground, and lean back until you either start slipping out or flip over.  If the harness slips, it's too big.  If you can flip upside down like spiderman, you're good.

Just remember to tuck your chin so you land on your shoulders if your spidey powers fail you.

Thank you so much everyone for all the replies and advice! That's really helpful.

Although you didn’t ask this, here are some secondary considerations… where does your gear hang when clipped to the gear loops? I am in between sizes and almost always go for the smaller harness so the gear will tend to hang more towards the rear. On the larger harness I had, once cinched up tightly, I had the gear loops more forward and gear would annoyingly dangle in front of my legs at times. (Or maybe I just don’t climb steep enough routes!). Also, with a lot of gear on the harness, if you can’t tighten it sufficiently around the waist it will tend to slowly drag the harness down  

Sounds like what you have will work, although I personally like being able to cinch my waist belt nice and tight (firm) without hitting the limit of adjustment (padding).

Daniel Joder wrote:

Although you didn’t ask this, here are some secondary considerations… where does your gear hang when clipped to the gear loops? I am in between sizes and almost always go for the smaller harness so the gear will tend to hang more towards the rear. On the larger harness I had, once cinched up tightly, I had the gear loops more forward and gear would annoyingly dangle in front of my legs at times. (Or maybe I just don’t climb steep enough routes!). Also, with a lot of gear on the harness, if you can’t tighten it sufficiently around the waist it will tend to slowly drag the harness down  

Sounds like what you have will work, although I personally like being able to cinch my waist belt nice and tight (firm) without hitting the limit of adjustment (padding).

Alternately, I see people in harnesses all the time who are in them in a way that is safe, but they're large enough relative to the harness to position one of the gear loops that should be at their hip into the small of their back. A big deal in the gym? Probably not. Outside? I want my gear where it belongs.

Good point, Natalie. The solution is what works for you… Lots of good tips here. 

Thank you both, those are good considerations about the gear loops. In the end I think I am going to not worry about the harness from a safety point but will get a replacement that I feel fits better. Thanks again everyone!